Top 50 Trade Targets: Justin Faulk moves to No. 1

Mar 5, 2026 • 1:44 pm

We have a new No. 1. With news that Colton Parayko has invoked his 'no-trade' clause and vetoed a move to the Buffalo Sabres, fellow St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk has vaulted to the top spot on our latest Trade Targets board.

It's been a miserable season in St. Louis, a playoff team from one year ago swirling at the bottom of the standings. As we mentioned earlier Thursday, right-shooting defensemen are in-demand - and Faulk has had an excellent season.

Unlike Parayko, Faulk only has a modified 'no-trade' list and he can block a trade to 15 of the 31 remaining teams - a list that is already known by St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong. Faulk, 33, has one year remaining one his deal at $6.5 million.

The Blues have been looking to shake up their veteran-laden defense corps for some time; most of their blueliners have trade protection, which has made that more difficult.

Multiple sources indicate Parayko did signal that he is willing to explore a move to another team, but not the Sabres. Of course, his preference is to remain in St. Louis. As such, he remains No. 8 on our Trade Targets board.

Here is our latest Top 50, which always seeks to blend a player's prominence with his likelihood of a trade before Friday's 3 pm ET deadline:

Trade Targets 🎯

as of March 5, 2026

Rk	Name	Team	Pos	Age	GP	G	Pts	Contract
1	Justin Faulk	STL	RD	33	61	11	32	1x$6.5M
2	Vincent Trocheck	NYR	C	32	46	12	39	3x$5.63M
3	Blake Coleman	CGY	LW	34	48	13	22	1x$4.9M
4	Erik Haula	NSH	C	34	61	9	30	UFA
5	Rasmus Ristolainen	PHI	RD	31	23	1	6	1x$5.1M
6	Trevor van Riemsdyk	WSH	RD	34	49	2	8	UFA
7	Scott Laughton	TOR	C	31	43	8	12	UFA
8	Colton Parayko	STL	RD	32	58	1	14	4x$6.5M
9	Oliver Ekman-Larsson	TOR	RD	34	61	8	35	2x$3.5M
10	Stuart Skinner	PIT	G	27	38	2.74	.892	UFA
11	Bobby McMann	TOR	LW	29	60	19	32	UFA
12	Teddy Blueger	VAN	C	31	14	5	8	UFA
13	Dougie Hamilton	NJD	RD	32	57	9	25	2x$9M
14	Ilya Mikheyev	CHI	RW	31	56	11	23	UFA
15	Conor Garland	VAN	RW	29	50	7	26	6x$6M
16	Evander Kane	VAN	LW	34	59	11	27	UFA
17	Jesperi Kotkaniemi	CAR	C	25	37	2	9	4x$4.82M
18	Nazem Kadri	CGY	C	35	60	12	41	3x$7M
19	Robert Thomas	STL	C	26	44	13	37	5x$8.13M
20	Michael Bunting	NSH	LW	30	61	13	31	UFA
21	A.J. Greer	FLA	LW	29	61	11	22	UFA
22	Oskar Sundqvist	STL	C	31	45	4	14	UFA
23	Jonathan Kovacevic	NJD	RD	28	14	0	2	4x$4M
24	Jonas Siegenthaler	NJD	LD	28	62	0	7	2x$3.4M
25	Sergei Bobrovsky	FLA	G	37	43	.313	.873	UFA
26	Mavrik Bourque	DAL	RW	24	61	12	25	RFA
27	Gustav Nyquist	WPG	RW	36	39	0	9	UFA
28	Jeff Petry	FLA	RD	38	58	0	8	UFA
29	Brennan Othmann	NYR	LW	23	17	1	1	RFA
30	Troy Stecher	TOR	RD	31	48	3	12	UFA
31	Jon. Marchessault	NSH	RW	35	42	11	18	3x$5.5M
32	Mario Ferraro	SJS	LD	27	59	4	13	UFA
33	Brayden Schenn	STL	C	34	61	12	28	2x$6.5M
34	Brad Lambert	WPG	RW	22	4	1	1	1x$867K
35	Kirby Dach	MTL	C	25	26	8	13	RFA
36	Nicolas Deslauriers	PHI	LW	35	23	0	1	UFA
37	Patrik Laine	MTL	RW	27	5	0	1	UFA
38	Ryan Strome	ANA	C	32	33	3	9	1x$5M
39	Tomas Nosek	FLA	LW	33	1	0	0	UFA
40	Logan Stanley	WPG	LD	27	59	9	21	UFA
41	Charlie Stramel	MIN	C	21	0	0	0	ELC
42	Shane Wright	SEA	C	22	61	11	23	1x$867K
43	Ryan O'Reilly	NSH	C	35	61	22	59	1x$4.5M
44	Jordan Kyrou	STL	RW	27	51	14	33	5x$8.13M
45	Jordan Binnington	STL	G	32	33	3.60	.867	1x$6M
46	Sam Montembeault	MTL	G	29	24	3.37	.874	1x$3.15M
47	Steven Stamkos	NSH	RW	36	61	30	47	2x$8M
48	Elias Pettersson	VAN	C	27	53	13	36	6x$11.6M
49	Alex Tuch	BUF	RW	29	60	24	52	UFA
50	Jesper Wallstedt	MIN	G	23	25	2.85	.910	1x$2.2M

Traded: No. 3 Andrew Mangiapane; No. 5 Tyler Myers; No. 8 Connor Murphy; No. 16 Nicolas Roy; No. 17 Jason Dickinson; No. 18 Michael McCarron; No. 25 Mackenzie Weegar.

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