5 NHL Players Likely to Be Dealt After the Bo Horvat Trade

The NHL trade deadline is a brilliantly fun time of year, and what helps amp that up is when a team gets out ahead of the whole thing. Such was the case this week when the New York Islanders acquired Bo Horvat from the Vancouver Canucks.

While Horvat's cross-continent move may have put a damper on everyone's deadline day programming, it cleared the deck for the next set of moves. Horvat was arguably the biggest name on the board, which would have taken the pizzazz out of things in any other year, but this year is not like others. There's still a lot of talent out there to keep things spicy.

However, with Horvat now calling Long Island home, we have to cast our eyes down the list at who is likely to be next. That means looking at other big names being floated and those teams in a similar position to that of the Islanders (and Canucks).

Let's take a look at five players we think are in line to find a new mailing address until the end of the season (and perhaps beyond). The rumors are out there and the scuttlebutt is picking up as time ticks down until March 3.

We know the really big names, such as Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, but moving them will take finesse and, more importantly, time. There's also the whole financial aspect, too, even though the salary cap gets a little fuzzy at deadline time and with the long-term injured reserve to play with.

Let's get to the list. Leave a comment if you have other players in mind.

Defensive defensemen aren't always sexy pickups, and they're not always going to get fans juiced up for a stretch run. After all, they're best when you don't notice them, as the cliché goes. When it comes to Columbus Blue Jackets defender Vladislav Gavrikov, however, he stands out as a solid player for a team needing a hardy defenseman to deepen its blue-line corps.

Gavrikov is due to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and because of that he's tantalizing for teams in the playoff race. He sports a $2.8 million cap hit, which is palatable to even the teams pushing it to the max with the cap or their LTIR allotment. While he doesn't bring a lot of goals to the table, he supplies physical play and a defense-first résumé.

Standing at 6'3", 221 pounds, Gavrikov is the prototypical gritty defenseman some of us in the media wax poetic about in the postseason. He blocks shots, he's willing to deliver hits, and he's more stay-at-home than he is high-risk. He's a perfect eye-test player, which is fortunate for Columbus; many general managers evaluate in that way, and his fancy stats, at least this season, tell a different story.

Starting-six defenders are tough to come by, and someone in Gavrikov's spot as a soon-to-be free agent will get picked up. With Horvat having landed in the Eastern Conference, it would make sense for another team in the East to want to get tougher to play against.

We're staying on the prowl for defensemen by discussing one who plays with a ton of heart and a fair bit of snarl, too.

Chicago's Jake McCabe fits the bill for teams that might be thinking about Gavrikov or even Jakob Chychrun but may not want to go that heavy on the cost in picks and players to get them. While it sounds like I'm making McCabe out to be a lesser player than them, that is not the case.

On a bad team, McCabe is one of the best at helping when it comes to shot attempts at five-on-five as well as expected goal percent. Mind you, those numbers in general are not great, but when you consider how awful Chicago has been, McCabe is like Superman since he's done as well as he has.

Unlike Gavrikov, McCabe can be a slick puck-mover as well. He can make a good first pass, and considering he would jump into a contending team's second or third pairing, that would be a boon further down in the lineup.

McCabe so far has played on teams that were bound for the floor. That, however, is not a reflection of his performance but perhaps more of his misfortune to miss out on the Buffalo Sabres' turning into one of the league's most fun teams as well as the Blackhawks' playoff days. Should he land with a club destined for the playoffs, his abilities are sure to shine when the games get tougher to play.

I wanted to avoid saying this, but some puns are irresistible: If there's a big fish on the trade market, the San Jose Sharks' Timo Meier is the biggest.

Meier should be the most attractive player for a team looking to put its offense over the top en route to the playoffs. At 26 years old, Meier is in a contract year, and his stat line of 28 goals and 48 points in 51 games is juicy. But unlike other players out there, he will be a restricted free agent, so any team adding him will have control of him come summertime.

Meier is coming off a career year in which he had 76 points with 35 goals. Twice he has scored 30 goals or more, and he's well on the way to making it thrice. He's a dynamic winger who isn't just strong offensively but defensively as well.

His advanced stats jump off the page. He is second to Erik Karlsson in five-on-five shot attempt percentage and second to Kevin Labanc in expected goal percentage. That he is north of 55 percent in each category means the Sharks are doing much more with him out there than without, and putting up numbers like that on a poor team speaks volumes.

The rumors are burning hot with the New Jersey Devils mentioned often and the Sabres and others having kicked the tires. The cost would be high, but considering a team could retain him (likely with a beefy contract extension), the price just might be right.

Trying to nab a goaltender at the trade deadline can be dicey. Going from one system to another can create unpredictable results. But when that goaltender is young, on a bad team and recovering from an injury, the mystery is only heightened along with the intrigue.

Such is the case with Vancouver's Thatcher Demko. The 27-year-old is in his fourth full season with the Canucks, but he's been out of action since he suffered a lower-body injury Dec. 1. What's difficult is his numbers were not good, but that has also been the case with the Canucks in general.

Demko seems like a player Vancouver might want to hang on to while it gets sorted out, but Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said on The Jeff Marek Show (24:40 mark) on Tuesday that the Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings make sense as landing places. There's also the fact that Demko could be out of action for two more weeks.

The Penguins and Kings could be desperate for goaltending help. Pittsburgh is without Tristan Jarry until at least after the All-Star break, and the Kings are somehow near the top of the Pacific Division despite questionable goaltending by Jonathan Quick and Pheonix Copley. Desperation might be a stinky cologne, but it also makes deals happen from time to time.

There are a host of Arizona Coyotes who could be mentioned here, from the biggest possible prize in Chychrun to his defense partner, Shayne Gostisbehere.

But if those deals happen, it might take a while. There's always an easier play to make, and there's always a team in need of a big forward. After all, no one loves a big-bodied center more than teams looking to get a size advantage for the playoffs. Nick Bjugstad more than fits that bill.

The 6'6", 209-pound 30-year-old pivot is having a solid season with 21 points, including 11 goals in 50 games. He is not a big-time scorer, but he is big and creates matchup problems for opponents. He takes faceoffs and handles them decently (49 percent in his career), but when those become more scrum-like in the postseason, that's when his big frame and long arms and legs can come in handy to box out opponents.

What's remarkable is Bjugstad has the highest average ice time in his career (16:45 per game). The last time he played more than 16 minutes per game was in 2014-2015, when he was 22 years old. His offensive numbers don't jump out, but consider how rough the Coyotes offense has been (2.58 goals per game, 28th of 32 teams). His 11 goals tie him for third on the team—a regular Brett Hull.

What else makes him an attractive player? His cap hit. He's on a one-year deal worth $900,000, which makes him perfect for any team with a need up the middle and not a lot of cap space. It also means a deal would be relatively easy to figure out. Friedman reported one GM said Bjugstad could be worth a second- or third-round pick. That'd be a nice bit of business for a team always on the lookout to add draft capital.