Even though the NHL Trade Deadline is still over a month away some teams have managed to get a head start with their roster movement.

Mikko Rantanen, Taylor Hall, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, J.T. Miller, Mikael Granlund, Cody Ceci, Drew O'Connor and Marcus Pettersson have all been on the move over the past two weeks, and more players will be going over the next month as the playoff races start to sort themselves out.

With that said, let's take a team-by-team look and whether or not they should be buying, selling, or staying with what they have.

Anaheim Ducks: Sell

This should not be a full-scale sell-off, mostly because there is not much of a need for that. There are also not many great options to potentially move. Especially after the team re-signed veteran Frank Vatrano to a new contract extension earlier this season.

Veteran defenseman Brian Dumoulin might still have some value, and if they can find a taker for John Gibson's contract they should be very open to that idea just to get some future salary off the books.

But there should not be a need to do much more.

This still is not the time to trade a player like Trevor Zegras unless somebody really wows you with an offer, and it is best to just allow the process to play out this season and make more meaningful moves over the summer.

Boston Bruins: Sell

This suggestion would have seemed outrageous at the start of the season, but here we are.

The Bruins are outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture by points percentage, have some significant holes, and have pieced together an extraordinarily flawed roster. Not one move between now and March will fix what they need most (specifically, a No. 1 center). Even if they do make the playoffs, they do not seem like a team capable of a deep postseason run.

The play here should be to sell off players like Trent Frederic, try to regain some assets, and then take another meaningful run at a center this offseason if that is possible.

There is no need to add to this roster the way it is playing.

The best plan might be to have a new general manager in place to start making the next round of moves. But that does not seem like it is something that is on the horizon. At least not yet.

Buffalo Sabres: Sell

The question here is not whether or not the Sabres should sell.

The question is how much should they sell?

Pending free agents like Jason Zucker and Jordan Greenway seem like a given. But should they move Dylan Cozens? Bowen Byram? Perhaps somebody else more meaningful? It has been 14 years of this with no true end in sight. They need a rebuild from their latest rebuild.

Calgary Flames: Stand Pat

We can say stand pat mostly because the Flames have already made a meaningful trade, adding Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost from the Philadelphia Flyers. That was the exact sort of trade they should have been looking to make. Players that can help them make an unexpected run to the playoffs this season, players that are under team control for seasons beyond this one, and players that did not cost them meaningful long-term assets.

The Flames have exceeded pretty much every expectation this season and are basically playing with house money at this point as they push for a playoff spot in what should have been a rebuilding year.

Do not push it. See how it plays out and what this group is capable of.

Carolina Hurricanes: Buy

Technically speaking the Hurricanes have already bought, adding Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall a couple of weeks ago.

They should not stop there.

With this core, the Hurricanes have been unable to break through the Eastern Conference ceiling and reach a Stanley Cup Final, and they should leave no stone unturned in their efforts to do so.

They do not have a ton of salary cap space at the moment, but they have a good farm system and plenty of draft pick capital to shop around.

The roster is excellent from top to bottom, and the addition of Rantanen makes them a potential offensive force, so they do not need many pieces. But if there are some complementary pieces around the edges that can make a difference, the Hurricanes should be willing to pay the price to acquire them.

Chicago Blackhawks: Sell

The Blackhawks' rebuild is still rolling along and it is not even close to ending.

They already made one significant move by dealing Taylor Hall to the Carolina Hurricanes as part of the Mikko Rantanen three-team trade, and they should not stop there.

Pending free agents like Ryan Donato, Pat Maroon and Alec Martinez should be flipped, and it would not be a bad idea to see what sort of value somebody like Connor Murphy would have given that he has an extra year remaining on his deal. That might be a good opportunity to land another future first-round draft pick.

They would probably love to move Seth Jones and his contract, but they should not be willing to retain much salary on that contract. Or any at all.

The Blackhawks were hoping to take a step forward this season but that has simply not happened. So it's back to being a seller. Again.

Colorado Avalanche: Buy

The Colorado Avalanche are not the team they were a few years ago when they were winning the Stanley Cup, but they are still in a window for contention. They have also already been extremely busy this season, completely re-tooling their goaltending depth chart and swapping Rantanen for Martin Necas, while also collecting a few additional draft assets.

They need some center help. They need some scoring depth. They have some salary cap flexibility to do it.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Buy

The Columbus Blue Jackets have been one of the NHL's biggest surprises this season and suddenly find themselves right in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. They have more salary cap space than any other team in the league, a great collection of young talent and multiple first-round draft picks.

If they wanted, they could be MAJOR buyers.

