NHL Trade Buzz: Road trip likely to determine whether Flames buy or sell 

Welcome to the NHL Trade Buzz. There are 10 days remaining until the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET on March 7). Here's a look around the League at the latest deadline doings:

Calgary Flames

The Flames know their six-game road trip that begins at the Washington Capitals on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, SNW) will make or break their season, and the players say they know they will need to make a move before the Trade Deadline If they want help qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in three seasons and second in five.

Calgary (27-21-8), which is one point behind the Vancouver Canucks for the second wild card in the Western Conference, also visits the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars on a trip that ends one day before the Deadline. Each of those six teams, aside from the Flyers, are in playoff position.

“It leads you right into the Trade Deadline, so that’s definitely not lost on us,” forward Blake Coleman told the Calgary Herald. “But I think it’s our time to show that we belong. Ultimately, you have to do well on that trip to give yourselves a chance down the stretch.

“It’s a tough schedule, but it’s also exciting in a way because if you punch above your supposed weight class on that trip, then you’re going to feel pretty good about yourselves and you’ll be set up for a good opportunity to make the playoffs.”

Colorado Avalanche

Cale Makar thinks the Avalanche have to show it’s wise to invest in reinforcements before the Trade Deadline.

“This is a huge point in the season for us,” the defenseman told the Denver Post on Monday. “I think every single guy on this team, we’ve got to prove to management that this should be a group that they invest in. And if we keep having games like this, it’s going to be hard for them to justify it.”

Makar’s remarks came in the wake of back-to-back road losses at the Nashville Predators (2-1) and St. Louis Blues (3-1) over the weekend. Neither team is in playoff position.

Colorado (33-24-2), which holds the first wild card in the Western Conference, has already made significant changes to its roster, bringing in goalies Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood and sending superstar forward Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes for Martin Necas and Jack Drury.

A six-game homestand starts against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; MSGSN, KTVD, ALT, TVAS) and extends past the Deadline.

Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings cleared space under the NHL salary cap by trading goalie Ville Husso to the Anaheim Ducks for future considerations Monday, providing more room to maneuver ahead of the deadline as they try to bolster the roster and qualify for the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons.

They may need to find a replacement for Andrew Copp; the Red Wings announced Tuesday the forward is out for the remainder of the season after having pectoral surgery. Copp has 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) in 56 games this season, his third with the Red Wings. He had an NHL career-high 42 points (nine goals, 33 assists) in 82 games for Detroit in the 2022-23 season.

Husso went 1-5-2 with a 3.69 goals-against average and .866 save percentage in nine games for Detroit this season. He went 8-4-0 with a 2.70 GAA, a .912 save percentage and two shutouts in 13 games with Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League.

The 30-year-old is headed to San Diego of the AHL and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season.