We have officially made it to 2025 NHL Draft week. With just five days to go, talks have ramped up to warp speed. Smokescreens are up all over the place. But starting Friday night, the truth will be revealed.
In this part of our countdown to Los Angeles, we’re going to focus on the six teams that are eager to make a big trade either leading into the draft or entering the free-agent period. In case you missed any of our previous parts of the countdown, you can check those out below.
This offseason feels like there will be more chaos than normal. One look at the overall situation reveals some interesting trends. When you combine a weaker than usual free-agent class with an abundance of buyers hoping to improve their teams, you get a situation where multiple, big trades are possible.
The six teams who make our list of being eager to make a trade stand out for different reasons. Our first team is perhaps the only true seller on the market at this time. That alone makes them a popular team this coming week.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The age-old adage of supply and demand. GM Kyle Dubas is in a unique position. The Pittsburgh Penguins are the only team that is clearly trying to sell. Arguments could be made the other 31 teams are looking to buy to varying degrees.
Dubas has a few players that will attract a lot of attention in the market. Bryan Rust is the biggest name that contenders will battle over. The Penguins could set a higher price given the expected competition that would present.
Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell will generate interest too. Other players such as Ryan Graves could be had if a team meets the price set by the Penguins.
Dubas has the difficult task of managing their aging stars while trying to add young talent to their team. This makes the Penguins a willing seller.
Kyle Dubas is ready to wheel and deal this offseason. (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Dubas will even consider taking on a bad contract or two if it means getting valuable futures to go along with that. In terms of the potential number of trades that could happen this offseason, the Penguins could be among the leaders in that department.
Don’t be surprised if the Penguins try something at the draft also. They own the 11th overall pick. If a player they like could be had by trading down a few spots, that would net them additional assets.
There’s no wondering on this one. Dubas and the Penguins are eager to make multiple trades in the coming weeks.
New York Islanders
Now we turn our attention to the very top of the draft. The New York Islanders are on the clock for Friday night holding the top pick. While most in the industry seem to agree that Matthew Schaefer will be the pick, nothing’s official until the team makes the announcement.
Taking Schaefer would mean passing on the hometown player in James Hagens. But don’t rule the Islanders out from trading back into the top of the draft to land him.
Hagens alone is a story this week. How far could he drop? If he gets to the Boston Bruins at seventh for example, how many teams are calling to try to land him?
The Islanders will certainly explore the possibilities to see if they could make the homecoming happen. The issue could be what it would take to trade into that area of the draft.
Multiple reports have suggested that the Islanders are testing the market on Noah Dobson. If they don’t want to eventually pay what he’ll command, would a trade package involving him now make sense if it meant being able to draft Hagens? That’s what Darche will have to decide.
Other players such as Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Alexander Romanov are potentially available in deals. Another thought to consider. Would the Islanders be willing to part with their first rounder next season in a deal?
The combination of potentially willing to trade back into the first round coupled with multiple players on the block helped put the Islanders on this list.
San Jose Sharks
Make no mistake. The San Jose Sharks covet Schaefer. If the Islanders were willing to make a deal work to swap spots, the Sharks wouldn’t hesitate.
However, the Islanders appear set to make the first-overall pick. That doesn’t mean the Sharks will go quietly into the night. GM Mike Grier has said he would consider trading the second-overall pick if the package in return made sense.
Grier is still open to moving the 2nd overall pick. Same thing he said at exit interviews. Says the package has to make sense for the #SJSharks to move 2nd overall.
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) May 5, 2025
The Sharks are also like a few other teams in the sense that they’ve picked high in the draft for a couple seasons now. Eventually, they’ll want to start moving forward.
Grier has said he expects to be “active” this summer. It remains to be seen what he means by active. But if he’s willing to part with the second-overall pick in the right deal, he’s willing to do a lot of things. And what does that say about the top of the draft if a team is willing to consider trading that pick?
The Sharks have the most cap space available so they could go any number of routes to make moves. They could take on some bad contracts. Considering they have to get to the floor, multiple moves are certainly within reason.
Chicago Blackhawks
Like the Sharks, the Blackhawks are willing to trade their pick in the right situation. Not only are they willing to trade the third-overall pick, it appears the Blackhawks may be open for business all around.
According to a recent report, the Blackhawks are willing to be aggressive in their pursuit of getting immediate help for their roster.
“The Chicago Blackhawks are open for business over the next 10 days.”@frank_seravalli dives into his earlier report that Chicago is open to trading their third overall pick on the Chicago Lead. pic.twitter.com/2kkwfAHCuU
— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) June 17, 2025
The sense here is that the Blackhawks are starting to feel some more pressure to make progress with the young collection of talent they do have. Last season was disappointing in that more progress wasn’t made. The players they brought in to help the youth wasn’t the right mix.
The Blackhawks already got it started by placing T.J. Brodie on waivers for the purpose of a buyout. They also acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for Joe Veleno.
The Blackhawks have a desire to see marked improvement in 2025-26. In order to get there, they have to consider all trade possibilities like the one they completed for Burakovsky. Surrounding Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar and others with talent is at the top of their wish list. Another season like 2024-25 would bring significant questions about what could come next.
Utah Mammoth
Question. Which team had the most buzz at the NHL Combine in Buffalo? Answer. The Utah Mammoth. They’re in a position where they want to introduce themselves to the NHL with a mammoth splash (Author’s note: I am sorry.)
The Mammoth and GM Bill Armstrong are also willing to part with the fourth pick in the right deal. Notice a patten yet with picks two, three and four?
Bill Armstrong is open to making a big move if the right opportunity presents itself. (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
With the Mammoth further along in the cycle coupled with the aggressive nature of their ownership group, they become perhaps the most interesting team to watch as this offseason unfolds.
The Mammoth got the fortune of jumping 10 spots at the NHL Draft Lottery. That presents them with a unique opportunity to explore different possibilities all in an effort to accelerate getting to the playoffs.
This is a two-fold thing for the Mammoth. They would like to trade some of their veterans if possible (Matias Maccelli) while bringing an established star in to help their top-six. The eagerness to do this is off the charts. Don’t be surprised if in the aftermath of the draft, the Mammoth are one of the biggest stories coming from Los Angeles either because of a huge trade or a woah pick at fourth overall.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets just missed the playoff party in 2024-25. That alone makes clear what their motivation will be for 2025-26. That’s get into the playoffs and do damage in them.
In order to do that, they have a lot of areas on their team they must address. It’s possible to see big moves up front, on the blue line and in net.
Armed with picks 14 and 20 along with having the second-most cap space available in the NHL, the Blue Jackets are open for business. They can be in on all big names if they so choose.
The area of focus though will be reducing their goals against. The Blue Jackets have three goalies in Elvis Merzlikins, Daniil Tarasov and Jet Greaves who all need waivers next season. Something has to give.
The Blue Jackets are still negotiating with Dante Fabbro and still haven’t come to terms with Ivan Provorov. Depending how these two situations unfold could increase the eagerness even more of a trade to solidify the blue line.
GM Don Waddell is open to trading both of his firsts in the right deals for immediate help. The Blue Jackets want to do something big. Because they are below the cap floor, the question for them is not if they make moves, but how many and how big? They’ll be one of the most interesting teams to watch this week.
Sign up for our FREE NHL Prospects & Draft Substack newsletter
