Full disclosure: I never follow the draft closely. This year, I probably know more about the prospects than usual and I still don’t know that much. I only know a little something about this year’s draft because 1.) my favorite team has the first pick (shouts out the kid Jack Hughes!) and 2.) this season’s Under-18 USA team had one of its best rosters ever, so i got to know players like Alex Turcotte and Cole Caufield. Rest assured, there is no way I would have been watching the under-18’s unless my team was in the running for Hughes, the crown jewel of the class (or so I’ve been told by people who actually know).

I still watch the draft every year though because it is always a trade bonanza. Without question, the trades are the most memorable aspect of each draft to me, considering we don’t get to see a lot of the prospects until years after they’re selected. With that in mind, I’ll take a look at a few guys who have the potential to get moved when things kick off in Vancouver.

Nikita Zaitsev, Toronto– One thought I had last week with the flurry of defensemen getting traded was “where’s Zaitsev in all of this?”. After all, one of the first offseason news items was his trade request. Zaitsev has been a solid, if unspectacular, right-shooting defenseman since entering the league in 2017. Although he’s soon to be 28, his best hockey may be ahead of him and a fresh start out of the bright lights of Toronto could be good for him. He could be a decent consolation for a team that whiffed on getting Jacob Trouba.

J.T. Miller, Tampa Bay– I could have listed any number of players here for the Lightning because they HAVE to move somebody. The gymnastics it would have taken to sign Erik Karlsson would have been mind-bending because cap space is a problem right now in Tampa. They have to get a deal done with Brayden Point this offseason and be prepared for one with Andrei Vasilevskiy next year. Things became even more dire when the news broke that Ryan Callahan, the asset they had hoped to move to clear salary, is unlikely to play again. Any hope of a team giving a late round pick to take on his $5.1 million for next season has evaporated. Now, Tampa would have to deal something of value to get him off the books.

The next best hope for Tampa is to move one of their non-star contributors, which also won’t be an easy move. Their middle class is well taken care of: guys like Alex Killorn and Ondrej Palat make a decent amount of money and have no-trade clauses in their deals. Which brings us to Miller, who would be without question the easiest to move of their high priced role players. He’d provide a lot of value as a second-line center and could be a nice boon for a team that would have been in the running for Kevin Hayes had he hit free agency.

P.K. Subban, Nashville– This one is a little selfish because I am demanding that Subban be a New Jersey Devil by the end of the draft. The fit is too perfect. The Devils are in desperate need of a big-time puck mover on their back-end and Nashville would like to free up money to get in on Matt Duchene when free agency starts. Although Subban has played well for the Predators, he’s clearly the second best d-man on the team (behind Roman Josi) and at times the third best (Mattias Ekholm is a real one himself). Subban is actually the highest paid player on the team, with a cap hit of $9 million, so moving his money would ease things quite a bit.

Some Defenseman, Carolina– If Carolina doesn’t walk away from this draft with William Nylander or Nikolai Ehlers or someone along those lines, it would be a major disappointment. The Hurricanes had a fun little season last year that ended with a surprise run to the Conference FInals. They’re pretty well-positioned to run it back in 2020 but they have to get more firepower on offense. Armed with one of the deepest bluelines in hockey, the Canes have the ammunition to trade for an impact forward. The hard part is deciding who to part with. Justin Faulk, Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce are probably the ones on the table. A few months ago, Jaccob Slavin would have been on that list too but he played Norris-caliber hockey late in the year and in the postseason, becoming their clear-cut top defenseman in the process.