NHL Power Rankings: Which Teams Will Be Trade Deadline Buyers Or Sellers?

At long last, we see some separation in the NHL standings. For two-thirds of the regular season, over half the league was lumped together in the mushy middle.

At the end of December, all eight teams out of the playoff picture in the East were within six points of a playoff spot. It was the same in the West, though the margin was seven points.

Fast forward to Tuesday's games, and only one team in the East and four teams in the West are within six points of a wild-card spot. There are four teams within six points of the third spot in the Metro, but the story is the same – the competition has thinned out in January.

What began as a sellers' market with so many teams in the playoff picture just a month ago now feels like a buyers' market. If you're a wild card, what are the odds you'll be able to upset the Avalanche or Lightning?

A trade freeze looms next week before the Olympics. In this week's NHL power rankings, we look at which teams will be buyers and sellers after noting a trade bait for each team last week.

Obviously, a buyer. No other team has more than 30 regulation wins, but the margin between the Avs and the rest of the league keeps getting smaller. With six losses in their past 10 games, the Avs may need to find a spark via trade.

The Lightning's cap situation makes it difficult, though the returns of Victor Hedman and perhaps Brayden Point would be their best acquisitions. No doubt the Lightning are contenders, though, and Julien BriseBois has shown to be an excellent at maneuvering the cap and finding space to add.

They have the room to add and they should, but other than trying to peddle Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the Canes have been pretty quiet. In December, owner Tom Dundon was reportedly in process of selling a major stake to fund his purchase of the NBA's Trail Blazers… could a new ownership group and a potential transition period hamper the Canes' ability to spend?

Oh, you know Bill Guerin's buying. And he's gonna buy big.

This is the season to buy for the normally patient and conservative Steve Yzerman. The Wings have preferred to make their big moves in the summer (John Gibson, Alex DeBrincat) and in the past few seasons have either facilitated trades (Yanni Gourde) or been sellers (Filip Hronek, Tyler Bertuzzi) at the deadline. Their strong record this season deserves to be rewarded.

The Sabres are such a sharp team right now that it might be a mistake to add (or even subtract) and mess with their current mojo. Clearing up their goalie logjam could be helpful – it decreases uncertainty in the crease – but if the Sabres see an opportunity to add an experienced center or defenseman at a low cost, they should seize it. The fan base will kick into overdrive if they're buyers.

The Stars are always big buyers, but at what cost? And will it change their style of play? Can they land Artemi Panarin without trading Jason Robertson?

It's weird to say for what's likely a playoff-bound team, but should the Bruins… sell? They nearly acquired Rasmus Andersson, but he was viewed a long-term piece, not a rental. Trading a valuable first-round pick (they have four in the two upcoming drafts, including the Leafs' 2026 pick) for a rental would be short-sighted.

Can they find any takers for Patrik Laine, or either Jakub Dobes or Sam Montembeault? The Habs should buy, but they seem to have few trade chips they're willing to part with.

Kyle Dubas has done a great job of some measured buying – improvements, if only marginal, but at low cost – and the question now is if he should push more chips into the pot and gear up for a playoff run in a pretty wide-open East. The Pens should buy – Crosby, Malkin, Letang deserve it – but they can't stray too far from their long-term plan and gut their prospect pipeline or sell picks (15 picks in the first three rounds over the next three seasons) to do it.

They got Rasmus Andersson, so why stop there for the league's biggest big-game hunters? Look, if they somehow got Artemi Panarin, would anyone be surprised?!

The Isles' playoff position is a little precarious, and like the Pens, they should be looking to buy as long as they only pay a price that doesn't cost more than mid-round picks. (They acquired Ondrej Palat and picks in the third and sixth rounds on Tuesday evening for the struggling Maxim Tsyplakov). A playoff berth can provide valuable experience and further invigorate a fan base that's already looking forward to Matthew Schaefer's prime years.

One of the more interesting teams because they're in a position to buy or sell. If they make the playoffs, it would be their first berth in franchise history and the first since 2020 as the Coyotes, which would create some great buzz in a new market. (Remember how raucous Seattle got when the Kraken made the cut?) On the other hand, they have a potential valuable trade chip in Nick Schmaltz. The Mammoth should be buyers but might wait a little longer to decide. A tough upcoming stretch (Florida, Carolina, Dallas, Detroit) might answer their dilemma.

