NHL Trade Buzz: Hurricanes looking to buy

Welcome to the NHL Trade Buzz. There are two days remaining until the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline (Monday, 3 p.m. ET). What do the Carolina Hurricanes need to do? Could the Tampa Bay Lightning make a run at Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson? Will the Vegas Golden Knights need to stick with subtle moves?
Here's a look around the League at the latest deadline doings:

Carolina Hurricanes

As the trade deadline approaches, the Hurricanes have lost four straight games, including a 6-1 defeat against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. Carolina will have to look at its options, but when asked if he needed to make a pitch to general manager Ron Francis, coach Bill Peters said that won't be necessary.
"I don't make a pitch. They know I want to add. They've read that, I told them. I don't have to make a pitch," Peters said Friday. "They know exactly where I want to add, or the areas where I've suggested we can improve our hockey team. There's no pitch. We either make an addition or we make a deletion or we stand pat. Those are really the only three things that can happen. that's where that's at."
The Hurricanes (27-24-10, 64 points) are one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Carolina has struggled with scoring this season (2.62 goals per game, 26th in the NHL), and has scored five goals during their losing streak. Goaltending has been an issue, too; Scott Darling is not having the season the Hurricanes hoped for (10-15-6, 3.05 goals-against average). Cam Ward has been a little better (17-9-4, 2.70 GAA) but Carolina has not found consistence in goal.

Though the Hurricanes could use help, can they get enough of it at the deadline? Even if they make a tweak here or there, it may not make enough of a difference.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning have been rumored as a potential destination for Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson. General manager Steve Yzerman said Thursday he's not interested in trading anyone from his current roster, which would seem to rule the Lightning out of any Karlsson sweepstakes. But TSN analyst/former Calgary Flames general manager Craig Button told the Tampa Bay Times the Lightning could still swing a Karlsson deal.
"If I'm Pierre [Dorion, Senators general manager], I want quality," Button said. "I don't need four picks and three prospects, which two are B and one is an A. I'll take your first-round picks and two A prospects. They're going to be in the National Hockey League. Maybe [forward] Taylor Raddysh can turn into a Mark Stone [Senators forward]."
The Lightning (41-17-3, 85 points) are in first place in the Atlantic Division, three points ahead of the Boston Bruins, who have three games in hand. It still seems unlikely Karlsson ends up in Tampa Bay; he may not get moved at the deadline at all. But it's another scenario to consider.

Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights acquired forward Ryan Reaves from the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of a three-team deal Friday, with the Penguins acquiring center Derick Brassard from the Ottawa Senators. As general manager George McPhee said, it was a subtle move. Whether McPhee does more before the deadline, however, is uncertain.
"I never know what's going to transpire at the trade deadline," McPhee said Friday. "All the managers are making calls. It could be a lot. It could be nothing. We'll see what the next 48 hours bring."

The Golden Knights (41-16-4, 86 points) have the best record in the NHL, and lead the Nashville Predators by three points for the Western Conference lead. If Vegas does anything else, it may want to stick to the subtle route. The Golden Knights have had outstanding chemistry throughout the season and run the risk of disrupting that.

Ottawa Senators

Is Senators defenseman Johnny Oduya on the move? It's possible, considering coach Guy Boucher scratched Oduya when the Senators faced the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday (2 p.m. ET, NHLN, TVAS, TSN5, NBCSP-Plus, NHL.TV).
Boucher told the media that "I have to keep [Oduya] out." Oduya, 36, who has eight points (four goals, four assists) in 51 games, won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015.
The Senators (21-29-10, 52 points) are seventh in the Atlantic Division, 13 points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Senators already parted with center Derick Brassard, who was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of a three-team deal with the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday. Ottawa received Pittsburgh goaltending prospect Filip Gustavsson, defenseman Ian Cole, a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2019 draft. Boucher said Cole is not in Ottawa yet.
There are likely more moves coming for the Senators, including Oduya. Whatever they are, Boucher will adjust accordingly.
"Of course, we've got to look at how we want to do things and reshuffle things, but that's just part of the job," he said. "If I wanted an easy job, I'd sit on my couch and watch the games instead."

