2015 NHL Trade Deadline: What buyers need and sellers have
The NHL trade deadline was 3 p.m. on Monday, March 2. Below you will find a list of the teams that were expected to be sellers, with their needs and remaining available cap space. (Figures are estimates from Spotrac.com as of Monday evening.) We've also listed the likely sellers and their players who were frequently cited in trade rumors during the run-up to the big day. You'll find the Ottawa Senators in both groups as they are looking to move some veterans while trying to preserve their sudden and surprising shot at the playoffs.
SI.com's Allan Muir played matchmaker, cooking up 10 plausible trades that we wanted to see. SI.com also live blogged deadline day with a running analysis of the deals that went down.
BUYERS
Team | Cap Space | Needs |
| $9,798,761 | Top-four defenseman (update: acquired D Simon Depres from Penguins for D Ben Lovejoy; acquired James Wisniewski from Blue Jackets for F Rene Bourque, F William Karlsson, 2015 second-round pick; acquired Korbinian Holzel for Maple Leafs for return TBD; playmaking forward (update: acquired F Tomas Fleischmann from Panthers for F Dany Heatley, 2015 third-round pick; acquired C Michael Sgarbossa from Avalance for D Mat Clark) |
| $3,498,077 | Top-four defenseman, bottom-six winger (update: acquired Max Talbot and Paul Carey from Avalanche for F Jordan Caron, 2016 sixth-round pick; acquired F Brett Connolly from Lightning for 2015 second-round pick, 2016 second-round pick) |
| $14,015,796 | Scoring forward, depth defenseman |
| $6,631,297 | Top-nine winger (update: acquired F Antoine Vermette fom Coyotes for 2015 first round pick, defenseman Klas Dahlbeck; acquired C Andrew Desjardins from Sharks for C Ben Smith); depth defenseman (update: acquired D Kimmo Timonen from Flyers for 2015 second round pick, conditional fourth round pick) |
| $1,714,202 | Top-four defenseman (update: acquired Marek Zidlicky from Devils for conditional 2016 third-round pick), depth scoring winger (update: acquired F Erik Cole, 2015 conditional third-round pick from Stars for prospects—D Mattias Backman, F Mattias Janmark, 2015 second-round pick) |
| $6,921,851 | Scoring forwards (update: acquired F Dany Heatley and 2015 third round pick from Ducks for F Tomas Fleischmann) |
| $2,750,313 (over cap) | Top-nine winger |
| $5,331,562 | Top-six forward (update: acquired Chris Stewart from Sabres for 2017 second-round pick); depth defenseman (update: acquired Jordan Leopold from Blue Jackets for Justin Falk, 2015 fifth-round pick) |
| $2,305,721 | Top-four defenseman (update: acquired D Jeff Petry from Oilers for 2015 second-round, conditional fifth-round pick); depth scoring winger (update: acquired F Devante Smith-Pelly from Ducks for F Jiri Sekac; acquired F Brian Flynn from Sabres for 2016 fifth-round pick; acquired Torrey Mitchell from Sabres for LW Jack Nevins and pick TBD) |
| $10,004,795 | Depth power forward |
| $11,599,263 | Top six forward |
| $5,972,787 | Backup goaltender (update: acquired Michal Neuvirth from Sabres for G Chad Johnson); depth forward (update: acquired Tyler Kennedy from Sharks for conditional 2016 third round pick; acquired Dustin Jeffrey from Canucks for F Cory Conacher); depth defenseman (acquired Mark Louis from Coyotes for G David Leggio) |
| –$22,078 (over cap) | Bottom-six defensive forward (update: Rangers acquire F James Sheppard from Sharks for 2016 fourth-round pick; F Carl Klingberg from Jets for F Lee Stempniak, D Keith Yandle, D Chris Summers, 2015 fourth-round pick from Coyotes for D John Moore, F Anthony Duclair, 2016 conditional first-round pick, 2015 second-round pick) |
| –$2,370,806 (over cap) | Depth defenseman (update: acquired Ian Cole from Blues for D Roberto Bortuzzo; acquired Ben Lovejoy from Ducks for D Simon Depres) |
| $842,155 | Veteran defenseman (update: acquired Zbynek Michalek and conditional draft from Coyotes for C Maxim Letunov; acquired Robert Bortuzzo from Penguins for D Ian Cole); update: acquired F Olli Jokinen from Maple Leafs for C Joakim Lindstrom, 2016 conditional sixth-round pick |
| $7,303,000 | Top-four defenseman (update: acquired Karl Stollery from Avalanche for F Freddie Hamilton); top-nine winger (update: acquired C Ben Smith from Blackhawks for C Andrew Desjardins) |
| $2,784,008 | Top-six defenseman (update: acquired D Braydon Coburn from Flyers for D Radko Gudas, 2015 1st round pick, 2015 3rd-round pick) |
| $1,002,993 | Top-six winger (update: acquired F Cory Conacher from Islanders for F Dustin Jeffrey), top-four defenseman |
| $453,130 (over cap) | First-line left wing (update: acquired D Tim Gleason from Hurricanes for D Jack Hillen, 2015 4th round pick; acquired F Curtis Glencross from Flames for 2015 second- and third-round pick) |
| $6,884,818 | Depth power forward (update: acquired F Lee Stempniak from Rangers for F Carl Klingberg) |
SELLERS
Team | LIKely Available players with cap hit |
| RW Phil Kessel (8 yrs; $8m), D Dion Phaneuf (6 yrs; $7m), C Tyler Bozak (3 yrs; $4.2m), LW David Booth ($1.1m), LW Joffrey Lupul (3 yrs; $5.25m), D Roman Polak (1 yr; $2.75m) |
| D Chris Phillips (1 yr; $2.5m), RW Erik Condra (expiring; $1.25m), LW Colin Greening (2 yrs; $2,293,817), D Patrick Wierioch (1 yr; $2m) |
| D Luke Schenn (1 yr; $3.6m), D Nicklas Grossman (1 yr; $3.5m), D Michael Del Zotto (expiring; $1.3m), D Nick Schultz (2 yrs; $1.25m) |
| C Mark Letestu (expiring; $1.25m), LW Matt Calvert (expiring; $987,500) |
| D Andrew Ference (2 yrs; $3.25m) |
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| RW Alex Semin (3 yrs; $7m) |
| G Reto Berra (2 yrs; $1.45m), C Daniel Briere (expiring; $4m) D Jan Hejda (expiring; $3.25m), C Ryan O’Reilly (1 yr.; $6m) |
| RW Martin Havlat (expiring; $1.5m), RW Michael Ryder (expiring; $3.5m), RW Jordin Tootoo (expiring; $550,000) |