They're currently out of a playoff position, but as the two-time defending champions with a Cup window that's as wide-open as it can be, the Panthers should be strong buyers. The complication is the potential return of Aleksander Barkov in the playoffs and how they can add pieces while being cap compliant for playoff games.

Even if the Oilers somehow fall out of a playoff spot, they have to buy. Call everyone, pay any price. There is no other option. Connor McDavid threatens to leave in two more seasons. The window to win is right now. It's desperation time. The Oilers need to show urgency. (Side note: The Oilers also may not want to be caught in the same position as the Leafs right now, where they couldn't replace a departing superstar – in this case, the league's best player – so if McDavid leaves, they might as well sell everyone while their values are at their highest).

Clearly, they're buying after acquiring Kiefer Sherwood, but he's also potentially a future piece. The right move for a long-term strategy would be to pawn off any pending UFAs they don't expect to keep, but they also owe it to themselves to stay in the playoff race, which means keeping John Klingberg and Mario Ferraro. The Sharks either buy or stand pat because they're past the point of the rebuild where they sell everything every year.

Had they not turned it around recently, the Ducks probably would've been sellers. But like the Sharks, staying in the playoff race should provide beneficial experience to their young core. Unless they're blown away by offers for Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas, the Ducks should be buyers – they have ample cap space – to reward such a young, promising team.

Can the fan base stomach a white flag? The problem is the Leafs don't seem interesting in being an elite team on most nights when they certainly have the ability. If they're buyers, where do you start? And does it get them anywhere beyond the first two rounds? Better to see if they can trade Mattias Maccelli and Nick Robertson, and try again next season.

It's been a good season overall for the Flyers despite their recent losing streak, but this is a young team that's most likely one-round-and-done. There's no sense buying if that's the case, and instead, they should worry more about re-signing Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale.

The Kraken may be buyers – they're reportedly dangling Shane Wright – but not strong buyers because the most likely outcome is a first-round loss. It's always tough to figure out what the Kraken are trying to do because they've been so middling, but four of their UFAs – Jaden Schwartz, Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle and Jamie Oleksiak – should draw interest.

Even a first-round exit would be a better sendoff for the Anze Kopitar era than a drawn-out close to a disappointing regular season, even if their Cup window is extremely narrow. Acquiring Artemi Panarin could change things – is it really worthwhile for them, though, with a potential first-round matchup against the Avs? – and the Kings have two second-round and two third-round picks in 2026 to play with. They're more likely to buy than to sell, but to really contend, they'll need a trade and an extension for Panarin, and wait for Quinton Byfield to be a top-tier center.

They're sellers without a lot to sell. Their most valuable pending UFA is Claude Giroux, who's earned the right to call his own shots at this point in his career, and they've already traded their first-round pick. It's been too tumultuous to be really serious about winning.

Stand pat and see if you can make a late charge or start selling. The Jackets have some interesting pieces they can peddle at the deadline, but they're also 5-1-0 under Rick Bowness.

Getting Pierre-Luc Dubois back would be akin to buying at the deadline, and there's almost no chance the Caps sell in what may be Alex Ovechkin's final season. They're competitive and, along with the Panthers, seem like the only two teams currently on the outside looking in most likely to make it. (Being in the Metro helps the Caps, too). They need at least three wins in their next five games to stay in the running.

Sellers, but no one wants to take on those big contracts. The Preds have turned it around, and they're a competitive team, but there's no denying their window is closing rather than opening.

Sellers, clearly, and a bit of a shock considering their Presidents' Trophy win last season. Everything went right for them, and even a regression didn't project them to finish this low.

The Devils feel like they're at a crossroads. At times, it felt like they were looking for external answers to turn around their season, and when they missed out on Quinn Hughes, the question became: "Well, what's next?" They've got some great deals (Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt look like bargains) and some really bad ones (Dougie Hamilton, maybe Luke Hughes?) but they've taken two big steps back this season. They need to re-evaluate and try and continue to sell off the pieces that don't make sense long-term.

They've improved, but not enough to be in the same spot as the Sharks and potentially buying. Adding players or any long-term money doesn't make sense when Connor Bedard is still unsigned for next season.

The Letter 2.0 made it black-and-white clear where they were headed.

First Rasmus Andersson, next Nazem Kadri?

They should be selling. But like hanging onto Jordan Binnington as their starter (and for Team Canada, since it falls under Doug Armstrong's purview), they've stubbornly refused to do so.

They were eyeing Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg and Keaton Verhoeff about a month before everyone else.

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