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.


Captain's Bounty

The Seattle Kraken are expected to trade their first-ever captain Mark Giordano ahead of the deadline this month, but it appears he will not come cheap.

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun wrote Wednesday in The Athletic that he's been told from other teams that the Kraken are "hoping for at least a first-round pick for Giordano and hopefully a prospect on top of that."

Listed at No. 7 on the TSN Hockey Trade Bait board, Giordano has six goals and 23 points in 53 games with the Kraken this season. 

Seattle's general manager Ron Francis confirmed to LeBrun that the 38-year-old has asked to be moved to a contender and the franchise intends to honour that request.

“Mark’s been great from Day 1 with us,’’ Francis said. “We didn’t really have a plan to name a captain when we started. Walking into training camp, it was pretty apparent he was going to be the captain of our team. He’s been great all season long for our franchise.

"We’ve had the discussion, he obviously wants the chance to try and win, I totally get that and will do everything I can to help him get that opportunity.’’

With Giordano carrying a cap hit of $6.75 million ahead of unrestricted free agency, the Kraken may have to retain salary to complete a deal. Francis told LeBrun he has told teams around the league that the expansion franchise is willing to eat salary, whether the trade involves them initially or not. 

“Yeah, we’ve made it known that we have cap space and are willing to get involved in that part of the business if the deal is right,’’ Francis said.

The Kraken are slated to miss the playoffs in their inaugural season, sitting second last in the Western Conference with a 17-37-5 record.
 


Duck Watching

With three pending unrestricted free agents cracking the top 15 on the TSN Hockey Trade Bait board, it appears the Anaheim Ducks could be a key player on deadline day.

Embedded Image
Trade Bait - Top 6 
1. Jakob Chychrun, Ari
2. Claude Giroux, Phi
3. Ben Chiarot, Mtl
4. John Klingberg, Dal
5. Josh Manson, Ana
6. Rickard Rakell, Ana

Right-shot defenceman Josh Manson jumped from No. 15 to five on the updated board Wednesday, while winger Rickard Rakell moved from No. 10 to six. Defenceman Hampus Lindholm also sits at No. 14 as the Ducks try to re-sign him to a new deal before weighing any trade options.

LeBrun reported earlier this week that the Ducks have yet to hold any contract talks with Manson, but that could change if they can't get a deal done with Lindholm.

"The Ducks have been focused on trying to sign Hampus Lindholm and haven’t done that yet either. So it’s led a lot of people to wonder, does it mean Josh Manson is definitely getting dealt?" LeBrun said on Insider Trading. "Well, not quite. That may be the case but I think the Ducks want to see how the Lindholm negotiation goes and if that falls through, is there a chance to try and get Josh Manson signed at the 11th hour.

"So it’s more probable that he gets dealt and he’s got a 12-team no-trade list but a lot of teams who have tried for a couple years to get Josh Manson are hoping that he becomes available closer to March 21."

Manson is expected to return to game action this week after being sidelined since Jan. 29 with an upper-body injury. 
 


Dealing Domi?

As a pending unrestricted free agent, Max Domi could be traded for the third time in his career this month.

The Columbus Blue Jackets forward is listed at No. 13 on the TSN Hockey Trade Bait Board as he carries a cap hit of $5.3 million in the last year of his current contract.

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that interest is growing in the 27-year-old, who has posted four points over his past four games. On the season, Domi has nine goals and 28 points in 47 games. 

Watch Dreger's breakdown on the trade market for Domi and Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Hagel here: