Sellers at the NHL Trade Deadline...What Kind of Dealmaker is Your Team
Not every seller is created equal—they have different goals in mind.
Another trade deadline is upon us. As you probably know, there are three different types of teams: buyers, sellers, and those that mostly do nothing. Today, we’ll focus on the sellers.
Not every seller is created equal. They may be doing similar things—trading their veterans for futures—but the goals they have in mind are nothing alike.
Rebuilders
The first group here is probably the one you think of immediately. Rebuilding teams recognize that their Cup window isn’t anytime soon, so they are willing to sell just about anyone in exchange for futures.
We saw this on March 4 with the Calgary Flames. Despite having six years left on his contract at an affordable $6.25 million cap hit, MacKenzie Weegar was dealt to the Utah Mammoth for prospect Jonathan Castagna, Olli Määttä, and three 2026 second-round picks.
There was technically no rush for the Flames to make this move. But seeing as they’re in a rebuild, the pros vastly outweigh the cons.
The appeal of keeping Weegar is that he had immense puck-carrying responsibility in Calgary and is capable of shutting down the opposition while averaging semi-big minutes.
