Six Potential Landing Spots for Gustav Nyquist at the Trade Deadline
The Jackets have firmly established themselves as “sellers” at this year’s NHL trade deadline (March 3rd). Near the bottom of the overall standings, the team will look to parlay players on expiring contracts – or who they simply don’t see as long-term solutions here – for futures. One player who is an obvious trade candidate: Gustav Nyquist.
It’s not that the club and player are on any sort of outs here. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Signed to a four year contract to help the team replace some of the production it lost during the mass exodus of 2019, Nyquist has been pretty much everything advertised.
Though he missed the entire 2020-21 season due to injury, he’s otherwise been pretty healthy. In fact, he’s the only Jacket to play in all 82 games last season, and all 42 this year. He’s skated in 194 regular season games with the Jackets, scoring 41 goals and 113 points, while being a much needed veteran voice who plays in all situations.
But as these things go, being a pending UFA on one of the worst teams in the league, likely means Nyquist is going to be dealt. At 33 years old and carrying a $5.5m cap hit, he may not return prime assets such as first round picks or top prospects; but it is reasonable to think that a quality middle-six guy like this will return a couple of mid-level assets.
If Jarmo Kekalainen can swing a deal and return a second round pick plus something else, that’s a big win for this franchise. That could be possible if a third “cap broker” team is involved. Though, if the Jackets just want to get something in return for him, I can see the return being lower – say, third and fourth round picks.
The likely suitors for Nyquist are teams that are in the hunt for the Stanley Cup, but need to add some depth and secondary scoring to their lineups. I took these things into heavy consideration here, while also thinking about past tendencies. Some teams load up for their playoff runs, while others prefer to avoid making big splashes at the deadline.
With all of that aside, lets take a look at some of the teams that might want to get involved in a trade for Gus.
One team that immediately stands out as a buyer: the Boston Bruins. They lead the Carolina Hurricanes by 8 points for the top record in the NHL – with two fewer games played. With an aging core, the Bruins seem like a team that should be all in for this year.
They have most of their draft capital to make a trade, owning all of their draft picks this year except for a 2nd rounder, plus an extra 7th from the LA Kings. The only downside for Boston is that they’re hurting for cap space, which means the Jackets would almost certainly need to find a broker team to make this deal work. Or, take money back the other way.
There is one trade that could work for both sides however, even avoiding a third broker team. But the price for Nyquist likely goes up if they try to work this one out, so it’s probably not likely to happen.
The Bruins get a middle-six scoring winger, who fits into their style of play and can play in all situations. They also offload a contract they don’t want, as Reilly has passed through waivers and is currently in the AHL – but his contract requires them to have a cap penalty on the books. They avoid trading their 2023 first rounder, but it does cost them a future first rounder to make a deal like this.
The Jackets, meanwhile, get an above market value return for an expiring contract, and all it costs them is another year of Mike Reilly’s palatable contract. Is a $3 million dollar cap hit worth an extra first round pick?
New York Rangers
Trade deadline conversations rarely go too far without bringing up the New York Rangers. They’re seemingly in on every big name player that hits the market, and it’s always been that way. This year they’re the rumored destination for pending Blackhawks UFA Patrick Kane – but if they don’t land the big fish, maybe they’ll be looking to add some depth in a trade with the Blue Jackets.
The Rangers have plenty of draft capital as well; they even own an extra first round pick at this summer’s draft. But don’t get too excited, because I don’t see them trading either one of those picks. More likely, a trade here involves one of their second or third round picks.
But this one is tough to work out as well – the Rangers also find themselves in a battle with the salary cap, with just $866k projected available. A broker team would be vital to making something happen here, it seems. Still, for a shot at the Cup, teams will try.
The Rangers have the luxury of having that extra first round pick, so they can up their offer to a 2nd round pick to the Jackets for Nyquist if they do miss out on Patrick Kane. This might persuade the Jackets to send an asset to a “broker team” (say, a 3rd or 4th round pick) to get this deal done. It won’t be an easy one, but the Rangers have a history of making these things happen.
The next two teams on our list might consider trading for Gustav Nyquist as an upgrade to their lineups at the expense of another player. Both would need to move out salary to make any deadline deal like this work, but the Jackets could find themselves in good fortune if either of them decide to make a move.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are starving for some playoff success – we all know how long it’s been since they’ve been past the first round. They seem destined for yet another brutal first round playoff matchup, against the Tampa Bay Lightning again.
