Trading deadline day is a little over a month away, the time of year when the pace of NHL transactions traditionally moves from glacially slow to hyper-speed in a frantic 72-hour period.
Naturally, that pattern could change in a year of exceptional parity, based on the inability of any team to fall completely out of the playoff race. Even the once left-for-dead Los Angeles Kings are in the midst of a minor revival, with three consecutive wins heading into their Friday date with the Calgary Flames - although one would suspect that the 15-point gap between them and eighth place is probably too much to overcome.
So the Kings could become sellers and the Toronto Maple Leafs should become sellers, along with perhaps the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ultimately, supply and demand will be a factor in determining movement at the deadline, but so will be a relatively new phenomenon spawned by the last collective bargaining agreement — the increasing tendency of players to ask for a no-movement clause in their contracts. It used to be, under the old CBA, that teams couldn't grant a no-trade clause until the age of 31, or when players qualified for unrestricted free agency in the old deal.
To trade or not to trade (Globe & Mail) 
