Which buyers have the most cap space heading into the 2025 trade deadline?

Just a few days remain before the NHL’s 2025 trade deadline. And we’ve seen plenty of business handled by general managers around the league already.

On Saturday, a trio of trades sent a few veteran defenders on to new chapters. Earlier moves saw one of the game’s best wingers switch jerseys, and a bona fide contender land a new starting goalie. Even so, a number of marquee names could still find themselves repping different clubs by the end of March 7, and plenty of organizations head toward the deadline with enough cap space to make things interesting.

That in mind, let’s take a look at a few buyers who have meaningful cap space to work with as deadline day looms:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Deadline cap space: $86.4 million

Rewind to the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign, and there were few prognosticators, if any, who had the Blue Jackets in this position. A tragic start to their season and a half-decade of difficult campaigns were enough to warrant assumptions that this would be another tough year for Columbus. Instead, the Blue Jackets sit in the East’s top wild-card spot in March, looking likely to make their return to the post-season after four years on the outside. 

Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell said last month that he feels he should reward his squad for what it’s showed to this point. “The way I look at it, I don’t know if selling off is the right thing for this group,” he told NHL.com in February. “This group has done a great job of sticking together, and whether we can get there or not, I think I’ve got to give this group a chance.”

If the Jackets do elect to add, they have enough room to do seemingly anything they want, with more than $80 million in cap space at their disposal. While a massive swing seems unlikely, bringing in meaningful forward depth could help the Jackets hold on to that wild-card spot through the rest of the season.

Washington Capitals

Deadline cap space: $3.7 million ($16.7 million LTIR pool)

The Caps are enjoying their best season in half a decade, a meteoric campaign that has them sitting atop the Eastern Conference with 22 games left to navigate. The club has every reason to go all-in and capitalize on this strong regular-season showing, to try to potentially spin it into the second Cup of Alex Ovechkin’s career. The front office seems to agree, as GM Chris Patrick said “anything is on the table” when it comes to bolstering the roster ahead of March 7. 

The Caps have the flexibility to make some interesting moves, with plenty of LTIR space granting them room to work. That said, the Caps did much of their business in the off-season, bringing in netminder Logan Thompson, defender Jacob Chychrun and pivot Pierre-Luc Dubois. The biggest concern heading into the deadline is how to add without upsetting the chemistry that’s carried them this far in 2024-25. A significant acquisition that would shake up that status quo likely doesn’t make much sense, but a smaller swing to improve the bottom of the lineup could be worthwhile as Washington turns its attention to the post-season.

Florida Panthers

Deadline cap space: $8.7 million ($10.6 million LTIR pool)

The Panthers are always an intriguing club to watch this time of year, and GM Bill Zito already made some noteworthy waves in the market over the past week — first acquiring veteran defender Seth Jones and then announcing that Matthew Tkachuk will be out for the rest of the regular season, meaning the defending-champion Cats have some significant LTIR space to work with.

The most important consideration here is Zito’s affinity for taking unending swings, keeping the Panthers all-in at all times. If there’s another marquee move to be made, it’s a fair bet this Panthers front office will try to make it happen. On the latest episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said as much: “I think you have to look at them right now and say, ‘With all that cap room, they’re going to strike again.’”

With Spencer Knight moved out as part of the Jones deal, goaltending depth has become an area the club could look to address before March 7. Bringing in some help up front to hold the team over while Tkachuk is sidelined could be an option, too. Either way, something is coming.

Dallas Stars

Deadline cap space: $4.6 million ($12.3 million LTIR pool)

A bona fide contender that’s been hit hard by injuries, the Stars still find themselves in a solid position heading into the home stretch, sitting second in the Central despite the absence of Miro Heiskanen and Tyler Seguin. The club has some room to operate, given the LTIR space created by those injuries, but the biggest question for Dallas’s brass is when it expects the key pair to return. With Heiskanen undergoing knee surgery a month ago, and Seguin undergoing hip surgery in December, it’s unclear whether one or both will be back in the lineup before Game 82, which muddies Dallas’s deadline plans.

Either way, there are holes to fill. A blue-line upgrade could help, and there may be room to add more up front as well. GM Jim Nill already brought in Mikael Granlund, fresh off a sterling 4 Nations performance, but Dallas has the flexibility to do more. In fact, it could swing much bigger than some expect — on Monday’s podcast, Friedman highlighted the Stars as a potential landing spot for star winger Mikko Rantanen if the Canes can’t ink him to an extension and elect to flip him before the deadline.

Colorado Avalanche

Deadline cap space: $3.3 million ($8.9 million LTIR pool)

Coming off two brief post-season appearances in the wake of their 2022 championship, the Avs have wasted little time in retooling their roster to get a deeper run in 2025. They’ve already gotten much of their business out of the way over the course of the regular season. This past weekend, the club brought in defender Ryan Lindgren and forward Jimmy Vesey in a deal with the New York Rangers. Before that, they authored two of the biggest deals we’ve seen in 2024-25, sending franchise star Rantanen to Carolina in a January blockbuster, and retooling their goaltending with the acquisition of Mackenzie Blackwood a month before that. 