And they should look into it.

Within reason.

What they should not do is be giving up assets for short-term rentals or players that will be gone this offseason.

But if they have a chance to add somebody with term on their contract, that could potentially help them make the playoffs this season and be a factor in future seasons? Why not go for it and take advantage of the position they are in with salary cap space and trade capital? Do not be reckless. Just keep your eyes open for potential long-term upgrades.

Dallas Stars: Buy

Expectations should be extraordinarily high for the Stars.

They are one of the best teams in the league on paper and have been to the Western Conference Finals two years in a row. This is their time, and they should not be cautious or thinking too much about the future. Push all the chips to the center of the table and go all in. Especially when the injuries to Tyler Seguin and Miro Heiskanen could potentially open up significant amounts of salary cap space.

The Stars made one big move already by trading first and fourth-round picks to the San Jose Sharks for Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci.

Is that enough to put them over the top? Is Granlund going to keep producing the way he was in San Jose when he is forced to take on a smaller role? Is Ceci going to help at all?

Those are all big questions, and they could still use some upgrades on the right side of the defense

Detroit Red Wings: Buy

In the first quarter of the season, the Red Wings looked like they were in the middle of what was going to be another wasted season in a seemingly endless rebuild. But replacing head coach Derek LaLonde with Todd McLellan has given the entire roster a spark, and now they find themselves in a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Yzerman has taken a slow approach to this rebuild and has wanted to build a serious contender instead of a team that just simply makes the playoffs and loses.

That is fair.

But you also have to actually get into the playoffs at some point before you can take that next step toward contention.

The playoffs are right there for the taking.

They could use scoring depth. They could use defensive help. Your team has turned its season around and given itself a chance to compete. Give them some help.

Edmonton Oilers: Buy

The only analysis that is needed here is this: When you have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on your roster, and both players are in the prime of their careers, and both players are playing at an MVP level, every year is an all-in, buy-what-you-can year.

No draft pick or prospect should stop you from getting what you think you need.

Buy. Buy. Buy. Buy.

Florida Panthers: Buy

The Panthers have been the NHL's best team for the past four years, winning a Presidents' Trophy, appearing in two Stanley Cup Finals and winning one of them, and now being in a position where they could potentially repeat as champions.

Buying should be their primary position at the deadline.

There are just a couple of major problems with that: The first is that they have very little salary cap space and are going to need to be creative in positioning themselves to add somebody.

The second is they do not have a particularly deep farm system and have significantly depleted their draft pick capital.

That is the cost of being a good, successful team.

The good news is they do not need a lot (maybe some depth defense?) and can probably cheaply add whatever they are in the market for over the next few weeks.

Los Angeles Kings: Buy

The Kings are on their way to a fourth consecutive playoff appearance, but they still remain stuck in neutral.

They are an excellent team, they defend well, they have some high-end talent and they are clearly one of the better teams in the Western Conference. But they are still a small step below the top contenders and are looking at a potential first-round matchup against Edmonton or Vegas. They have already lost to the Oilers in the first round three years in a row, and would certainly be underdogs again this year. The same is probably true of a potential Vegas matchup.

They need more scoring punch if they are going to compete with -- and ultimately beat -- those teams.

That should be their No. 1 priority. More offense.

Minnesota Wild: Buy

The Wild have been mostly successful at navigating through the worst years of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, and are likely headed to the playoffs this season. They should be well positioned this offseason when the Parise and Suter buyouts go down to under $1 million each, and when the salary cap increases. Combined with a bonafide star in Kirill Kaprizov and some emerging young talent the Wild could be set up for a nice sustained run of success.

In the meantime, they are in a good spot to try and add to this year's roster and they could use some additional scoring help in their top six, both at wing and center.

When Kaprizov returns, and combined with the quality goaltending they have received this season, they would not be an easy team to knock out in the playoffs with a little extra trade deadline help.

Montreal Canadiens: Sell

The Canadiens have shown a little progress this season and have some of the main parts of their core in place, but they are not ready to contend for a playoff spot.

As such, they are one of the few teams in the Eastern Conference that is a clear seller.

It is just a question of how much they sell.

Veterans like Christian Dvorak, David Savard, Joel Armia and Jake Evans are all pending unrestricted free agents, but it is worth wondering if they can also get solid offers for players like Mike Matheson or even Patrik Laine

Nashville Predators: Stand Pat

There are not many teams in the NHL this season -- if any -- that have been a bigger disappointment than the Nashville Predators.

