What is the trade market in the Eastern Conference shaping up to be?
As we move deeper into 2026, the Eastern Conference is becoming a hodgepodge of pretenders and contenders.
As of Monday, all eight teams outside of a playoff position are within five points of a Wild Card spot. In fact, there are just 10 points separating the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes from the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets.
Though we’re still a couple of months away from the trade deadline, it’s never too early to look ahead to see what the teams might do in order to bolster their rosters or sell off assets in the second half.
On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, David Pagnotta joined Tyler Yaremchuk to discuss how things are looking out East.
David Pagnotta: You’re going to have to see which teams believe in what they’ve got, realistically, versus which teams are going to say, ‘Look, we’ll take a shot here. There’s an opportunity for us to really collect some significant assets because the seller’s market is so thin.’ … The Florida Panthers are tied in points for the final wildcard spot. Leafs are two points out. That’s what separates the Eastern Conference right now. That’s crazy.
So, if some of these teams start to accept their fate, or just go back to the realization that, ‘Look, if we’re not going to compete for a Stanley Cup,’ Like the New York Rangers, for example, ‘If we’re not going to compete for a Stanley Cup, realistically, then what are we doing here with Artemi Panarin? Let’s take some calls. Let’s see what the options are going to be for him. If we can capitalize and maximize a return for him, let’s do it.’ I think some of these teams are going to be in that boat.
The Buffalo Sabres are going to have conversations and contract negotiations with Alex Tuch all this month. They want to know if they have a legit shot at signing him. If not, then I’ve got to suspect that they’re going to look to trade him as well. We won’t know this until a little bit later on, and I’m hoping teams in the West start to activate a little bit sooner because maybe that, you know, creates a little bit of a domino effect here.