Prior to Sunday's game against Los Angeles, the club will honor captain Alex Ovechkin for recently recording his 1,000th NHL point, and every fan in attendance will receive a cutout of the superstar winger's face.
Why? Because there are really only two teams - Colorado and Arizona - that fall directly into the camp of sellers, even with just over three weeks to go before the March 1 deadline.
Each of the other 28 teams are either in a playoff position or within seven points of one, but a quick look at the standings reveals three teams next in line, as the Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, and Tampa Bay Lightning all sit tied for the third-lowest point percentage (.491) and therefore all but out of the race.
Here's what they might have to offer.
Dallas Stars
General manager Jim Nill has a bevy of players set to become unrestricted free agents at season's end and who could be dangled for picks or prospects prior to the deadline.
Eaves is having the best season of his career and probably made a case for a contract extension, but the rest of the field should fully be in play as the Stars look to retool over the summer.
Hemsky, it should be noted, has missed all but one game this season due to hip surgery, but could return in time to help a team down the stretch.
Including Antti Niemi or Kari Lehtonen in a deal for a more permanent solution in net would be a huge bonus.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Thought to be a Stanley Cup contender heading into the season, the Lightning have sunk to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with Steven Stamkos sidelined with an injury, and that may give GM Steve Yzerman reason to pause when considering what to do with several restricted free agents.
Jonathan Drouin is a lock to get a nice new deal, and Ondrej Palat is viewed as an important two-way winger, but it's possible Tyler Johnson could be moved in order to avoid a negotiation headache and to create some much-needed cap flexibility.
Goaltender Ben Bishop would seem to be at the top of Yzerman's trade chip list, seeing as he's set to hit the UFA market on July and the Lightning have incumbent Andrei Vasilevskiy signed through 2019-20.
Brian Boyle also stands out as a veteran with playoff experience that teams may covet.
Winnipeg Jets
Full of young talent to build around, these Jets just aren't taking off, and it may be time to discard some dead weight.
Pending UFA Drew Stafford is a scoring winger that teams could use come playoff time, and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff would do well to part ways with Ondrej Pavelec once and for all in the event someone's desperate for goalie depth heading into the postseason.
The re-signing of Jacob Trouba to a team-friendly contract earlier this season may have temporarily rectified the defenseman's trade request, but the market for quality on the blue line could be insane, giving the Jets a chance to cash in on that front.
This team is still a year or two away, and can't afford to remain quiet on the trade front any longer, especially in a buyer's market.
The San Jose Sharks are on some kind of streak and that's thanks in large to a suddenly potent second line.
The Sharks have gone 8-1-1 in their last 10 contests to propel them to the top of the Pacific Division, and it's all thanks to a trio that have been lighting it up ever since a dramatic third period back on Jan. 23.
The game seemingly awoke a sleeping giant, as the trio of Marleau, Logan Couture, and Mikkel Boedker have been nearly unstoppable in the five games since.
Including that win over the Avs, the Sharks have gone 4-1-1 in their last six, scoring 19 times along the way. Amazingly, the aforementioned trio has been responsible for 10 of those goals, one of which was also the 500th of Marleau's career. That's over 52 percent of the team's scoring.
Here's exactly what the three men have accomplished in six games:
Player
Goals
Points
Marleau
7
10
Couture
3
7
Boedker
0
5
The three have combined for 22 points in the last half-dozen games, which averages out to nearly a point each per game each. Couture's goal Saturday night against the Arizona Coyotes - a game the team ultimately dropped in a shootout - proved just how in sync the linemates are at the moment.
Of course, Brent Burns has also been on a tear of his own lately, contributing three goals and eight points in the same six-game stretch. Along with the trio above, that accounts for 13 of the Sharks' past 19 goals.
San Jose has been lethal these last few weeks, in large part due to a small collection of players who are playing inspired hockey since late January.
It's a terrible loss. Especially after we took the lead, and we give their best player a free look and then we get a defenseman trapped on the go-ahead goal by them. That's not good hockey, it's stupid hockey. Not good hockey at all.
Here's what Ruff is referring to.
Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin scored in the first half of the third period to give the Stars a 3-2 lead. Less than a minute after Seguin's goal, however, Patrick Kane was able to get behind John Klingberg to score a breakaway goal, while Klingberg was later taken out of the play by Artemi Panarin en route to a game-winning goal from Trevor van Riemsdyk.
"We didn't keep the game in front of us," Ruff continued. "If you look at (Kane's) goal, if we stay in proper position, that puck comes right to our defenseman. If we know Kane's on the ice, Kane doesn't get by us, Kane doesn't get around us on that play."
The loss gave the Stars a record of 2-2-2 in their past six games, all on home ice. Ruff stated that's just not good enough, especially in light of the fact Dallas wasn't able to hold onto leads.
With the loss, Dallas sits on 52 points in 53 games, six points behind Nashville for third place in the Central Division, and five points behind Calgary for the second wild-card spot.
It's a terrible loss. Especially after we took the lead, and we give their best player a free look and then we get a defenseman trapped on the go-ahead goal by them. That's not good hockey, it's stupid hockey. Not good hockey at all.
Here's what Ruff is referring to.
Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin scored in the first half of the third period to give the Stars a 3-2 lead. Less than a minute after Seguin's goal, however, Patrick Kane was able to get behind John Klingberg to score a breakaway goal, while Klingberg was later taken out of the play by Artemi Panarin en route to a game-winning goal from Trevor van Riemsdyk.
"We didn't keep the game in front of us," Ruff continued. "If you look at (Kane's) goal, if we stay in proper position, that puck comes right to our defenseman. If we know Kane's on the ice, Kane doesn't get by us, Kane doesn't get around us on that play."
The loss gave the Stars a record of 2-2-2 in their past six games, all on home ice. Ruff stated that's just not good enough, especially in light of the fact Dallas wasn't able to hold onto leads.
With the loss, Dallas sits on 52 points in 53 games, six points behind Nashville for third place in the Central Division, and five points behind Calgary for the second wild-card spot.
Martin Jones did his best to give the San Jose Sharks a chance at earning the extra point, making a sensational pad-stacking windmill glove save in overtime against Arizona on Saturday.
The reaction in San Jose said it all:
That might have been Martin Jones' greatest save in a #sjsharks jersey.
On the big stage Saturday in Vancouver, and on the same sheet of ice of his brother Markus, the Minnesota Wild's leading point-producer registered his first NHL hat trick with a one-handed swipe at a loose puck skittering toward Ryan Miller in the Vancouver Canucks' crease.
3-1—4 tonight. 5-12—17 on his 12-game point streak.
Also adding an assist on a Mikko Koivu goal to record the first four-point game of his four-year career in Minnesota, Granlund vaulted into 12th in NHL scoring and exceeded career-best marks for goals and points.
He's currently riding a 12-game point streak, wherein which he's racked up five goals and 17 points and helped the Wild earn at least one point in each outing. Over the last two months, not one player has more points that Granlund's 34.
The 24-year-old Finn is a pending restricted free agent, and is in the process of earning himself an enormous raise this summer from his current $3-million salary.
