The March 8 NHL trade deadline looms large and we’re starting to see some movement on the trade front. The mammoth trade of Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes sent shockwaves through the league and could serve as the proverbial starting pistol for this year’s trade season.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have a couple of players who are unrestricted free agents (UFA) after this season, and those players are often fodder for trades. The team’s pending UFA with the most value is undoubtedly their Russian defenseman Ivan Provorov. While it’s been reported that Provorov has an interest in re-signing in Columbus, and his younger brother has just committed to play hockey in the same city with Ohio State, it’s still possible he’s shipped out to a contender before the deadline.
Provorov is a legitimate top-four defenseman in the prime of his career at 28 years old. He comes with the high pedigree of a seventh-overall draft pick in 2015 and has a serious commitment to playing the defensive side of the puck. Throughout his time in Columbus and with the Philadelphia Flyers he’s consistently played 22-25 minutes per night and is remarkably durable, only having missed a handful of games through his first nine NHL seasons. He’s also got the fourth most blocked shots with 1,264 since he joined the league in 2016-17. All of this to say, Provorov would be an incredible asset to add to a contending team looking for defensive help down the stretch of a playoff run.
The other thing about Provorov is that he’s already playing on a retained cap hit of $4.72 million, so should Columbus cut that in half with more retention, a contender could add him for $2.3 million. It could be less with a third-party broker. Adding a legitimate top-four guy at that number would be possible for even the most cap-crunched contenders in the league. Columbus also has the most cap space in the NHL, so they should be able to add a big contract to help raise the value of the return package. If the Blue Jackets do opt to trade him instead of re-sign him, here are three teams that could use some defensive help.
Florida Panthers
The defending Stanley Cup champions fit the bill for being cap-crunched. As it sits, their cap space at the deadline is expected to be around $500,000. They also fit the bill as needing some help on their blue line. While their defense corps was not the engine that drove them to their championship in June, they did have two major losses from that lineup with Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson leaving in free agency. Those players’ shoes have not quite been filled as of yet and a second pairing of Niko Mikkola and Dmitri Kulikov does not look like a recipe for success should ‘the Cats’ be hoping for a repeat championship.
The question is the return and yes they could settle for a package of picks and B-level prospects which has become standard at the trade deadline. The picks would be a few years in advance since Florida has traded each of their first three rounds of picks for 2025 and the Panthers have one of the most barren prospect pools in the league. Or hear me out, they take a swing at Panthers’ goaltender Spencer Knight.
In a recent episode of the DFO Rundown, insider Frank Seravalli and Jason Gregor pondered the availability of Knight. This move is only possible if Florida is thinking purely in the short term, considering he is their de facto goalie of the future. However, there is an unlikely case to be made for the trade if the Panthers are really in win-now mode that Knight is their best trade chip available.
“There’s a real chance that the Florida Panthers paid Spencer Knight $13.5 million a couple years ago to be a backup. If some team’s a believer in him, he’s maybe the best trade chip you’ve got and another escape valve for more cap space.” – Seravalli
“They probably have to look at what’s their progression in goal. It would seem odd to me now because if you trade Spencer Knight, as good as Bobrovsky is, eventually you’ve got to be looking for a replacement for him. When his contract ends he’s going to be 37.” – Gregor
Frank Seravalli and Jason Gregor pondering the availability of Spencer Knight on the Jan. 24 episode of the DFO Rundown.
While yes, it would seem odd, you never know until you ask. This could be rendered completely moot due to Knight’s recent strong play in which it seems he’s grabbed the reigns as starting goalie. But if he drops off and becomes their second fiddle again, he’s signed to a rather large $4.5 million cap hit through the end of next season. That’s a lot to pay your backup goalie – especially when you pay your starter $10 million. Columbus has had struggles with their netminding position and are looking for a potential goalie of the future. Knight has had some struggles of his own, spending all of last season in the American Hockey League (AHL) and in the NHLPA Player’s Assistance Program, but his save percentage has always been above .900 – which is not something you could say for any Blue Jacket goalie. Plus he’s only 23 with tons of time as a goalie to blossom.
