Islanders: Three questions leading into the trade deadline

Will there be enough sellers?

The supply in this year’s trade deadline market is weak. And that’s because the number of sellers is quite low. The teams well out of the playoff race include the Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, and New Jersey Devils.

Most of those teams aren’t loaded with top-end talent looking for a lifeline out of town. Most of them have already been stripped of all of their top-end talent in prior seasons.

So why are there so few sellers?

We’re still just over a month away from the February 24 trade deadline so there are still a number of teams still “in it”.

Out in the Western Conference, the San Jose Sharks are third from the bottom and are only eight points out of a wild card spot. The Pacific Division specifically, is wide open. The Vegas Golden Knights are the fourth-ranked team in the division but are three points out of first.

In the Eastern Conference, four teams are six points out of a wild card spot (Columbus, Florida, Buffalo, and the Rangers.) The Montreal Canadiens who are, at the time of writing, seven points out of a wild card spot acquired Ilya Kovalchuk leading up to the trade deadline, so who knows if they still think they’re in it.

With so much parity in this league and with loser points keeping teams closer to the playoff picture than out of it, the number of sellers might just remain as short as it is now. Leaving the trade deadline pretty baren.