They’re more likely to make moves on the back end to tighten up their defense, but is it possible that the Leafs could be looking to add a depth two-way forward to the mix? Nyquist would be an excellent add to their third line – or maybe even their top six – it just might cost them too much to make it worthwhile.
In this scenario, the Jackets and Leafs swap middle-six players, with the Jackets giving the Leafs cap space and a player who can help them more offensively. The Jackets then get a third round pick in return, and also get a test drive on Kerfoot, who is a viable third line center in this league. Would this make trading Jack Roslovic for other futures a possibility?
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers have arguably the two best players in hockey on their team. They should be looking to win a Cup, or multiple Cups, beginning as soon as this year. Unfortunately, they’re in a dog fight just to make the playoffs. Currently, they hold the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, but the defending Cup champion Avalanche are right on their heels, just four points behind … but with four games at hand to make up the difference.
The Oilers need to do something to get this team into the playoffs. If they can make it in, with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the ice, anything is possible. The problem for the Oilers: with Evander Kane on IR, they’re struggling big time with secondary scoring. McDavid is running away with the scoring title, and they’re getting production from Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman.
After those 4 though? Their next leading scorer at forward is Klim Kostin, who has 13 points. Nyquist would be a terrific fit alongside any of their three stars down the middle; but they are in big-time cap trouble as it stands. So a hockey trade would have to happen here, to make space for Gus.
The Oilers and Puljujarvi have had a rocky relationship from the start. Things just haven’t worked out. After passing on him to select Pierre-Luc Dubois at the 2016 draft, does Jarmo Kekalainen see the value in giving him a change of scenery here? If things don’t work out, you can always cut ties with him in the offseason. But if his chemistry with Laine were to carry over, this could be a nice acquisition to make that could help the team immediately, and into the future.
Two Metropolitan Division foes might want to add a player like Nyquist to their lineups, for different reasons. I consider both of them dark horses here because, while one of them is a legit Cup contender, they have some depth up front already. The other might consider their window just opening, and may not want to offload futures for a run just yet.
Division leading Carolina has one of the stingiest defenses in the entire league, and added some scoring last summer in acquiring both Brent Burns and Max Pacioretty. But with the latter missing most of the season so far and all of the depth they have; their offense ranks just 15th at the midway mark of the season.
A player like Nyquist could help them find more goals, while also fitting into head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s demanding two-way style. As mentioned at the top of the article, past tendencies play into this a little bit, and remember: it was the Canes who took Max Domi from the Blue Jackets this time last year.
Even with such retention, the Canes would likely have to offload another piece to make this cap hit work. But, they have plenty of assets to trade in both prospects and future draft picks. It’s certainly possible that they would prefer to move a prospect in lieu of a draft pick here as well. Again, past tendencies.
New Jersey Devils
Sitting just behind the Canes in the Metropolitan are the Devils, who finally turned the corner this season after a long rebuilding process. They have a young roster, led by two superstar centers (Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier), and some really nice pieces on the wings.
If they decide to make a push this season, Nyquist could bring a veteran presence to this young group, which might be enough to thrust them into contention. Like the other teams on this list, the Cap situation here makes things tough, but not impossible. Coming off of that long rebuild, the Devils have most of their draft picks over the next three seasons – as well as some tantilizing prospects.
Andreas Johnsson buried in the AHL, is costing the Devils $2.275m against the cap as a penalty. In a deal like this, they offload that burden and get an NHL player who can help them in return. It won’t come cheap – a 2nd round pick at this summer’s draft is very valuable – but, it might make sense for them if they want to make a push this year.
It’s entirely possible that none of these teams would even call on Nyquist, but it’s still fun to debate what might happen over the next six weeks. It is likely however that there will be many suitors for Nyquist, as he will be one of the premier rentals available at this year’s deadline if teams are looking for some secondary scoring, leadership, or two-way play. He brings all of that.
For the Jackets, the cap situation around the league might inhibit their ability to get a huge return like they did, say, in the Nick Foligno or David Savard trades – but the number of teams who feel they have a shot at the Cup this year will certainly help. I do fully expect Nyquist to net a larger return than Max Domi last year … the only question is, what will it take to get it done?
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