The NHL's Mar. 21 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. And follow TradeCentre on TSN and TSN.ca through Deadline Day for all the updates.


Adding Space?

With the Minnesota Wild struggling, it appears all options could be back on the table for a team that looked like certain buyers just weeks ago.

Michael Russo of The Athletic believes the Wild should consider acquiring defenceman Shea Weber's contract from the Montreal Canadiens to help relieve their looming cap crunch.

Minnesota faces buyout penalties of $12.7 million or more in each of the next three seasons after cutting ties with veterans Ryan Suter and Zach Parise last summer. Russo writes that adding Weber's $7.857 million could free up enough space for the Wild to re-sign pending restricted free agent Kevin Fiala or make a splash in free agency.

The Wild currently have four players slated for unrestricted free agency this summer - forwards Nick Bjugstad and Nico Sturm, as well as defencemen Alex Goligoski and Jordie Benn. With the team losing eight of their past 10 ten games, the future has become more uncertain for those players in Minnesota.

“Everybody in the locker room realizes what’s going on,” Sturm said after the team's latest loss on Sunday, per The Athletic. “We’re sliding. All the good things that we do doesn’t seem to work out, and the bad things just become magnified. It’s like you’re making a little mistake and it just blows up.

“It might go on another three games like this, five games, I don’t know. Maybe next game our luck turns around. But like (Matt Dumba) just said in the locker room, ‘We’ve got to take a look in the mirror tonight and ask ourselves if that’s all we got right now or if we have to change something.’ … Because like Dums said, we like this group. It’d be a shame if we keep going like this and we can’t stay together. Because if this keeps going, we all know something is going to happen.”

The Wild currently have just over $2.3 in cap space ahead of the deadline, per CapFriendly, though general manager Bill Guerin has expressed that he would prefer to hold on to his first-round pick and top prospects through the deadline.

“It’s a business,” Sturm added of the trade deadline. “I’m sure everybody (in the locker room) has thought about it. But we know we’re a really good team. It just seems like we’ve gone too much from the highest highs to the lowest lows this year too many times. It just seems like instead of maybe winning three and losing one, we’re winning eight and then we’re losing six. That’s not really who we are. I don’t really know what’s going on.”
 


The Wait Continues

The deadline is less than two weeks away, but it appears wait for trades could continue with the market held up by the status of certain unrestricted free agents.

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger notes that among defencemen, the Anaheim Ducks are continuing contract talks with Hampus Lindholm ahead of the March 21 deadline, and the same can be said for Philadelphia Flyers with Rasmus Ristolainen. Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars are considering whether to keep John Klingberg as a "own rental" after surging back into the playoff race in the Western Conference. 

At forward, Dreger reports the Flyers are still waiting for the green light from Claude Giroux to pursue a deal, though it is expected that the 34-year-old will agree to waive his no-move clause ahead of the deadline. Dreger adds that four teams are currently considered to be in the mix for the Flyer's captain, noting that a trade could begin a domino effect in the market among buyers. 

 


Noise Makers

TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston points to the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs as the three teams he believes will be the most aggressive buyers at the deadline this month.

Speaking on OverDrive on TSN Radio 1050 Toronto on Monday, Johnston said he expects Kyle Dubas to make multiple moves, despite comment last week that he planned to only make one - suggesting it would be for a defenceman.

Johnston believes the Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks could be among the busiest sellers ahead of March 21, noting the Montreal Canadiens would like to be in that category but notes the team could struggle to move players who still have term on their deals beyond this season. 

Watch Johnston's full breakdown here: