The NHL trade deadline is still a few months away, but we have seen a flurry of deals over the past couple of weeks as teams establish themselves as contenders and sellers while others look for a way to shake things up.

The NHL has a roster freeze approaching this week, creating a mid-season limited trade deadline. It is possible some more moves could be made in the coming days, especially for some teams at the bottom of the standings.

So let's take a look at some potential trade ideas for some of the NHL's worst teams (by points percentage).

Nashville Predators: Move Gustav Nyquist

The Predators are the biggest disappointment in the NHL. Actually, that is not even entirely fair. They are worse than a disappointment. They are simply the worst team in hockey through the first two months and have fallen flat on their faces after an all-in offseason that saw them invest huge money in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Brady Skjei and Juuse Saros.

On paper? And based on last year's second-half run? They should be a Stanley Cup contender.

They are not even close to that, and general manager Barry Trotz has already made some threats at starting a rebuild as a result. Those threats might be somewhat empty because you are not going to throw away all of these multi-year contracts this quickly.

Still, some changes might be on the horizon.

He has already made a couple of trades, dealing Scott Wedgewood to the Colorado Avalanche for Justus Annunen and then sending Philip Tomasino to Pittsburgh for a mid-round draft pick.

Those are not really earth-shattering moves, however. They are not likely to get anybody's attention.

What might get some attention is trading a more established veteran and somebody who has actually been a part of the team. Somebody like Nyquist.

Assuming the Predators continue on their current path and do not reverse course this season in the standings, Nyquist figures to be a trade deadline trade chip anyway given his status as a pending unrestricted free agent. Given his production throughout his career, there should still be teams that have an interest, especially a potential playoff team that needs some additional scoring depth (looking at you Tampa Bay, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs).

The Predators are not likely to get a huge return, but it should be something more meaningful than the Tomasino return.

Chicago Blackhawks: (Almost) Everything Must Go

Nobody should have realistically expected this Blackhawks team to compete for a playoff spot this season. They are not there yet. They are not close to that yet. They still need time and patience, and the roster is simply not good enough.

But you did at least want to see some progress.

You at least wanted to see a step that gets them closer to a playoff spot.

That is not happening.

There are some obvious untouchable players here. Connor Bedard is the franchise. Alex Vlasic is a bargain. Frank Nazar is a part of the future. Lukas Reichel still could be. Seth Jones became a punchline early in his Chicago career, and while his contract is not great, he is a mostly fine player, and you need some sort of stability on your blue line even as a rebuilding team.

But beyond that?

Anybody should be available, and there are actually some potential trade chips here.

Taylor Hall is a free agent after this season and is not part of the future. The same is true for Ryan Donato, who is actually having a decent season offensively.

The Blackhawks already did their full-on teardown. They have a core in place to move forward with, including the most important player (Bedard). But the spare parts on the fringes can be flipped at any time.

San Jose Sharks: Sell High on Mikael Granlund

Mikael Granlund has been a rather random and unexpected bright spot for the San Jose Sharks the past two seasons, compiling 92 points in his first 100 games with the team. Considering he was a salary-dump throw-in to the Erik Karlsson trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, that is probably more than anybody could have reasonably expected from him.

That is great in the short term.

What the Sharks cannot allow to happen in the long-term is count on that for similar production in the future and attempt to pay for it.

Even bad, rebuilding teams have to have somebody lead them in scoring and collecting points. Somebody is going to get top-line minutes, somebody is going to play on the power play, and somebody is going to load up in those situations and produce. It does not mean they are a long-term building block.

Granlund is going to be 33 years old next season, is set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season, and San Jose should let somebody else invest in the next contract.

In the meantime, the Sharks should cash in on his offensive revival and aggressively try to shop him for the biggest return possible while his production is still high.

He is not a long-term building block. His biggest value to them is as a trade chip.

Montreal Canadiens: Trade the UFAs

The Canadiens are not only one of the youngest teams in the NHL, but they are also one of the worst teams in the NHL—especially defensively.

This is another team (and another season for the team) where the development of individual young players is more meaningful than their finish in the standings. In some cases, that is going well for the Canadiens.

But there is no real need or incentive for the Canadiens to keep some of their pending UFAs around.

That includes forwards Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak, and Jake Evans, as well as defenseman David Savard.

The value on those players will vary, and nobody is going to bring back a franchise-altering return, but there could be some surprising value for depth players like Armia and Savard, even if it is just to collect more draft picks, which always has some value for teams like Montreal. The more draft picks a rebuilding team collects, the more likely it is that one of them hits and becomes an NHL player. They can also be flipped in the future for more immediate help.

The Canadiens are not going to trade a young core player.

But there are still a lot of options here.

Buffalo Sabres: Move Jason Zucker

The Buffalo Sabres' situation is grim, friends. Extremely grim. They came into the season with $5 million in unused salary-cap space, had a flawed roster, and as of Monday are in the middle of a 10-game losing streak that has them on a path to miss the playoffs for a 14th consecutive season. That is almost impossible to comprehend in a league where half of the teams make the playoffs. How do you not accidentally luck into one playoff spot over nearly a decade and a half?

Forward Dylan Cozens and defenseman Bowen Byram have been mentioned as players teams are calling the Sabres about, but this might not be the time to move them.

Cozens seems like he is just waiting to be the next Sam Reinhart (or Jack Eichel or Ryan O'Reilly) who leaves Buffalo and is the missing piece for somebody else, while Byram still has age and untapped potential on his side. Moving both players would also be a case of moving them when their value is close to their lowest point. That is not going to help anybody except the team that gets them at a lowered price. You want to trade them at some point? Put them into positions where they can boost their value up more and increase the return.

Zucker is the player who should be an obvious trade target here.

He was always going to be a short-term rental, he is a free agent after this season, and he is actually playing at a level that would be useful for a contender. He is on pace for more than 20 goals and 50 points over 82 games and is a legitimate middle-six winger.

He could slot into any playoff team right now and probably cost nothing more than a second-round pick and a mid-level prospect.

Anaheim Ducks: Flip Jacob Trouba as Soon as Possible

It is still hard to figure out what the Anaheim Ducks were doing with Trouba's initial acquisition.

They not only did the Rangers a huge favor by taking on all of Trouba's remaining contract, but they also did not even get anything in return for that favor and instead were the team giving up additional assets.

It's baffling.

It's terrible roster and cap management for a team that is not even close to contending.

Now the best thing for them to do is try and correct it as soon as possible and work to find another team that will take on Trouba's contract.

Anaheim might need to actually retain some salary, but perhaps they can use that to their advantage and essentially buy a draft pick or a prospect.

The Ducks already traded Cam Fowler, will almost certainly trade Frank Vatrano and are probably still desperate to move John Gibson. Trouba at $8 million does nothing for their short-term or long-term outlook.

There were apparently other teams interested in him when the Rangers moved him, and Anaheim needs to find them and make something work. Perhaps Trouba will be more willing to go to one of them now that he is facing the possibility of a year and a half of rebuilding in Anaheim.