Montreal Canadiens

Center Tomas Plekanec's time in Montreal may be coming to an end. Plekanec will not be in the lineup against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, TVAS, CITY, SUN, NHL.TV).

Plekanec, 35, has 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in 60 games, and has spent his entire 14-year NHL career with the Canadiens. He told Arpon Basu of The Athletic on Feb. 12 that he'd like to finish his career in Montreal. But that now appears unlikely.
"There's nothing I can do about it," Plekanec said. "I mean, all I can do is play and see if Marc [Bergevin, Canadiens general manager] and Claude [Julien, Canadiens coach] want to keep me around for another year, or they don't and they send me away. That's as much as I can do. I always said I want to stay here. I like to play for Montreal, that's my home, so I don't really want to leave. But it's out of my hands, really."
The Canadiens (23-29-8, 54 points) are sixth in the Atlantic Division and 11 points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

San Jose Sharks

Sharks forward Joel Ward (upper body) is still on injured reserve, but could be on the move at the deadline. Darren Dreger of TSN tweeted on Saturday that the Sharks have asked for Ward's no-trade list. According to Dreger, Ward can block six teams from acquiring him.
Ward, 37, has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 46 games. Ward was playing on the fourth line before he was injured on Feb. 8 against the Golden Knights and could be a good depth pickup.
The Sharks (33-21-8, 74 points) are in second place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Anaheim Ducks.

Calgary Flames

The Flames (31-22-9, 71 points) placed goaltender Mike Smith on injured reserve Saturday, retroactive to Feb. 11, when he sustained a lower-body injury against the New York Islanders. Despite that, Flames general manager Brad Treliving said he's not looking for a goaltender at the deadline.
Factoring more into deadline decisions is where the Flames sit in the standings; they're one point behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
"The position we're in sometimes gives you a little pause," Treliving said before the Flames hosted the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, SN-W, ALT, NHL.TV). "When you're sitting where you're sitting, we all know the position we're in, you'd always like to help your team there, but at what cost? That makes it more difficult when you're a bubble team. There's a lot of teams in that pile. You look at both sides. There are teams that are in pretty good positions and then there's a group of us in the pile. Your hope at the deadline is always that you separate yourself from the pile. We're in the pile. Now you have to watch and make decisions accordingly."
The Flames have dealt with inconsistency, going 6-4-1 in their past 10 games. Treliving said he has seen "flashes" of great play, but the Flames will need more than that to separate themselves from the pack.
"I think we're capable of more," he said. "The standings are usually a pretty good barometer of where you're at, and we're in the pile. We've seen glimpses of what I think the team is capable of. There's a whole bunch of teams around us that are probably going through the same thing. But we need to find that level and we need to find it collectively. Usually when you find your individual game, more often than not the team game takes off. We're certainly capable of more."

Buffalo Sabres

Sabres forward Evander Kane has seemed a likely trade candidate for several weeks. A move may be getting close; the Sabres held Kane out of their game at the Washington Capitals on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, NBCS-WA, MSG-B, NHL.TV).

"Management thought it was the best decision moving forward and the best decision for Evander," Buffalo coach Phil Housley said. "I'll discuss anything else about the game tonight, but that's the situation right now."
Kane, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, has 40 points in 61 games (20 goals, 20 assists). The 26-year-old spoke to the Buffalo News on Wednesday about hearing the rumors and knowing something seemed likely happen soon.
"I'm not thinking about it right now too much," Kane told the newspaper. "I'm trying to focus on the games that we have left before that deadline. We'll deal with the move when it happens. I have a feel of what teams might be interested and what teams aren't interested, but I really have no idea. I'm going to find out just like you guys do."
The Sabres, (18-32-11, 47 points) who are in last place in the Atlantic Division, 18 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, are the latest to sit a player expected to be traded before the deadline. The New York Rangers have sat Rick Nash for two consecutive games; on Thursday, they sat forward Michael Grabner, who was traded to the New Jersey Devils that night. On Saturday, the Ottawa Senators scratched defenseman Johnny Oduya and the Montreal Canadiens did the same with forward Tomas Plekanec before their respective games.
NHL.com Correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report.