The NHL's March 1 Trade Deadline is fast approaching and teams are making decisions on whether to buy, sell, and decide which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Check out today's trade rumours and speculation from around the NHL beat.

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Isles on Duchene?

The New York Islanders have climbed the standings after a slow start to the season and now sit two points out of the final wild-card spot with a game in hand on the Boston Bruins. 

With a 20-11-6 record in their past 37 games, the Islanders appear to be shaping up as buyers heading into the trade deadline, something interim head coach and assistant general manager Doug Weight has acknowledged.

Arthur Staple of Newsday believes the Islanders have their eyes set on a top-six forward, likely a centre, to anchor their second line.

According to Staple, the Islanders have had their eye on Matt Duchene since November and he is their most coveted target heading into March 1. It's possible the price for Duchene - rumoured at a top-tier defenceman, a prospect and a first-round pick - will keep the Islanders from adding the 26-year-old but, as Staple writes, the interest is there.

Staple believes it's unlikely the Islanders target either of Radim Vrbata or Martin Hanzal of the Arizona Coyotes. Instead, he thinks Anthony Duclar would make more sense if the Islanders and Coyotes were to come together on a deal.

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Cap crunch in Tampa Bay?

Having good, young players in the National Hockey League is a double-edged sword.

In the interim, having key contributors who are still on rookie deals means a ton of bang for your buck. The problem is that rookie deals don't last forever. The Tampa Bay Lightning are discovering this right now.

The Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch reports that the Bolts and general manager Steve Yzerman are going to need to free up some money to get their young stars locked up. All of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin are restricted free agents at season's end and with a sizable amount of money already committed to contracts for next season, the team will need to do some manoeuvring to make things work.

In order to better facilitate movement, Garrioch says that the team is willing to sweeten the point when it comes to divesting themselves of defencemen Jason Garrison and Braydon Coburn. Garrison, 32, is under contract for one more after this season at $4.7 million, while Coburn has two years left at $3.7 million.

Forward Brian Boyle, who is an unrestricted free agent in the summer, could also be moved.

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Pens not panicking about defence

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford isn't happy about injuries to defencemen Olli Maatta (hand) and Justin Schultz (concussion), but he's not worried, either.

Prior to losing the pair to injury, Rutherford was already looking for blue-line reinforcements.

“We were going to go into this market this month with the understanding that if the right defenseman was there, for what we felt was the right price, then we would move on it,” Rutherford told Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We're going to have to go through these next two weeks and go along on the timeframe of everyone else. We'll be looking at adding one or two more defencemen."

Because it's a seller's market right now, Rutherford believes that movement ahead of the deadline will come slowly, but he's casting a wide net.

For the time being, the defending Stanley Cup champions will use the likes of Cameron Gaunce, Chad Ruhwedel and Steve Oleksy as cover for Schultz and Maatta.

And while defensive upgrades might be the priority, Rutherford is open to other possibilities.

"I'm in the same conversations as everybody else and keeping an open mind to anything's that out there, with the understanding that maybe I don't feel the same urgency as some other teams do," Rutherford said. "We're certainly in the conversations. If something makes sense, then we'll move forward on it at any position."

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Red Wings in unfamiliar role

The Detroit Red Wings haven't missed the playoffs since 1990, but that remarkable streak appears to be at its end.

The team currently sits dead last in the Eastern Conference and eight points adrift of the final wild card spot.

As such, GM Ken Holland finds himself in the unfamiliar role of deadline seller. While he has assets he'd like to move, that could be easier said than done.

Garrioch notes that the biggest issue facing Holland is that many of his tradeable assets are under long-term contracts. There are pieces to be moved, though, whether it's impending UFAs like Thomas Vanek or Brendan Smith or an impending restricted free agent like Tomas Jurco.

In any return, the Wings would be looking for some help on defence.