The NHL Trade Deadline may not be near but that doesn't stop the many NHL trade rumors that float around the entire season. Many don't happen at the start of the season but once we get to January, things start to heat up. Here are five players who could be moved well before the February 29th trade deadline.
Ryan Johansen: This may come as a surprise to people but his name has recently surfaced in rumors. TSN's Darren Dreger reported yesterday that Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen is "listening to offers" for him. This situation could turn out to be like Ryan O'Reilly and the Colorado Avalanche from a couple seasons ago. Both players had contract issues with their teams and O'Reilly ended up being traded because of it and it wouldn't shock me if Johansen was traded either. He's entering the last year of his three year contract next year but it's going to have to take a big offer for the Blue Jackets to pull the trigger. He had 71 points last year in 82 games and is their best player so he won't come cheap.
Eric Staal: The Eric Staal situation in Carolina is going to become very interesting as we get closer to the trade deadline. The Hurricanes are still going through a rebuild since they haven't made the playoffs since the 2008-2009 season when they lost to the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final. Staal is now 34 years old and is in a contract year since he's a free agent at the end of this season. Do the Hurricanes want to give their captain a four year extension or should they speed up their rebuild and get what they can for Eric Staal and possibly Cam Ward? It will be interesting to see what GM Ron Francis does.
Dustin Byfuglien: Like Staal, Byfulgien is also a free agent at the end of this season but Byfulgien is younger then Staal and some of his very good hockey is still ahead of him. It's going to take a lot for the Jets to resign him because they also have their captain Andrew Ladd to resign. Byfuglien could fetch a lot in a trade and there are many teams out there looking for defense including the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Minnesota Wild. Kevin Chelveldayoff, Winnipeg's GM, has been working the phones and trying to see what's out there so a deal could come sooner rather then later.
Travis Hamonic: Perhaps the biggest surprise player that is out on the trading block is New York Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic who has asked to be traded for personal family reasons. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported last week that he wants to be dealt to a Western Canada team so that he can be closer to his family but that hasn't stopped teams like Minnesota trying to call GM Garth Snow and ask.
The most logical place for Hamonic seems like Winnipeg since they may lose Byfulgien next year and will replace him with a very good player in Hamonic. The Calgary Flames are also another team he wouldn't mind going to but the Flames were asked about TJ Brodie who's one of their best defenseman and that was a straight no. Garth Snow has a lot of time to trade him and it wouldn't shock me if he waited until the NHL Draft to get the best offer.
Tyson Barrie: The Colorado Avalanche are having another terrible season despite all the young talent and that could lead to drastic changes either in season or after the season. Head coach Patrick Roy could end up getting canned and Tyson Barrie's name is already being floated around in the rumor mill with this bad start to the season. Barrie is a very good offensive defenseman with a ton of upside and could easily bolster a team's blue line. He, like all of the other players on this list, will not come cheap either. Colorado may not wait a long time to trade a couple players including Barrie so this could happen fairly early.