The NHL's Feb. 29 Trade Deadline is approaching and teams are making decisions on whether to buy or sell and decide which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Check out today's trade rumours and speculation from around the NHL beat.

Scout’s Honour

The Columbus Blue Jackets made a big splash ahead of the trade deadline when they shipped star forward Ryan Johansen to the Nashville Predators for defenceman Seth Jones at the beginning of January and there could be much more to come.

While no players have been mentioned as on the market, Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch tweeted out an indicator on Monday that the Blue Jackets could be an important trade target around the league.



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The Blue Jackets defeated the struggling Montreal Canadiens 5-3 in front of staff from nine different NHL clubs, including members of the Canadiens.

Coming Soon

Kris Versteeg is preparing for a move by Feb. 29.

The Carolina Hurricanes forward told the Raleigh News & Observer he "would not be shocked" if he was playing for a new team in March.

“That obviously is up to management," he said. "If they want me and feel I can contribute to the team and have helped them enough, I definitely would like to be here. But in the end it’s a business and you find out when the time comes.”

Versteeg, 29, has 10 goals and 30 points in 49 games this season.

Imminent Future?

Loui Eriksson’s time with the Boston Bruins looks more and more like it will be coming to an end as the Feb. 29 trade deadline approaches.

According to Comcast Sportsnet’s Joe Haggerty, the Bruins “seem certain” to move the 30-year-old forward long before he becomes a free agent on July 1.

Eriksson is third on the Bruins with 15 goals and second with 39 points in the final year of a six-year, $25.5 million deal he signed with the Dallas Stars in 2010.

Haggerty suggests that Bruins general manager will trade Eriksson instead of giving him a raise - much like he did with forward Carl Soderberg and defenceman Dougie Hamilton.