Which players' trade stock has changed the most in the last week and why?
Craig Custance: At the trade deadline, there's not a contending team that won't want to add reinforcements on defense. Because of the lack of sellers, there just aren't a lot of top-four defensemen on the market, but one starting to come on offensively is the Arizona Coyotes' Michael Stone. Slowed by injuries to end last season and begin this season, Stone might be finding his game at just the right time. He scored his first goal of the season on Saturday and has points in consecutive games. He's coming off a 36-point season and is a right-handed shot, a valuable commodity. He's an unrestricted free agent after this season, so the team trading for him can get an early look at how he fits into the lineup. The bet here is he ends up fetching a nice return for the Coyotes when they deal him to the Lightning, a nice fit if GM Steve Yzerman decides to add.
Matthew Coller: Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop has been in trade rumors for months, but if his play doesn't improve, Yzerman won't have any shot at moving him. Bishop has an .896 save percentage in January and was pulled from a start against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday after giving up five goals on just 17 shots. With Andrei Vasilevskiy also sputtering, the Lightning goaltending situation is looking a lot shakier than it did coming into the season. As for a player with rising trade stock, veteran Buffalo Sabres winger Brian Gionta must be on the Jaromir Jagr plan because he is the Sabres' leader in 5-on-5 points per 60 minutes. He posted two assists against the Toronto Maple Leafs and scored a goal against his former team, the Montreal Canadiens, in a win. Although the Sabres are playing much better lately, if they slip toward the bottom of the Atlantic, they will likely be able to move their 38-year-old forward if he waives his no-trade clause.
Pierre LeBrun: Kevin Shattenkirk's stock has risen in part because he's still putting up points, but also with his team struggling, it becomes more and more likely that he will get dealt. Of interest to me is whether the St. Louis Blues would consider doing a sign-and-trade, in which they allow an interested team to sign him to an extension. This, in turn, would augment his trade return value. Thing is, sign-and-trades -- or allowing the other team to talk contract before a trade -- are not that common in-season. Perhaps the more realistic scenario is the Blues add a conditional component -- say, a draft pick -- to the trade if indeed Shattenkirk after the season were to sign with his new team. Either way, I don't think the Blues are going to trade Shattenkirk for the sake of it, but they're going to listen to what's out there. There won't be a more impactful defenseman available on the market before March 1.
Scott Burnside: The more the Dallas Stars lose -- they have three wins in 10 games in January -- the more likely GM Jim Nill is to look hard at moving some or all of the seven players who can become unrestricted free agents on July 1. None will bring the interest that two-time Stanley Cup winner and Olympic gold medalist Patrick Sharp will bring. The left winger has struggled with concussion issues this season and has a limited no-trade clause, which will limit the asking price, but his experience and personality make him a fit for any contending team like, say, the Chicago Blackhawks or the Nashville Predators.
Joe McDonald: There comes a point when a general manager needs to make a difficult decision to better the organization. Tampa's Yzerman is at a crossroads. Many experts picked the Lightning to win the Stanley Cup. Instead, Tampa is in the cellar and is a mess. Injuries have buckled the lineup and now it's time for Yzerman to be a seller. He won't be able to re-sign all of his restricted free agents, including forwards Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin, and defensemen Andrej Sustr and Nikita Nesterov. Drouin, Nesterov, Vladislav Namestnikov and Valtteri Filppula could all be on the block.