It hasn't been silent on the trade front across the NHL, but it hasn't been blowing up with movement either. But with teams in need and others staring realism in the face, perhaps the time is nigh for some deals.

One team that's trying hard to make moves is the Buffalo Sabres. Elliotte Friedman reported recently that general manager Kevyn Adams is "aggressively working" the phones trying to add to the roster. The Sabres are deep into a 13-year playoff drought and with how wide-open things are in the Eastern Conference and the clear needs they have to address, now is the time to make something happen.

The Sabres might be the team that's burning up the phone lines hardest right now, but they aren't the only team that could stand to make a bold move. We're going to kick around some ideas for Buffalo and a few other teams that should be busy trying to improve their chances of making the playoffs or accomplishing their goals of building more toward the future.

These ideas aren't necessarily borne from rumors, but they were lovingly crafted to make sure we've all got something to think about until something actually goes down.

Buffalo Makes a Run at the Playoffs with Tyler Toffoli

The Sabres have been in the market for a top-six scorer since the summer of 2023, only for most of last season they were in denial about it. Jason Zucker was a solid middle-six signing, but after dealing with fortunately not serious injuries to Zach Benson and now Tage Thompson, it's become clear that going without any of their top scorers makes for a bad time.

The lack of top-six help was accentuated by the early-season struggles from Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn. That's why if/when they make a move, it's got to be a sizable one. Buffalo has the prospects to make any possible trade work and it's more a matter of how much GM Kevyn Adams is comfortable giving up so he can get the player(s) he wants.

The kind of top-sixer they need is a goal scorer who plays a more powerful hard-nosed game. They've got oodles of smaller, skilled young players in the NHL and in the pipeline (Konsta Helenius, Isak Rosen, Noah Ostlund, Viktor Neuchev) and while they're great to have, the Sabres could use a veteran. That's where Tyler Toffoli comes in.

Toffoli has won Stanley Cups with Los Angeles and has an established history of scoring goals and performing well in the playoffs. Yes, he's got a no-trade clause and while playing alongside Macklin Celebrini in San Jose and living in Northern California is pretty great, the Sharks are a few years away from getting back to the postseason.

Toffoli would provide a consistent scoring threat to the Sabres' top six and someone who would greatly deepen their offense the second he arrived.

Nashville Goes Bold for Trevor Zegras

Things have not gone the way the Nashville Predators imagined they would when they were the most fascinating team of the NHL offseason. After they made the playoffs last season somewhat surprisingly, going out and signing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchesseault and Brady Skjei meant they were aiming to make a run at winning the division and not just making the playoffs.

The Preds are struggling badly though and look like the kind of team that could use a jolt mixed with an injection of younger talent.

Anaheim's young star, Trevor Zegras, is off to a rough start this season (four points in 16 games) and it's not hard to wonder if maybe going somewhere else might be the best thing for him and for the Ducks who would likely net a big return.

Nashville has some young players and prospects and perhaps a veteran or two to tantalize the Ducks into making a move. Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek is a shrewd negotiator and won't make a move just for the fun of it. But with Leo Carlsson taking charge as the No. 1 up the middle in Anaheim, Zegras would be a prime player for a team looking to offer that change of scenery for him.

Nashville would offer a great city and situation, not to mention the motivation to return to the playoffs again.

Detroit Solves Defense Depth with Marcus Pettersson

With how dreadful things have become with the Pittsburgh Penguins and how great defenseman Marcus Pettersson has played early on, the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent has sailed to the top of many trade watch lists.

Like the Sabres, the Detroit Red Wings are in their playoff drought and are desperately trying to end it. General manager Steve Yzerman has been mum about just about everything, and the Wings were very quiet in free agency.

The Wings have a few holes and some glaring issues. Their forward group has a lot of sameness and could stand to use some more physical players up front. They also have a defense corps that needs a lot of help because putting it all on Moritz Seider's shoulders is a bit unfair. This is where Yzerman calling Penguins GM Kyle Dubas to find a way to add Marcus Pettersson would be a great idea.

The Penguins want young talent in any trades they make, and the Red Wings have more than a few prospects both at and near the NHL level (Marco Kasper, Simon Edvinsson, Michael Brandsegg-Nygaard, Axel Sandin-Pellikka). Those prospects are juicy, however, and asking for them might also mean Detroit would ask for forwards Drew O'Connor or Michael Bunting as well to address two needs in one deal.

Avalanche Address Goaltending with John Gibson

Goaltending for the Colorado Avalanche this season has been, in a word, brutal. Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen have traded off in net this year while the team has allowed 3.78 goals per game this year, third worst in the NHL this season behind the Canadiens and Penguins.

It's been tough to see because Colorado is getting tons of offense from Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar. The Avs are still good enough that they can often outscore the goalie problems but imagine where they'd be if they had fewer issues to contend with. This is why we like the idea of Colorado trading for Anaheim Ducks goalie John Gibson.

Gibson has two more years after this one on his contract that comes with a $6.4 million cap hit. It's not an easy deal for Colorado to make financially speaking and it's just as difficult for them to pull it off when you consider what Anaheim would want in return.

The Ducks are getting outstanding goaltending from Lukas Dostal so far this season and now with Gibson back healthy after an emergency appendectomy, it's his time to show he's recovered and able to remain healthy while playing at a high level.

Gibson's health will be the primary concern for anyone looking to acquire him, but now that the Ducks have been hit with another wave of injuries (Robby Fabbri, Cam Fowler, Urho Vaakanainen, Mason McTavish) it's not helping them make progress as they're in the throes of a rebuild.

Oilers Go for Flyers' Scott Laughton

During the offseason, the biggest moves the Edmonton Oilers made coming off of losing in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final were ones that added offensive talent to the organization. From Viktor Arvidsson to Jeff Skinner to prospect Matthew Savoie, those moves made it seem like they were going with the "all gas, no brakes" approach.

When the Oilers traded Ryan McLeod to Buffalo and saw Warren Foegele walk away in free agency, however, it was their defensive ability upfront that took a huge hit. After all, scoring goals comes easy to them because of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but finding a way to stiffen up the lower half of the forward group and have other ways to gain an advantage is something they must do and going after Flyers forward Scott Laughton would be a solid move.

Laughton plays hard every shift and digs in defensively in a way that would blend in well with the rest of the Oilers group. Having him and Adam Henrique up the middle in the bottom six would give them two guys who know their roles well. Laughton's been mentioned in trade speculation a lot going back to last season, but finding a way to reach an agreement here could be advantageous for both teams.