NHL Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on Top Players and Teams Entering 2020 Deadline – Bleacher Report

With Monday’s NHL trade deadline approaching, many teams have already been active on the trade market, and several quality players could still be on the move.

Since many teams are either out of or on the fringes of the playoff race, there should be no shortage of sellers, which could be a positive for buyers if teams are willing to simply get as much as they can for players who are impending free agents or don’t fit their plans.

Here is a closer look at Los Angeles Kings forward Jeff Carter, Ottawa Senators forward Vladislav Namestnikov and Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry and what reporters are saying about their chances of getting traded.

        

Jeff Carter

Carter is a fairly big name nearing the latter stages of his career, but he could still be a solid addition for the right price because of his goal-scoring resume.

According to Jonathan Davis of SiriusXM NHL, three to four teams are interested in acquiring the 35-year-old veteran. Davis noted that salary retention will be a key factor in the deal since Carter has a salary cap hit of $5.2 million over the next two seasons.

Carter was among the best scorers in the NHL for 12 seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Kings, but he has struggled the past three seasons. This year, he has 17 goals and 10 assists for 27 points in 60 games.

Injuries limited Carter to just 27 games two seasons ago, and in 2018-19 he finished with just 13 goals and 33 points in 76 contests.

If a team trades for Carter, it will be banking on him recapturing at least some of the goal-scoring magic he has displayed throughout his career. Carter has 382 goals and 350 assists for 732 points in 1,040 career regular-season games, and he has reached the 30-goal mark four times.

Carter also has 120 games of postseason experience, with 74 points in those contests. He has won two Stanley Cups with the Kings.

Los Angeles would undoubtedly love to move on from Carter since it is the worst team in the Western Conference. If the price is reasonable, he could be a nice addition for a team with Cup aspirations in need of some secondary scoring.

                  

Vladislav Namestnikov

After acquiring him earlier in the season, the Senators may soon move on from Namestnikov, who is an impending free agent.

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets are among the teams that have shown interest in the 27-year-old forward.

After appearing in two games with the New York Rangers to start the season, Namestnikov was dealt to Ottawa in October for Nick Ebert and a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NHL draft.

Namestnikov has been a solid secondary scorer for the Sens this season, with 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points in 54 games. He is on pace to better the 31 points he recorded in 78 games with the Rangers last season.

The 2011 first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning enjoyed his most productive campaign two seasons ago, which he split between the Lightning and Rangers.

Namestnikov had a career-high 22 goals and 48 points. Forty-four of those points came with the Bolts, and he hasn’t been as productive playing for lesser teams since. If Namestnikov lands with the Leafs or Jets, he will be surrounded with far more offensive talent than he is in Ottawa.

Toronto boasts the likes of Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitchell Marner and William Nylander, while Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers lead the way in Winnipeg.

Namestnikov showed with Tampa that he can be productive with the right linemates, and if he plays alongside any of the aforementioned players in Toronto or Winnipeg, he could be an excellent deadline rental.

                    

Jeff Petry

According to TheFourthPeriod.com, Petry has generated a “significant amount of interest” on the trade market, with the Leafs, Jets, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers believed to be among his suitors.

Even so, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has reportedly shown little interest in moving the veteran blueliner.

The fact that Petry is signed through next season could make him attractive on the trade market since he isn’t a rental, but it may also be a factor in the Habs’ willingness to keep him.

Petry, 32, has been among the NHL’s best offensive defensemen in recent seasons despite largely flying under the radar. The United States-born rearguard has nine goals and 28 assists for 37 points in 63 games this season, putting him on pace to reach 40 points for the third consecutive year.

Petry began his career with the Edmonton Oilers, bit it wasn’t until a trade to the Habs in 2015 that he started to come into his own.

The one drawback with Petry is that he has been a minus player in all but two of his 10 NHL seasons. Because of that, any prospective new team would be wise to pair him with a defense-first blueliner.

The Leafs, Jets, Canes and Panthers are all teams with a great deal of offensive talent up front that could use some more offensive punch from the back end.

Petry would likely be a top-four defenseman and a power-play quarterback for any of those teams, but one can only assume it would cost a first-round pick to land him given how productive he has been offensively in recent years.

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