By Michael Wax
It's that time again: Trade Deadline season. Unofficially, the trade deadline frenzy started with the Vancouver Canucks acquiring Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames and has seen names like Sean Monahan, Chris Tanev, and Ilya Lyubushkin dealt since then. The Lightning, who are currently clinging onto a playoff spot, look to make a move or two to solidify their playoff hopes down the home stretch.
This year, there's a twist: The Lightning may be light on assets, but they have cap space. The Bolts currently have $7,383,333 in cap space due to Mikhail Sergachev's long-term injury, and he'll be out for at least the rest of the regular season. In this article, and with some help from HockeyStatCards, I'll highlight eight potential candidates that the Lightning could trade for before Friday's 3 p.m deadline.
Noah Hanifin, LHD
Let's start with the guy that is easily the most coveted on the market, and the one that has the most buzz around him coming to Tampa.
According to multiple insiders, like Frank Seravalli and Elliotte Friedman, Noah Hanifin's preferred destination, either by trade or free agency, is Tampa Bay. For a team that has been juggling their left side of the defense since the injury to Sergachev back on February 7th, Hanifin seems like the perfect fit. A pending unrestricted free agent who makes $4.5M against the salary cap this season, Hanifin has put together one of his best seasons to date. His 11 goals so far this year are a career-high, and his 35 points are the third highest in his career as he's set to break his career high of 48 points that he set in 2021-22. His defense has also been a bright spot, as he rebounded from a very shaky start to the season to put up positive defense metrics all across the board.
As mentioned in the intro, it's not necessarily about cap space. The Lighting have the cap space to acquire both Hanifin and somebody else, but the problem relies in assets. The Flames are probably going to want high value picks or prospects, neither of which the Lightning necessarily have at the moment. If the 27-year-old isn't dealt for Lightning before Friday, it would not be surprising to see the Bolts go after him in free agency come July 1.
(Don't be surprised to see the Lightning pivot towards Marcus Pettersson of the Pittsburgh Penguins if Hanifin doesn't work out)
Sean Walker, RHD
Let's talk about another guy who has been linked to Lightning by some reputable sources. The 29-year-old right-handed defenseman doesn't necessarily fit the Lightning in terms of scheme, but he does fit the Lightning's need for a defenseman. Despite Philadelphia currently being third in the Metro, this is one of the names that has continued to be monitored for Philly to potentially sell at the deadline.
Like Hanifin, Walker has set a career-high in goals already with six and is only two points away from tying his career-high in points (24). He's been a staple on Philadelphia penalty kill this year, and has proved to be a reliable defenseman when it comes to blocking shots, something that the Lightning has struggled with exponentially this year. He provides a much cheaper option as well, coming in at just $2.65M on the cap. While the Lightning have plenty of talent on the right side of the defense, the pairings have been a giant question mark, as they really haven't found the right solutions. A defender like Walker could not only come in and provide penalty kill help, but could solidify himself on the second pairing as a two-way defenseman, and open up other possibilities for the varieties to find their prime partner.
Nic Dowd, C
Frank Seravalli put out an article last week that said that Nic Dowd has been getting asked about in trades since August and that Dowd could potentially be the next Barclay Goodrow. Seeing as the Goodrow trade worked out quite well for the Lightning, why wouldn't they try again?
Dowd is a steady, defensively-reliable center that is shown a habit of working hard on a Capitals team clawing their way to stay in playoff contention, and someone who could theoretically be perfect next to Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel. This assignment would give him a higher spot in the lineup, and would certainly give him more responsibilities, but to win in the playoffs, you're going to need a defensively responsible line. Lightning fans saw that with the Goodrow-Gourde-Coleman line during their two Stanley Cup victories, and the Killorn-Cirelli-Hagel line during the third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2021-22. In order for the Lightning to get back to their roots, a player like Dowd might be the key to unlocking a new part of the offense. Who knows, he might find a new spark on offense as well, continuing his path towards a third straight double digit goal season.
Matt Martin/Cal Clutterbuck, F
This spot was originally for Tommy Novak, someone who fit all of the criteria that the Lightning were looking for: good player, cheap contract, on the Nashville Predators. But Novak was re-signed yesterday, so we're pivoting.
