Buyers and sellers at the NHL Trade Deadline

With the deadline approaching, teams are looking at what to do with their team. Some teams are ready to get rid of big players to get future assets and others are looking to bolster their lineup and mortgage their future a little for a ring.

Here are some of the biggest buyers and sellers of the 2025 NHL Trade deadline:

Buyers - Tristan Kunec

Buyer: Washington Capitals

The Capitals surprised everyone this season. They went from barely sneaking into the playoffs last year with a -30 goal differential and getting swept to being at the top of the league.

Led by Alex Ovechkin’s goal record chase and arguably one of the best moves of the offseason in bringing in Jakob Chychrun on defense, they look as dangerous as any team in the NHL.

They don’t look like a playoff-built team though. They have a lot of small guys and no one that you’re really worried about facing for seven games.

The Caps should be looking to get some bigger defensemen or fourth-liners to help them in a seven-game series where you see teams hit the hardest all season.

Buyer: Winnipeg Jets

The Jets have been perennial playoff contenders for years, they just can never seem to get over that hump.

Mark Scheifele leads their offense with 34 goals and Josh Morrissey has blossomed into one of the best defensemen in the league, but like the Capitals, they lack some size.

They had an 11-game winning streak and can score goals with the best of them, but they need some size to help them get over that hill and get to the conference or cup finals which they haven’t been able to do in recent years.

Buyer: Los Angeles Kings

After their mini-dynasty where they were trading punches in the west with the Blackhawks, the Kings did a great job of retooling and not losing too many weapons.

Anze Kopitar is a man-possessed and is having one of the best seasons of his career. With younger talent like Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe they are poised for playoff appearances for years to come.

Over the past couple of seasons, they have fallen into the third spot in the Pacific division and are stuck playing the Oilers in seven.

They will be looking to add that one piece, whether it's a scorer, or a big defenseman to stop McDavid, that can change everything and finally get them over their hump and make them a threat in the west again.

Sellers - Andrew Matz

Seller: Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers are rebuilding and need to continue to get assets. They are in a good spot with many picks in the first two rounds of the NHL draft this year.

They started before the deadline, trading both Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost. They have multiple assets that can be moved to gain good capital.

Scott Laughton has been in trade talks for multiple years now, and it looks like Danny Briere might finally move him. Another piece the Flyers need to look to move is Rasmus Ristolainen.

Seller: Pittsburgh Penguins

The other Pennsylvania team also needs to look to blow it up. It sucks as both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are both coming to the end of their careers.

The Pens will need to look to get rid of the little bit of value that they have. Pieces that they could look to move are Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust. Both could get much-needed assets for the Penguins.

Another piece the Penguins can look to move is Erik Karlsson. The problem with this is finding a team willing to take the contract on.

Seller: Nashville Predators

The Predators gave out huge contracts to both Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos.

Despite this, they have struggled this year and find themselves at the bottom of the Western Conference.

They have a lot of big contracts that are not working and need to look to move some of them and get younger talent. One of the biggest pieces they could look to move is Ryan O'Reilly. He is an aging player but still talented enough to get a great return.

They could also look to move some of the bigger contracts, such as Steven Stamkos, but it will be difficult to do.

The trade deadline is Friday, March 7, at 3 p.m., and we could see all of these teams making moves to either make a run or improve their future.

Tristan Kunec is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email tqk5432@psu.edu.

Andrew Matz is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email atm5759@psu.edu.