Since the turn of the millennium, only 16 goalies have been drafted in the first round. Knight went 13th overall in the 2019 Draft. It could be a win-win transaction. For Florida to get defensive help for this playoff run and help clear some cap space heading into next summer with a few key UFAs to re-sign. For Columbus to get a young goalie with pedigree that could make a difference for them in the long term. While unlikely, the Blue Jackets could get creative and tack on another pick or get a sign-and-trade in place to increase the value for Florida. All I’m saying is, in the wake of the Mikko Rantanen trade clearly nothing is impossible, however unlikely it may be. In purely short-term thinking, there is a case to be made that it makes sense for the Panthers.
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks have had a tough season. With all of the speculation of a feud brewing to a level that would rival the Capulets and Montagues between star players Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, this season has been a major step back from 2023-24. In stark contrast to the optimism surrounding British Columbia’s team last year, this season has become one where making the playoffs is not a given. Part of that is due to their defense.
Provorov’s commitment to defensive play makes him a Rick Tocchet kind of guy. He could slide into a similar role as Columbus, playing the second pairing left side as a reliable second option behind captain Quinn Hughes. With him in the third defense slot, everyone else would get bumped down further into more appropriate roles for their abilities.
Related: Blue Jackets Must Answer Key Question in Ivan Provorov Dilemma
In return, Columbus should look for a first-round pick. Prospect-wise Vancouver doesn’t have a fully stocked shelf, but they do have a couple of pieces that could become NHLers. Canucks prospect Aatu Raty was once thought of as the top player of his draft class before a poor showing in his draft season. The Blue Jackets could also look to add to their Russian contingent, securing the rights of Vitaly Kravtsov who has been lighting up the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) as a 25-year-old.
Provorov certainly isn’t enough on his own to land either Miller or Pettersson, but if they could add enough pieces to the Russian defender to make a deal happen, it would be worth considering. Miller was born in Ohio and both he and Pettersson are game-breakers when they’re on their game. Both would instantly give the team a legitimate number-one center. Untouchables from Columbus should include Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Denton Mateychuk, and Kirill Marchenko – any of which would likely be necessary to facilitate the deal.
Washington Capitals
The top team in the NHL’s standings, as of this publication, could go all-in this season to try and get Alexander Ovechkin another Stanley Cup before he retires. Somehow they’ve completely rebuilt themselves over a couple of seasons and could be a real threat come playoffs.
Defensively they are among the tops in the league, with the best goal differential and the second least goals against. However, you have to wonder if they’re completely comfortable with a left side as young as it is. Not concerned with 26-year-old Jakob Chychrun who’s got over 500 games of experience, but youngsters Rasmus Sandin and Martin Fehervary each have less than 300 games of experience and haven’t really been relied on in any major way to this point in their careers.
There is also a bit of an urgency to the team making a run this postseason with Ovechkin continuing to play chicken with Father Time, as well as key pieces Chychrun, Logan Thompson, and Charlie Lindgren all needing new contracts after the season. The Capitals are loaded with prospects and picks, so if they wouldn’t miss a package of those, they could push their chips to the middle and acquire Provorov to add some certainty to their back end to push for success in 2025.
Other Teams Where Provorov Could Be a Fit
There is no shortage of teams who could use some help on their blue line, like the Boston Bruins who’ve been leveled with injuries to their back end of late. If they want to make it into the playoffs, let alone do any damage, they could use some reinforcements. Plus doesn’t Provorov strike you as a Boston kind of guy?
The Los Angeles Kings acquired one Russian defenseman from Columbus, so why not another? It’s been two years since Vladislav Gavrikov was traded to the Kings at the 2023 Trade Deadline and LA could use some more shoring up on their defense. A defensive-focused left side of Mikey Anderson, Provorov, and Gavrikov, paired up with great puck movers in Drew Doughty, Brandt Clarke, and Jordan Spence on the right, could propel the Kings to their first series win since their last Stanley Cup in 2014.
Keeping Provorov is surely an option for the Blue Jackets, but if they decide to move on from him there will be no shortage of suitors. He is by far the team’s highest-valued trade chip heading into this NHL trade deadline period. There will be many teams that come calling for his services.