After spending big in free agency to acquire Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei, they were expected to be an easy playoff team in the Western Conference and perhaps even a contender for a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

They have not come close to playing at that level, and now find themselves in the bottom half of the conference and near the bottom of the league standings.

Despite those struggles, they do not seem eager to sell off much and tear it all to the ground, and they are certainly not in a position to add anything in the short term.

They also do not have any major pending unrestricted free agents outside of Gustav Nyquist.

This is one of the rare situations in the league where standing pat and just letting the season play out might be the most prudent and smartest move.

New Jersey Devils: Buy

After fixing their goaltending issues over the offseason with the addition of Jacob Markstrom, and getting some better injury luck this season, the Devils are back to being a contender in the Eastern Conference.

They have the top-end talent, their underlying numbers and defensive play are among the best in the NHL, and in a year where the Eastern Conference race looks completely wide open without many dominant teams at the top, the Devils have as good of a chance as anybody.

They have some salary cap flexibility, three second-round draft picks, and a strong farm system with some high-end prospects, especially on defense. They should take advantage of all of that and look to add some forward depth and complementary scoring that might be able to put them over the top.

They can win the conference.

New York Islanders: Sell

Trying to convince the Islanders to sell right now might be a challenge given their recent surge up the standings, but even with that, the playoffs are still a long shot.

They have one of the oldest rosters in the NHL, have been stuck in the league's no-man's land for the past couple of years, and have some big pending unrestricted free agents that could probably bring a nice return in Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri.

General manager Lou Lamoriello never wants to throw in the towel or give up on a season, and he tends to re-sign players like Nelson and Palmieri, but given their ages and the mediocre state of the team the past few years that would likely do nothing except keep them in the same mushy middle ground they have been unable to escape.

New York Rangers: Sell

The Rangers already decided to add by acquiring J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks, but they need to stop there and not do anything else in terms of buying.

This is not a Stanley Cup roster as currently constructed. It might not even be a playoff team.

While Miller is a good player and a better player than Filip Chytil (who they traded to acquire Miller), he is not going to be enough to solve their problems this season or next season.

They need another top-six forward, probably two top-four defensemen and some improved scoring depth. That is a lot to try and add at one offseason, and they are never going to get what they need before the first week of March.

If they do anything before then they should strategically sell off some players like Ryan Lindgren and Reilly Smith and try to accumulate some more future assets that they might be able to flip this offseason to try and solve their many problems.

Ottawa Senators: Buy

After an extensive and methodical rebuild, the Senators are finally in a position where the playoffs are within reach for the first time since their 2016-17 Eastern Conference Final run.

But they are still not quite a lock.

The good news for the Senators is their top-end players are very good, and they have the cornerstone talents in Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk that can help drive the offense. But they need some depth, especially as it relates to the right side of their defense and perhaps another top-six-scoring winger. Both positions should be at the top of their shopping wish list.

Philadelphia Flyers: Sell

This is an easy call, especially since the Flyers have already started to sell by moving forwards Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost.

It was an intriguing move because it opened up a significant amount of salary cap space this offseason and could put them in a position to go after a big score in free agency or a trade. But that is an offseason quest, and in the short-term, their focus should be on trying to accumulate more assets and creating more salary cap space.

Scott Laughton's name has been in trade speculation for more than a year, while they might be able to find a taker for the remainder of Rasmus Ristolainen's contract. Neither player figures to be in Philadelphia the next time the Flyers are a Stanley Cup contender, so if they can get a good deal for one (or both) over the next few weeks they would not be doing their jobs if they did not consider it.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Sell

Kyle Dubas' re-tooling of the Pittsburgh Penguins is already underway, and he continued to stockpile future draft picks and prospects when he traded Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Conner to the Vancouver Canucks.

While this will not be a total fire sale or tear down, you can be sure more players will be on the move in the coming weeks.

Anthony Beauvillier and Matt Grzelcyk are pending unrestricted free agents and likely brought in to be flipped at the deadline, while recent additions Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais could also be on the move.

It would probably take quite an offer to get them to consider moving Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, or Kris Letang, but Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin remain on the untouchable list. Erik Karlsson would probably be more likely to move in the offseason if at all.

San Jose Sharks: Sell

After trading Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci to Dallas, the Sharks do not have many other obvious trade candidates. But once you get beyond the long-term building blocks like Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and William Eklund there should not be many untouchables on the roster.

This is going to be an extensive rebuild, and the Sharks are still in the very early stages of it.

Very few players should be off limits if the price is right.

Seattle Kraken: Sell

It's been another disappointing year for the Kraken as they continue to struggle to build a winning culture.

