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Tom Banks
December 6, 2025  (6:54 PM)

The National Hockey League.

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The Eastern Conference is full of parity in 2025/26, and according to Insider Elliotte Friedman, that’s what’s holding up some potential blockbuster trades.

The NHL season is over two months old now, and unsurprisingly, we’ve seen some teams off to great starts, while others are already looking to unload ahead of the 2026 trade deadline.

Despite that, the end of the year is just a matter of weeks away, and we are yet to see a blockbuster trade, despite selling teams like the Calgary Flames, Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks all having some solid pieces to offer Stanley Cup contenders.

Parity in the Eastern Conference holding up some trades

One of the biggest reasons for a lack of moves, according to Elliotte Friedman is the parity in the Eastern Conference, with teams believing that they could be either a good or a bad 5-10 game stretch away from changing their fortunes for better or worse.

As of right now, the difference between 16th and 2nd in the Eastern Conference is just 8 points, with 10 teams sitting between 30 and 33 points on the season, making it very hard to see how things will shake out moving forward.

As we get further and further into the season, we’ll start to see some of that clarity, but given the way things are going to this point, it’s hard to see who is going to come out on the other side as true Cup contenders.

Until we get to that point however, there’s expected to be no movement until things clear up and teams start to separate, but with injuries becoming a big factor, there’s going to be a team or two that starts a flurry of major moves this season around the National Hockey League.

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