Three Eastern Conference NHL teams that are closest to a wild-card spot should not give up on their season now. What do they need by the NHL trade deadline to get into the playoff picture?
Three Eastern Conference clubs are within five points of a playoff spot as the NHL trade deadline approaches.
The Washington Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators are out of a playoff position at the moment, but they're the closest teams in the East to catching the Boston Bruins for the second wild-card spot.
All three of them should focus on picking up a veteran or two who can help push them into the post-season.
Washington Capitals Need Goals
The Capitals are just two points behind the eighth-place Boston Bruins heading into Monday evening action. That said, the Bruins have three games in hand on Washington, effectively putting the onus on the Caps to put together a strong performance in their 20 remaining games to lock up a playoff berth.
The Caps need help primarily on offense. Their 3.16 goals-for per game rank 16th in the NHL.
Capitals GM Chris Patrick has $13.7 million in salary cap space – a total that rises to $15.1 million if he waits until the trade deadline to spend it. That's more than enough to acquire an experienced hand who can come in and provide the assistance Washington needs. Missing the playoffs one year after finishing first in the Eastern Conference would be a major step backward for the franchise, and it's pretty preventable right now.
Columbus Blue Jackets Should Buy, Not Sell
The Blue Jackets are arguably the most desperate for a playoff appearance out of these three teams. They have missed the playoffs for the past five years and have only two playoff series wins in the franchise's 24-year history.
The Jackets are five points behind the Bruins, but they do have a game in hand on Boston, so this playoff race could tighten in short order.
The team has turned its season around completely after replacing coach Dean Evason with Rick Bowness, who's gone 10-2-1 with the club so far. That means they should not be looking to sell all of their pending UFAs, such as Boone Jenner, Charlie Coyle and Mason Marchment.
But what do the Blue Jackets need if they're going to buy?
Their defense ranks 22nd in the NHL at 3.17 goals against per game. Columbus' offense isn't much better, ranking 17th at 3.09 goals-for per game. So you have to think Jackets GM Don Waddell has every reason to improve his group at both ends of the ice.
Columbus has a whopping $41.5 million in cap space, so it would be shocking for Waddell to stand pat at the deadline. Jackets fans deserve a trade or two that improves the team, and another year without playoff hockey would likely justifiably make Blue Jackets supporters quite disappointed.
Ottawa Senators Need Fewer Goals Against
The Senators also sit five points behind the Bruins with the same number of games played.
Sens GM Steve Staios has about $11.6 million in cap space. Getting help for the Senators' defense is Ottawa's primary need, as the Sens rank 23rd in the league at 3.19 goals against per game.
Ottawa's in a pretty interesting and awkward situation, because the team actually ranks second in the NHL in expected goals against per 60 minutes, according to naturalstattrick.com. So the skaters aren't giving up very many high-quality chances, and yet, the Senators have the worst save percentage, not that their fans needed to be reminded about the goaltending struggles this season.
The Senators signed James Reimer in January and sent Leevi Merilainen to the AHL. Reimer has a 2.90 goals-against average and .870 save percentage, so if the team feels it needs a more effective backup for starter Linus Ullmark – who's going nowhere – they could hit the goalie market again.
Otherwise, the Senators could use a physical right-shot blueliner, such as MacKenzie Weegar from the Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers D-man Rasmus Ristolainen.
While they don't have a first-round draft pick this year to include in any trade, they do have their first-rounder in 2027 and 2028, and they have all three of their second-rounders in the next three years. They're in win-now mode, so parting ways with longer-term assets makes a lot of sense for Staios.
In any case, the Capitals, Blue Jackets and Senators all have good reasons to make moves by or before the trade deadline. In a zero-sum business like the NHL, teams have no excuse but to use all their cap space to push out teams that currently are above them in the standings.
Anything can happen in the playoffs. These teams must do whatever they reasonably can to get there.
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