But Colorado still has room to operate, and every reason to utilize it before the post-season arrives. There’s still a need at centre behind Nathan MacKinnon, and with some intriguing pivots seemingly up for grabs, Friedman suggested that 2C spot could be where GM Chris MacFarland looks to add before March 7. 

Detroit Red Wings

Deadline cap space: $13.6 million

On the cusp of ending a near-decade-long playoff drought, the Red Wings should have all the reason they need to swing big and look for progress in 2025. Holding on to the second wild-card spot in the East, with the Senators, Rangers and Bruins just a couple points behind them, Detroit could use an impactful addition or two to ensure it holds on and officially book its ticket back to the dance. 

The Wings have plenty of space to make moves, and could use help both up front and on the back end. The 32 Thoughts crew highlighted blue-line depth as the GM Steve Yzerman’s focus of late. A massive swing for a marquee name doesn’t exactly seem in line with Yzerman’s style, but a few quieter moves to build up the squad’s blue-line depth and fill out its forward corps could help seal the Red Wings’ return to the playoff picture.

Winnipeg Jets

Deadline cap space: $12.4 million

Flying high as the league’s No. 1 club in the lead-up to the deadline, the Jets find themselves in a similar spot as the Capitals — all-in on trying to turn this momentum into a meaningful Cup run, but wary of tinkering with the chemistry of a winning squad. As Friedman pointed out in Monday’s episode, even if this is a season in which it seems worth taking a big swing and moving out a first-round pick to land a key piece, there doesn’t seem an obvious option that makes sense for these Jets. Even so, reports have GM Kevin Cheveldayoff scanning the market to assess those options, seeking out a worthy big swing.

The more worthwhile approach, without upending too much, might be simply filling more specific holes in the bottom half of the roster, adding players who can address particular needs and serve in particular roles. There’s room to add to the blue line in that sense, and to potentially find a depth pivot who could bolster the Jets’ lineup down the middle, too. 

Edmonton Oilers

Deadline cap space: $5.2 million ($5.1 million LTIR pool)

Fresh off a Cup Final run, and hungry to get back there again, the Oilers are having a tougher go this time around. The key names on the roster aren’t firing on all cylinders, the chemistry doesn’t look quite as seamless as it has in the past, and the club is feeling the absence of some of the quick-footed pieces it lost in the off-season. There’s little question the Oil are all-in on making the moves needed to get Connor McDavid and Co. back in position to make some serious playoff noise, but the path to getting there isn’t too clear-cut.

Much of the chatter around Edmonton has linked the club to a change in net, with the Ducks’ John Gibson floated as a potential target. GM Stan Bowman has downplayed the potential of a goaltender acquisition, but hasn’t ruled it out all together — the real issue is whether they feel Gibson, or any of the other potential options available, would truly be a significant upgrade over Stuart Skinner. Outside of the cage, help on the blue line and more speed up front are high on the Oilers’ list of needs, according to Friedman. Edmonton has some cap flexibility to work with, and could find itself with even more if it’s able to move Evander Kane and his $5.1-million cap hit before March 7.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Deadline cap space: $3 million ($3.6 million LTIR pool)

It’s looking like familiar territory for the Maple Leafs. The club has looked good through the regular season, sitting atop its division as it heads into the home stretch. But the Leafs also haven’t exactly been firing on all cylinders all season, nor have they necessarily proven they’re clear of the issues that plagued them in post-seasons past. GM Brad Treliving is no stranger to taking swings at the deadline, so it’s fair to assume moves are coming — the question is simply how high the Maple Leafs manager reaches.

A move to bolster Toronto’s centre depth seems a near sure thing, with the club linked to Brayden Schenn and every other potential option down the middle. Friedman offered another intriguing possibility to shake up the blue-and-white’s forward corps, though: Rantanen. 

“If it becomes a thing, it’s just Treliving’s way that he would poke into Rantanen. Now, obviously, it could never be a long-term thing unless their cap situation completely changed,” Friedman said. “But I find it very hard to believe that if Rantanan got out there, Toronto wouldn’t at least see what it took to do it.”

Tampa Bay Lightning

Deadline cap space: $6 million

After a pair of first-round exits over their last two post-seasons, the Lightning’s run as one of the league’s elite seemed all but through. But the Bolts are enjoying a resurgent 2024-25 that has them back among the Atlantic Division’s best. A dominant eight-game win streak has them hitting their stride as the season’s home stretch approaches, too, setting up the Lightning to be a playoff force once again.

Like their state rival, the key for the Lightning is GM Julien BriseBois’ history of taking big swings. With his club having revived its contender status, look for BriseBois to make waves once again. Per Friedman, the focus is adding more scoring to the Lightning — ideally, someone who could be a meaningful contributor, like Buffalo’s Alex Tuch. The key obstacle to navigate there is what exactly the Lightning have in the way of assets that could go the other way. An alternate path might be adding a role player to fill out the bottom six — like, perhaps, Yanni Gourde, who won a pair of Cups in Lightning colours before he was moved to Seattle.

“I do think they’re going to add,” Friedman said of the Bolts during Monday’s episode. “Especially with how they’ve played lately, I do think they see themselves as a team that can be a threat, and a legitimate threat. So, I don’t think they’re going to sit here and let this all go by.”

Salary cap information courtesy of PuckPedia.

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