Analyzing TSN's Trade Bait (Part 2) (Patreon)

A continuation of part 1. 

#6 - Ilya Kovalchuk

Months ago, Kovalchuk was a league minimum cast-off that nobody wanted. Now he's a vaunted-after deadline target. Since finding a new role on the Canadiens, Kovalchuk has turned it around, re-emerging as a good middle-six winger. His defensive competence is a surprise; his decent production is less-so. GMs be warned: you might remember Kovy as a potent powerplay weapon, but he is now actually one of the worst forwards in the league on the man-advantage. Prediction: St. Louis

#7 - Tyler Toffoli

Toffoli is a second-line winger who's generally decent in most situations (I doubt any team envisions him as a key piece on their penalty kill). For a team that plays the game at a slower pace he would be a good fit. An interesting fact about the Kings winger - and one that explains a lot about the team's scoring woes - is that by HockeyViz's shooters model, he has the least shooting talent of any forward in the National Hockey League. So don't expect goals in bunches from him. Prediction: Boston

#8 - Anthony DeAngelo

DeAngelo isn't the type of player who's usually available at the deadline - he's a young right handed defenceman who in limited minutes has been elite at driving offence and strong on the powerplay. In theory, he would be a great fit moving forward on the Rangers' second pair behind Adam Fox, but I suppose the increasingly disastrous Jacob Trouba contract is taking up some of that space. DeAngelo is an RFA in the summer, and I expect that if the Rangers elect to move on from him it will happen then. Prediction: New York Rangers

#9 - Andreas Athanasiou

Athanasiou has all the outward signs of a smart deadline target: he's fast, he's a good scorer, and he's young enough that whatever team acquires him will have his RFA rights in the summer. But while he has a good shot and decent production, there are a lot of question marks about what he provides aside from the scoreboard; he's one of the league's worst defensive players, below average at driving offence, and not particularly effective on special teams. He's young enough to turn it around, and he showed last season that he can be a good second liner, but the 30 goal season on his resume might ramp his price. Prediction: Detroit (for now)

#10 - Matt Dumba

There's selling low, and then there's trading Matt Dumba at this year's deadline. Overnight, Dumba has gone from elite to AHL-calibre, a development that is hopefully more of a slump than a lingering injury issue. This sudden change makes it difficult to assess him based on weighted averages, but his profile is generally consistent - an extremely talented offensive defenceman with huge powerplay value and dismal defence. The decision of what to do about Dumba will be a major test of new GM Bill Guerin's composure - especially if he trades him for anything less than a major impact forward. Prediction: Toronto