Friday Four: What teams should consider selling this season?

If you were looking forward to this off-season for all the big trades and offer sheets that were supposed to go down, you’ve been sorely disappointed. We haven’t seen a single offer sheet and there was only one trade between mid-July and Sept. 4, when the Colorado Avalanche acquired Danil Gushchin from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Oskar Olausson. Not exactly a blockbuster. It’s been a very quiet summer, even for typical NHL off-season standards.

There was a belief that with a rising cap, a thin free agent class, and so many teams with holes in their lineups, there would be a bevy of transactions throughout the summer. So, why didn’t it happen? Part of the reason could simply be that there really aren’t that many true sellers right now. The majority of teams at the bottom of the standings didn’t intend to be there or are trying to get out of the basement as soon as possible, so organizations willing to part with established talent for draft picks and futures are slim.

Take the Buffalo Sabres for example, who saw their playoff drought continue while finishing with the third fewest points in the Eastern Conference in 2024-25. The Sabres were rumoured to be shopping Bowen Byram in the off-season, but ultimately re-signed him to a two-year deal because they didn’t like the options out there for a trade return. Some teams would surely have parted with a pick and/or a prospect for Byram, but the Sabres probably preferred pieces that could help them immediately.

Things could be changing for some teams, though. Anyone who gets off to a rocky start this season with an older roster could be forced to rethink their path. The appeal of the 2026 draft class may make it more attractive for some teams to change course to accumulate picks.

Here are a few teams that should consider selling this season.

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Nashville Predators

It was a disastrous year for Nashville, which finished with a minus-60 goal differential and its worst point total over a full season since its inaugural campaign. There was optimism coming into the year after a strong finish to the 2023-24 campaign, but the reality is the Predators have now missed the playoffs in two of the past three seasons and haven’t made it out of the first round since 2017-18. They also boast one of the league’s older rosters with an average age of nearly 30.

Nashville is in the perfect position to sell for a few reasons, with the main one being that there is a massive demand for top-six forwards right now, and the Preds have plenty to supply. Players such as Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O’Reilly would be in high demand, even if a trade would be easier said than done. Stamkos and Marchessault have no-move clauses, but they are both in their mid-thirties and may not want to stick around if Nashville does plan to at least re-tool its roster for a couple of seasons. O’Reilly doesn’t have trade protection and has another year of term beyond this season, making him an attractive option for a contending team to fill a middle-six centre role. Beyond that, the Preds could also ship Michael Bunting and Erik Haula out at the deadline as rentals.

This is also the perfect time for Nashville to try and offload a couple of those deals. The salary cap is skyrocketing and some of these contracts would have been challenging to move in a flat cap world, but Marchessault’s $5.5 million and O’Reilly’s $4.5 million AAVs could be easily absorbed by most teams with the cap rising. Stamkos could be trickier to move, but the Preds still have one retention spot they could use to eat salary. Colton Sissons and Mattias Ekholm’s retention spots would come off the books next summer, giving them flexibility again.

It’s also important to consider that the 2026 draft class is supposed to be deeper than 2025’s was and there’s obviously a potential generational talent at the top in Gavin McKenna. The Preds need to add some young talent to their organization and it wouldn’t hurt to have an extra first-round pick or two next June in hopes of landing a difference maker.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Speaking of generational talents, wouldn’t it be nice for the Penguins if their succession plan after Sidney Crosby included McKenna? Pittsburgh went from Mario Lemieux to Crosby and has had a true superstar on its roster for more than 30 years. Landing McKenna would likely ensure that continues.

The problem the Pens have is they’re probably too good as currently constructed to be a bottom-three team and really be in the mix for McKenna. Pittsburgh had a rough 2024-25, but there were still seven teams that finished worse, and Crosby alone is still good enough to carry the team on his back at times. His agent Pat Brisson didn’t rule out the possibility of a trade when he spoke this week, but so far, Crosby hasn’t given any indication he wants to be moved. So, if the Penguins want the top pick, Kyle Dubas’ best bet is to probably remove as much proven talent around him as possible. We know the Pens have been trying to offload Erik Karlsson’s contract, but they would be wise to go further than that.

That could mean moving on from the likes of Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, who are both talented players who could net a decent return of young prospects and picks while making the Pens worse this season. We’ve also heard rumblings that this is Evgeni Malkin’s final year in Pittsburgh, so perhaps he would consider chasing one more Cup at the deadline. Even at 39, Malkin could bring back an asset from a contending team looking to add veteran talent for a Cup run.

If all the stars align and Crosby wants to finish his career as a Penguin, he could end up mentoring McKenna just like Lemieux mentored him.

Calgary Flames

The Flames exceeded expectations last season and stayed in the playoff race right until the end of the campaign, but that was more about Calgary punching above its weight than anything else.

Dustin Wolf, who is now locked up long-term, had a stellar rookie season, which ultimately covered up a lot of their problems. The Flames struggled mightily on offence, finishing 29th in goals for and 30th when it came to 5-on-5 scoring, and if you look at their roster heading into 2025-26, you’ll have a hard time seeing where they can improve. Calgary’s lineup isn’t loaded with high-end talent, so expecting Wolf to carry them into the playoff race again seems like a stretch.

Instead, the Flames would be wise to look at moving a few pieces to recoup some assets with an eye on retooling the roster to be more competitive in a few years. We know Rasmus Andersson is almost certainly on the move, but there are other players Calgary could test the market on.

There’s a massive demand for top-six centres right now, and the Flames have one in Nazem Kadri. Some teams may be scared off by Kadri’s age and contract, though, with the cap rising, it should be easier for a team to absorb his deal. Kadri, 34, still has four years remaining at $7 million per season, but with some retention, they could get a decent haul in return given how many centre-needy teams there are. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Kadri scored a career-high 35 goals last season on a Calgary squad that had a hard time finding the back of the net. He can still play at a high level and he may be willing to waive his no-move clause for the right situation.

There’s also Blake Coleman, who has another year of term after this one and a cap hit under $5 million. He won’t fetch as much of a return as Kadri, but we’ve seen the impact Coleman can make in the playoffs when he helped the Tampa Bay Lightning to two Stanley Cups. Coleman would be highly sought after by a contender at next year’s deadline and could net Calgary a decent asset.

If the Flames play their cards right, they could acquire a few young players and draft picks to add to their prospect cupboard in a season where they aren’t likely to be true contenders anyway.

Boston Bruins

It was rare to see the Bruins not qualify for the post-season last year, and the team clearly has a different look to it now that Brad Marchand is gone. There’s always a chance the Bruins could bounce back and get back into the playoff mix if Jeremy Swayman regains his form, though it also could be a perfect time for them to go through a short retooling of the roster.

Boston may not have as many coveted pieces as Nashville or Calgary, for example, but players like Pavel Zacha, Viktor Arvidsson, Sean Kuraly and Andrew Peeke could be in demand leading up to the trade deadline. The Bruins could stock up on picks by moving some or all of these pieces and, in the process, give some more opportunities to younger players on their roster or in their system. It may make them worse in the short-term, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Boston stumbled into the seventh overall pick this summer, which landed them James Hagens, and having another top-10 pick in a loaded 2026 draft would quickly upgrade their prospect pool.

They also have the benefit of a core that will still be in the prime of their careers for several more years. Even if the Bruins have another down season or two, players like David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Swayman are all under 30 and will still be driving the team when Hagens, Matthew Poitras and another potential high pick in 2026 hopefully start making an impact. The Bruins have been able to avoid a full-scale rebuild, even with the likes of Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask and Patrice Bergeron moving on, and they could continue to delay it by going the route of a shorter retool.

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