Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning

While it may seem far fetched that the Tampa Bay Lightning would be willing to part ways with a guy who just scored 43 goals a season ago, it is actually much more likely than you think. Stamkos contract expires in a year. Even though the team has attempted to re sign their sniper, the sides have not been able to agree upon a deal. He could be asking for Jonathan Toews like money, and if that is the case there is no way the Lightning can re sign him.

Last year, a pack of young talents had their breakout seasons. Tyler Johnson had just as much points last year as Stamkos with 72. He also put up an impressive 33 +/-, which was among the leagues best. His linemates Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat were just as impressive last year, with over 60 points and over 30 +/-. Victor Hedman was the teams best player in the playoffs leading the team with 23:58 minutes a game and a 11 +/-. Those players all need to get paid, and the question is can they all stay in Tampa Bay if the team needs to sign Stamkos. The most likely outcome seems to be Tampa Bay trading Stamkos now while his value is still sky high before teams realize they are not going to re sign him and wait for free agency.

Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks

A future hall of famer, Joe Thornton has been a mainstay on the San Jose Sharks top line. That may end this season however. Thornton was involved in a public feud with the Sharks GM Doug Wilson last year. That was made obvious when in a press conference last season he said “He just needs to stop lying, shut his mouth." As good as Thornton has been over his career, the Sharks have never been close to winning a title. It has to annoy Thornton that despite putting up a Hall of Fame level 1,259 career points, he has never been a part of a Stanley Cup contender.

Things aren’t looking better for the team either. They missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2003. They also have uncertainty in net this year after letting go of Antii Niemi. Thornton is still a top line center, and the Sharks know they can get a ton of value for him. He notched 65 points for the Sharks last year, which was good enough for top 30 in the league last year. It would make sense for a Sharks team that appears to be on the brink of rebuilding to get value for a guy not in their future plans.

Jordan Eberle, Edmonton Oilers

Speaking of rebuilding, the Oilers are yet again expected to pick up a top 5 pick this year. It has been a long time since the word playoff contenders was a word used to describe the lowly Oilers, who have talent but that talent always underperforms. Believe it or not though, according to Hockey’s Cap the Oilers are only expected to have $3.5 million in cap space next year. That is ridiculous for a team that got the first pick last year.

Jordan Eberle has far from the worst contract on the team, but at $6 million a year he is up there with Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The team wants Nail Yakupov on that top line with them, not Eberle. Since Eberle is coming off a good year, it would make sense that they trade him now while he has good value. The team has close to no good players on defense or in net. It would make sense to trade Eberle when the team already has Hall, McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins and Yakupov

Paul Stastny, St. Louis Blues

Last year, Statsny was one of the Blues biggest disappointments. His 46 points was only good enough to be tied for fifth on the team. Despite that, Statsny is still scheduled to make $7 million, which is second most on the team. The Blues only have $1.8 million in cap space, and are probably looking to dump cap since Jaden Schwartz still has to be paid.

If you look at the teams highest paid players, Statsny is out classed. Vladimir Tarasenko had 37 goals last year and led the team with 73 points. Fellow winger Alexander Steen put up 24 goals last year while notching 64 points. Defender Alex Pietrangelo managed to score as much as Statsny on the blue line, with 46 points.  On the Avalanche, Stastny had three seasons with 70 or more points and he for sure is a top 6 forward, but it just doesn't seem that the Blues are the right fit for him.

Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild's longtime goaltender had to sit and watch as Devan Dubnyk essentially took the role of Wild's starting goalie away from him. Dubnyk put up an incredible 1.78 GAA and a .936 SV%, which despite only being a 39 game sample resulted in him getting over half of the teams wins with 27. His post season performance was icing on the cake, as the team were able to defeat the St Louis Blue before running into their arch nemesis, the Chicago Blackhawks.

The question is, what does this mean for Backstrom? Backstrom is a proven veteran goalie, but with Dubnyk on the roster there is no way he will be the starting goalie opening night. There are a more than a few teams out there that could use a solid goalie, and Backstrom’s 189 career wins shows he knows how to get the job done. The only question is what team will be willing to take a chance on the aging vet.