The NHL's March 1 Trade Deadline is 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.

 

What To Do?

The Detroit Red Wings have made the playoffs every season for the past quarter century. With the team tied for last place in the Atlantic division, this might be the year one of the most impressive streaks in all of sports finally comes to an end.

Gregg Krupa of the Detroit News says general manager Ken Holland will need to make some important decisions over the next few weeks when it comes to the future of his team.

Krupa says veterans like captain Henrik Zetterberg, defenceman Nick Kronwall and forward Frans Nielsen, who signed a six-year deal with a no-moment clause this off-season, are likely to stay put.  

Thomas Vanek, who will be a free-agent at the end of the season, could be a player dealt before March 1, according to Krupa, especially if the Wings can acquire draft help. Vanek (31 points in 37 games this season) is making $2.6 million in 2016-17 and will likely ask for much more from the Wings this summer if the Wings want to bring him back. Trading Vanek when he has good value might be their best option.   

Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist can be used as trade chips too, but Krupa believes the likes of promising youngsters Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou should be retained. 

The Wings could acquire some value by trading one of their three solid goalies in Jimmy Howard, Petr Mrazek and Jared Coreau. All have shown they can play in the NHL and with the possibility of losing one to the Las Vegas Golden Knight in the expansion draft, Krupa says it might be the right time to move a goalie.

Krupa thinks all of the Wings defencemen should be up for grabs, but Holland could find difficulty in trading Danny DeKeyser and Jonathan Ericsson, as both are having down years with big cap hits.

It should be an interesting month in Detroit.

 

Listening To Offers

A year after losing in seven games to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning are six points out of a playoff spot. Despite being in striking distance, Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times thinks general manager Steve Yzerman will still listen to offers when it comes to some of their important names. 

Ben Bishop, who is a free-agent at season's end, will likely be involved in trade rumours over the next month, especially if the Bolts fall further out of the playoff race. Bishop comes with a cap hit of $5.95 million and also has a partial no-moment clause in his contract. The 30-year-old is 11-11-3 with a 2.78 GAA and a .905 save percentage over 26 games with Tampa Bay this season, his fifth with the club.

Smith also notes that since Jonathan Drouin and Ondrej Palat are slated to become restricted free-agents this off-season, it might be smart to shop forward Tyler Johnson, who will also be a RFA on July 1. Johnson, 26, has scored 15 goals and added 14 assists over 50 games in 2016-17, his fifth year with the club.