NHL trade deadline: Buyers and sellers in the Atlantic Division

How should general manager Peter Chiarelli approach the trade deadline for the Boston Bruins? (USATSI)

Eye On Hockey gets you ready for the NHL trade deadline with a division-by-division primer. Who is buying, who is selling, and who is staying the same. Today we look at the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division.

As far as the playoffs are concerned the Atlantic Division is, for most part, already set.

We already know that the Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings are going, it's just a matter of what order they finish in and who ends up on top and which two teams have to play each other in the first round.

We also already know that the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres are going to miss the playoffs.

That makes it pretty easy to distinguish which teams are going to be looking to add and which teams are going to be looking to subtract from their rosters as we approach the NHL trade deadline on March 2nd. The only two teams we really aren't sure about at this point, both from a playoff perspective and a trade deadline strategy, are the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers.

They remain the only two teams seriously fighting for a playoff spot at this point, and still three head-to-head meetings remaining, it is going to make for an interesting stretch run.

But how should they, and the rest of the teams in the Atlantic Division, approach the NHL trade deadline?

Boston Bruins

Are they going to the playoffs? As of Wednesday, Feb. 18, the Bruins occupy the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and are the one playoff team that has the best chance of losing its postseason spot, sitting just two points ahead of the Florida Panthers with no games in hand and still three head-to-head matches remaining with them.

Buy, sell or stay the same: Stay the same

The Bruins are an interesting team. As long as they have Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask in the lineup they are always going to have a chance and be a threat to go on a deep playoff run because at any point Rask can steal a series for them and Bergeron and Chara can lock down another team’s best players. But overall this Bruins team seems like it has taken a couple of steps back from the one that was competing for Stanley Cups (and winning one) in recent years. They are not as imposing defensively, they don’t score, and they lack any sort of impact offensive player that can take over a game with the puck on his stick.

At this point they are a borderline playoff team at this point and there probably is not a player out there — rental or otherwise — that is going to put them over the top.

So why give up an asset, even if it is a mid-level prospect or draft pick, for a guy like Chris Stewart that probably isn’t going to be a game-changer or make any sort of significant impact on their chances of making the playoffs, or their chances of going anywhere if they get in? And if they want to deal one of their premium trade chips — like goalie prospect Malcolm Subban — that option is always going to be there in the offseason when there might be more teams willing to make a significant offer.

Buffalo Sabres

Are they going to the playoffs? No. No they are not. When Bovada released their most recent Stanley Cup odds the Sabres, along with the Edmonton Oilers, were one of two teams that you could no longer place a bet on, so … no.

Buy, sell or stay the same: Sell

Sell. Sell. Sell. Everything must go. If it’s not nailed down, it is for sale. The Sabres have already been in a sellers mode and made some significant deals, sending Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, prospects and a draft pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Evander Kane (who is currently out for the season), and Zach Bogosian, and then sending goalie Jhonas Enroth to the Dallas Stars for a conditional draft pick and Anders Lindback. They probably won’t have another blockbuster trade in them on the level of the Kane-Myers swap, but more will be coming, especially with more upcoming free agents like Chris Stewart, Andrej Meszaros, Torrey Mitchell and Michael Neuwirth still on the roster. None of those guys has any long-term value to an obviously rebuilding Sabres team that is still probably going to struggle next season.

When it comes to trade targets they might want to consider targeting long-term goalie options and maybe some help on the backend. They have already stockpiled draft picks (but more can always help) and have some high-end forward talent ready to go with Kane, Sam Reinhart, Zemgus Girgensons and either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel next season. Their defense also has some potential with Bogosian and recent first-round picks Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov. The one area that hasn’t really been addressed yet is the net.

Detroit Red Wings

Are they going to the playoffs? At the start of the season it looked like there was the potential for this to be the season that would snap their two-decade plus run of consecutive playoff appearances. A young forward group with a defense that didn’t seem to be at the level it was at in years past. But because the Red Wings and Mike Babcock still run like a well-oiled machine, they are not only on their way to a 24th straight playoff spot (and 29th in the past 31 years), but are also one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and a team not to be taken lightly in the playoffs.

Buy, sell or stay the same: Buy

It has been a while since the Red Wings made an impact trade of any kind. Or an impact move of any kind. This is a team that is largely built from within. The most recent in-season or trade deadline acquisitions made by general manager Ken Holland have been players like David Legwand (2014), Kyle Quincey (2012), Brad Stuart (2008) and Todd Bertuzzi (2007). So, yeah, it’s been a while (at least six or seven years) since general manager Ken Holland has made a significant move to bring in talent from outside of the organization (unless you want to count the free agent acquisition of Stephen Weiss before the 2013-14 season). They are still carried by a mix of long-time veterans (Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall) and a collection of young new faces from the farm system (Gustav Nyqvist, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan).

If there is a move to be made out their this season it might be on defense even though they are already a pretty solid team when it comes to goal and shot prevention. Like pretty much every team in the league they could use a right-handed shot on their blue line, which would make them a likely potential landing spot for Edmonton Oilers defenseman Jeff Petry who seems destined to be traded as his current team mysteriously decides not to try to keep him. The Red Wings are going to be a dangerous team in the wide open Eastern Conference, currently sitting as a top-10 team league-wide in just about every major category (goals against, goals scored, penalty kill, puck possession, power play).

Florida Panthers

Are they going to the playoffs? Let's put it this way: They are not going away in the playoff race. As mentioned above they are two points out of a playoff spot as of Feb. 18 and still play the team they are chasing three more times. They are very much alive.

