Countdown to TradeCentre: What will the surprising Blue Jackets do next?

The NHL's March 7 Trade Deadline is just days away and teams are making decisions on whether to buy or sell, and on 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 will the Jackets do next?

The Columbus Blue Jackets have exceeded expectations so far this season and enter play Wednesday in possession of the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 68 points.

This has put general manager Don Waddell in an interesting spot ahead of Friday’s trade deadline as they try to snap a five-year playoff drought, and he confirmed the team is looking to add where possible.

“We’re certainly making calls and taking calls,” Waddell told The Associated Press Wednesday. “I’ve said all along: We’re not in the position to trade first-round picks for rental players or anything like that. If we can add around the edges, certainly we’re going to try that. I’m more interested in hockey deals with maybe players that have term left on their contract. We’re exploring obviously as many of those as we can.”

Waddell and the team got some business done earlier Wednesday, signing forward Mathieu Olivier to a six-year, $18 million deal that carries a $3 million cap hit. The Blue Jackets have a handful of other pending unrestricted free agents, who Waddell does not expect to re-sign before the deadline but might hang onto given his team’s playoff chase.

“If I rip a guy out of this locker room right now (who is) playing a role for us on this hockey club right now, I think that’s pretty devastating to our team,” Waddell said via AP. "I think it’s the wrong message from my end. I think it’s the wrong message to our fans, the coaches and the players.”

Defencemen Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro, centre Sean Kuraly and winger James van Riemsdyk are among Columbus’ pending UFAs.

Sens among teams with eyes on Gourde

Seattle Kraken forward Yanni Gourde returned to the lineup on Tuesday for the first time since being injured on Jan. 2, posting an assist in 12:53 of ice time.

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports there are "lots of teams" paying attention to the 33-year-old centre ahead of the deadline. 

Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports the Senators are among the teams who have shown interest in Gourde. 

A pending unrestricted free agent, Gourde carries a cap hit of $5.17 million on his expiring deal. He has six goals and 17 points in 36 games this season after posting 11 goals and 33 points in 80 games last season. The left-handed centre is a three-time 20-goal scorer, last hitting the mark in 2021-22 in his first season with the Kraken. 

LeBrun reported last week that Gourde, who has a modified no-trade clause, would like to join a contender at the deadline.

"He won two Stanley Cups in Tampa as you’ll remember and I always saw him as a potential fit with Toronto by the way if they strike out on those bigger names... Keep an eye on Gourde perhaps as a fit for the Leafs," LeBrun said on Insider Trading. 

Seattle is 11 points back of the Calgary Flames for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and appear to have set their course as a seller at the deadline. LeBrun reported on Tuesday that the Kraken have made teams aware they are willing to retain the full 50 per cent of Brandon Tanev's expiring deal to help facilitate a trade. 

Tanev was listed at No. 6 on the updated TSN Trade Bait board Tuesday, while Gourde checked in at No. 13. 

The 33-year-old Tanev saw 9:37 of ice time in Tuesday's 4-3 to the Minnesota Wild.  He has scored nine goals and posted 17 points over 60 games this season.

Carrying a cap hit of $3.5 million, Tanev is in his fourth season with the Kraken after joining the franchise via the expansion draft in 2021.

The Kraken have all three of their salary retention spots available to them.
 

Quiet deadline in Vegas?

The Vegas Golden Knights have made some of the biggest trade deadline splashes in recent seasons, but it appears general manager Kelly McCrimmon may take a quieter approach this year. 

The Golden Knights stole the show at the deadline last season, adding both Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames and Tomas Hertl from the San Jose Sharks. 

With a projected $2.3 million in deadline cap space, the Golden Knights have space to add, but may focus on more fringe additions. 

“We’ll do the work, we’ll be engaged and see what possibilities are there for us, but I don’t anticipate us making any big trades,” McCrimmon told NHL.com. “You never say never. You do your due diligence. And with so many teams still in the wild card hunt, some might not decide if they are buyers or sellers until right before the deadline. So, there may be players who become available at that point who are not being discussed right now.

“It’s going to change here in the next few days. I think it’s going to be pretty fluid between now and the deadline of March 7. But for us, we didn’t intend to be big buyers. I like the makeup of our team.”

The Golden Knights are once again a strong contender this season, sitting atop the Pacific Division 78 points, four ahead of the Edmonton Oilers with a game in hand.