For the record, the 2023 NHL trade deadline is still scheduled for Friday, March 3, even if most of the league has decided to get their holiday shopping done early.
According to CapFriendly, the average number of trades made in the 14 days leading to the trade deadline was 17.6 over the past 10 seasons. In 2022-23, there were 27 trades made in that time period as of Tuesday.
Those trades included most of the biggest names that were expected to move before the deadline: Patrick Kane (traded to the New York Rangers), Timo Meier (New Jersey Devils), Ryan O'Reilly (Toronto Maple Leafs), Mattias Ekholm (Edmonton Oilers) and Dmitry Orlov (Boston Bruins) among them. Go back even further, and you'll find trades for Vladimir Tarasenko (Rangers) and Bo Horvat (New York Islanders).
With so many trades and so little salary cap space, what's left for Friday's deadline?
Plenty, actually. Significant names still need new homes. Contenders still need to fill lineup holes. Rebuilding teams still want to amass picks and prospects. And given the "third party" trade creativity we've seen this season -- with "broker" teams picking up draft picks in exchange for retaining salary on a traded player -- there's a chance for more big moves under the cap before the deadline.
Here are the trade tiers for the 2023 NHL trade deadline, such as they are at this moment.