They've made a lot of bad investments and questionable decisions over the first four years in the league (including a couple of more this past offseason), and the result has been a consistently mediocre franchise that lacks impact talent.

Forwards Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev are the most likely trade chips here, but Gourde's current injury certainly complicates things regarding him.

Tanev seems like the type of player that a lot of contending GMs would love to have on their roster given his speed, energy and ability to defend and kill penalties.

St. Louis Blues: Stand Pat

The Blues have made some aggressive moves and decisions over the past few months, dipping into the restricted free-agent pool and making a second coaching change in less than a year.

But the results on the ice remain the same, and they are simply not good enough. The Blues look to be on their way to another non-playoff season which could put them in the seller category, but there are not a lot of players on the roster that they should feel pressured to trade.

Veteran forward Radek Faksa is the only pending unrestricted free agent, which means any potential selling would have to involve players with term remaining on their contracts. And while they could certainly go down that path, they should need to be overwhelmed before they start dealing off somebody that is still under contract beyond this season.

The end result to all of that is a situation where they might not do much of anything this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Buy

In terms of their top-end talent, the Tampa Bay Lightning still have the players that can be the foundation of a Stanley Cup-contending team.

Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy can still take over games, and Jake Guentzel has been a great fit after joining the team in free agency.

But for as good as the core still is, it remains a very top-heavy team and they need some help in the bottom half of the lineup. The Lightning are always one of the more aggressive teams in the league when it comes to the trade deadline, and they always seem to find a way to add something no matter how assets they have traded in previous years or how tight their salary cap situation is.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Buy

We have all seen this movie and heard this story from the Toronto Maple Leafs before.

They are going to the playoffs and having another strong regular season. But unless they do something in the playoffs nobody is going to care about how many games they won during the season or how many goals their core players scored.

The playoffs are all that matter and all this team will be measured by.

That is bad news because this roster still has some holes that need to be addressed before they can be counted on to make a serious run.

The most significant of those holes is a third-line center and scoring depth beyond their top-four players. For as much as we talk about their defense and goaltending every season, their offense is usually what costs them each spring. Adding more scoring depth, especially down the middle, has to be the priority.

Utah Hockey Club: Stand Pat

It is not hard to see a path forward for Utah to become a very good team, very quickly. There is an outstanding young core of talent here, they have solid ownership and a ton of salary cap space to work with this offseason.

They could be major players for impact talent over the summer, but there should not be any real rush to do something at the deadline in what could be a seller's market. Especially when the playoffs are probably out of reach this season.

Along with that, there should be no real motivation to aggressively sell.

Let the season play out, see what your needs are, and aggressively use your salary cap space to fix them.

Vancouver Canucks: Stand Pat

The Canucks finally did something to address the rift between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson by trading Miller to the New York Rangers.

They followed that up by acquiring defenseman Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Conner from the Pittsburgh Penguins and then re-signing Pettersson to a long-term contract to help corner the market on players named Pettersson, while also giving them a very steady and reliable top-four defenseman.

They are solid moves.

They should now call it a day for the deadline and stand pat with what they have, especially as it relates to Pettersson because there is no way they could trade a 26-year-old, 100-point scorer and come away winning that trade.

Vegas Golden Knights: Buy

Of course, the Golden Knights are going to buy.

They always buy.

They also have one of the best teams in the league and a chance to seriously compete for another Stanley Cup.

Is salary cap space a problem? Sure. Do they have a lot of assets to trade? Not really. But none of that has ever stopped them before.

They need some middle-six scoring to help round out their lineup. They should call the New York Rangers and try to re-acquire Reilly Smith to help fill that role.

Washington Capitals: Buy

What an absolutely incredible story this season has been for the Washington Capitals.

Alex Ovechkin is on track to break the all-time goal-scoring record, while the team itself has rapidly re-tooled itself into a bonafide Stanley Cup contender that enters the weekend with the best record in the NHL and a sizable lead for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference.

Given the age of Ovechkin, the number of pending unrestricted free agents they have after this season, and the fact the Eastern Conference is there for the taking they should be as aggressive as they can be and try to get Ovechkin another championship.

Winnipeg Jets: Buy

The Winnipeg Jets have the second-best record in the NHL and the type of high-end talent at forward and in goal that could take them a long way in the playoffs.

They still need a little extra help if they are going to make a serious Stanley Cup run and win their first championship.

The biggest area of need might be a second-line center. They are not particularly deep down the middle, and that position should be at the very top of their list.

If the New York Islanders decide to sell Brock Nelson, he would be an ideal fit here, or perhaps somebody like Buffalo's Dylan Cozens if they decide to move him.