Who Needs to Make a Move at the NHL Trade Deadline?

Using Elo rating simulations, here's which NHL teams would see their playoff and Stanley Cup odds shift the most with a trade-deadline upgrade.

Head coach Rick Bowness of the Columbus Blue Jackets stands behind the bench during a game against the Boston Bruins during the third period at the TD Garden on February 26, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)

The NHL has only been back from its Winter Olympic break — when transactions were on pause leaguewide for nearly 20 days — for a week now, and Friday’s trade deadline (at 3 p.m. ET) is approaching at full speed, even if things feel strangely quiet right now.

There are a handful of good reasons why we might be in store for less activity than in recent years, when high-impact deadline moves have ticked up after a lull in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Among them, new CBA constraints have fundamentally changed how teams navigate fitting salary under the cap, while the best players on offer are not exactly huge names — no offense intended to the likes Robert Thomas, Vincent Trocheck and Justin Faulk.

Pushing against those factors, though, is the fact that somebody still does need to go out and win the Stanley Cup, you know?