Buy, sell or stay the same: Stay the same.

They are probably going to make some moves, including a trade involving disgruntled forward Sean Bergenheim, but there really isn’t much that seems likely to be done here. They have been mentioned in Phil Kessel trade speculation, but they’re certainly not going to give up anybody like Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad or Nick Bjugstad (nor should they) in the middle of the season, and a package centered around a player like Jonathan Huberdeau probably wouldn’t be enough to get it done (nor should it from a Toronto perspective).

What makes the Panthers so interesting is that for a team that is so often seen as having a young, up-and-coming roster (and they certainly have that dynamic to them with the aforementioned trio of Barkov, Ekblad and Bjugstad, not to mention players like Huberdeau, Brandon Pirri, Erik Gudbranson and Jimmy Hayes) they also have a pretty veteran-heavy lineup with guys like Roberto Luongo, Brian Campbell, Jussi Jokinen, Dave Bolland, Willie Mitchell, Brad Boyes and Tomas Fleischmann.

Like Boston, there probably isn’t a move out there that is going to move them up to the Tampa Bay, Detroit, Montreal, Pittsburgh, New York (Islanders and Rangers) level in the Eastern Conference, and as long as they have a chance to make the playoffs they shouldn’t be selling off any of their veterans that are playing significant roles for them.

Ride it out with what you have, see where it takes you, and make your adjustments in the offseason.

Montreal Canadiens

Are they going to the playoffs? The question for the Canadiens at this point isn't whether or not they are going to the playoffs, but whether or not they will finish with the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The trio of Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban and Carey Price is as impressive as any forward-defense-goalie trio in the NHL, while Price is making a pretty convincing case to be the NHL's Vezina and Hart Trophy winner with the performance he is turning in this season. But they can still use a little work around the edges.

Buy, sell or stay the same: Buy

One name the Canadiens have been connected to in trade rumors is Arizona Coyotes forward Antoine Vermette, but that hardly seems like it would be worth the trouble. He is a solid enough player that is actually producing at a rate above his career averages even though he is in his age 32 season, but does he serve as enough of an upgrade that it's worth getting involved in a potential bidding war for what might be one of the more sought after rentals on the market?

Assuming Toronto would trade with its biggest rival (and vice versa) Daniel Winnik is actually the kind of guy Montreal could use without having to pay a premium price to upgrade its depth.

Another name that could be of interest: Jaromir Jagr. Jagr has always had an interest in playing for the Canadiens and he could still be of use on the power play, an area where Montreal has struggled this season (25th in conversion rate, 16th in shot attempts per 60 minutes of power play time). Jagr seems to already have one foot out the door in New Jersey.

Ottawa Senators

Are they going to the playoffs? For the second straight year, no.

Buy, sell or stay the same: Sell, but the question is, who do they have that anybody is going to want?

By re-signing Marc Method to a four-year contract extension that removed one of their more attractive trade chips from the market, and they certainly are not going to move any of their core pieces like Erik Karlsson, Bobby Ryan or Kyle Turris.

Chris Neil, even with his fractured thumb, seems like the type of guy that teams would want (whether they should or not is another discussion) for a fourth-line role, but he doesn't seem to have any interest in leaving Ottawa and the Senators seem satisfied to honor that wish. Veterans like David Legwand and Chris Phillips have struggled this season and probably don't have much value or much interest around the league. The Senators are the worst combination a team can be: Bad and boring.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Are they going to the playoffs? They are one of the deepest teams in the NHL and a leading favorite in the Eastern Conference. They have a deep, talented group of forwards led by Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson, two of the NHL's leading scorers this season, a true No. 1 defenseman in Victor Hedman and two really good goaltenders in Ben Bishop and Andrey Vasilevskiy.

Buy, sell or stay the same: As mentioned above, they don't really need a lot. This is a rock-solid team from top-to-bottom, but if there is one area they might want to address it might be on the back-end of their defense. Hedman, Anton Stralman and Jason Garrison is a really good trip at the top, but with Matt Carle and Radko Gudas both sidelined due to injury they could use some additional depth.

One of their other issues had been a more reliable backup goalie for starter Ben Bishop, but that upgrade came from within with the recent trade (and retirement) of Evgeni Nabokov and the emergencence of 20-year-old Vasilevskiy.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Are they going to the playoffs? It's pretty much a mirror image of the 2013-14 season, only this time the collapse started much, much earlier, and for the ninth time in 10 years they will be on the outside of the NHL playoffs. They still haven't made the playoffs in a full 82-game season since the 2003-04 season.

Buy, sell or stay the same: Sell

Having already traded Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli to the Nashville Predators they are obviously already in a sellers mode, and more will most certainly be coming. Forward Daniel Winnik figures to move before the Mar. 2 deadline, and he should be an attractive depth option for a contending team due to his defensive ability and skills on the penalty kill. Olli Jokinen, one of the assets acquired in the Franson-Santorelli trade, could also be flipped for a pick or prospect because he figures to have no long-term value to a Maple Leafs team that seems like it is on the verge of a rebuild.

The biggest question is whether or not they will move one of their big-money guys like Phil Kessel or Dion Phaneuf (which we already discussed in greater detail here). At this point it seems inevitable that they will both be traded at some point in the future and it's simply just a matter of when and not if it happens.

Those are significant trades and there is no real reason to rush them and if they are determined to go down that path it's probably best to simply wait for the offseason.