These two names should be very familiar to anyone that followed the Lightning's back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021. The Islanders gave the Lightning the most trouble in both of those runs, due in no small part to the play of what many dubbed "The Identity Line": the fourth line of Cal Clutterbuck, Casey, Cizikas, and Matt Martin. These three were going to make their opponents' lives a living hell, even in their limited ice time. For a bottom six that is sorely lacking in identity other than cardio kings, perhaps getting someone from this famous line might be able to bolster them a little bit.
Martin and Clutterbuck, in particular, give the Lightning the easiest path to trade for. Both of them make less than $2 million, both of them hit extremely hard, and both of them are playing some of the best hockey in their careers in their mid-30s. The offense is not there, it will probably never be there even with a higher talent group on the Lightning then would be on the Islanders. But these two are designed to create problems for their opponents during their brief time on the ice and open up opportunities for guys like Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli, and Mikey Eyssimont to have more space on the ice and put up more points. Whether it's one or both, they are defensively responsible for a team that is very much lacking in that department among their forward group this season. A trade for one or both of them is unlikely, sure, but it's not the worst idea in the world.
Adam Henrique, C
This one, I will admit, is a very inconsistent player to pair with an incredibly inconsistent team. Like many on this list, Henrique is on pace to set a career-high in points. For a team that's lacking an offensive explosion other than Nikita Kucherov and the recent hot streaks of Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel, they badly need depth scoring. Enter Adam Henrique.
Henrique is certainly having a bounce back season, and he's putting a pretty solid advanced statistics for being on the Ducks -- one of the worst teams in the league. The forward is averaging around 17:35 a night, something that could lessen the burden for the top six and not give Jon Cooper any questions about who he's deploying when the big guys are resting.
Henrique has also been fantastic in the face-off circle: 2023-24 marks his sixth consecutive year with at least 51% percent in the dot. If there's one thing the Bolts don't necessarily need, it's centers that are dominant in the face of circle, as they have three players over 52% (Glendening, Paul, Stamkos). However, they certainly need depth scoring in the bottom six and a player that is not only able to score, but one that is also able to be defensively responsible. The numbers may not look great on Henrique, but he is by far one of the Ducks' most responsible defensive forwards on a team that is among the worst in the NHL.
Tyler Toffoli, RW
This one might be outside of the Lightning's price range for the trade deadline, but there isn't a more perfect fit for the top six than Tyler Toffoli. Currently with 26 goals and 44 points in 60 games for the Devils, Toffoli has 10 goals in his last 17 games, tied for the 13th most in the entire NHL. Between Los Angeles, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, and New Jersey, Toffoli knows how to score goals. He's a decent playoff performer as well, with 44 points in 88 career playoff games and two Stanley Cup to his name.
Has his defense been great this season? No, it really hasn't. But this is a swing that the Lightning would take in order to bolster their offensive production, rather than find someone who may be just capable as a two-way forward. The price for Toffoli is certainly going to be high, as the Devils will probably want a highly ranked pick or a highly touted prospect.
Johnny Kovacevic, RHD
It doesn't hurt to get depth going into the playoffs.
One of the biggest reasons that the Lightning were able to go as far as they did during their three runs to the Stanley Cup finals between 2020-22 was the amount of depth that they had. Alexander Volkov, Carter Verhaeghe, Luke Schenn, and Riley Nash were all guys that helped the Lightning get to the finals. In a pinch, the Lightning are probably going to need to use their eighth and ninth defenders in the playoffs, and this is where Johnny Kovacevic comes into play.
The Canadiens are a really interesting team to follow during the deadline. Well, they might not be receptive to trading in division, they currently have eight defender that have played 25 or more games on their roster. This doesn't even take into account defender Lane Hudson, their second round pick from 2022 who is certainly jumping into the lineup when Boston University's season ends. They need to clear out bodies, and the Lightning could potentially pick up Kovacevic for cheap.
The 26-year-old has played 128 games over two seasons for the Canadiens, and his offensive numbers have actually been pretty solid for someone who is sheltered to a depth role. The advanced stats don't look great upon his offensive metrics, but this is a Canadiens team that's 27th in the NHL at 2.77 goals per game. Kovacevic's defense game is actually above average for a team that is not great defensively (27th at 3.49 GA/GP) despite their defensive logjam. The good news about Kovacevic is that not only is he signed for the rest of this year, but the Lightning could potentially keep him again for next year with one year remaining on his contract, a contract that is under league min for next year.
Huge thanks to HockeyStatCards for providing some statistic cards to put my words into more digestible content.
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