This season's NHL trade deadline is Feb. 26, and Anaheim's Bob Murray is one of the GMs most likely to be wheeling and dealing, based on his track record.
Since 2005, there has been an average of 40.6 trades in the month leading up to the deadline, 21.3 of which occur on the final day and 7.3 in the two days previous, based on the raw data made available at Pro Sports Transactions.
Looking ahead to this season, we have ranked the GMs in the Western Conference based on which ones are most likely to make some trades based on past behavior, and we identified whether they are likely to be buyers, sellers or still on the bubble.
1. Bob Murray, Anaheim Ducks
Number of trade deadlines: Nine
Final-month trades: 48, 5.33 per season
Final-day trades: 25, 2.78 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2010, the Ducks acquired Lubomir Visnovsky from the Oilers for Ryan Whitney and a sixth-round pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Bubble team
As was seemingly tradition, Murray could be counted on to acquire a top-pair defenseman at the deadline, whether that was James Wisniewski in 2009, Lubomir Visnovsky in 2010 or Francois Beauchemin in 2011. More recently, he is known to make moves involving secondary players only -- but lots of them!
2. John Chayka, Arizona Coyotes
Number of trade deadlines: One
Final-month trades: Seven
Final-day trades: One
Biggest final-month trade: In 2017, the Coyotes traded Martin Hanzal, Ryan White and a fourth-round draft pick to the Wild for Grayson Downing, a first-round pick, a second-round pick and a conditional pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Sellers
Since 2005, the Ducks are the only organization to make more deadline trades than the Coyotes -- a tradition Chayka continued in his first season. This season, expect him to move whomever he can, for whatever he can, as the build continues.
3. Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche
Number of trade deadlines: Three
Final-month trades: 11, 3.67 per season
Final-day trades: 10, 3.33 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2016, the Avalanche traded Alex Tanguay, Conner Bleackley and Kyle Wood to the Arizona Coyotes for Mikkel Boedker.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Bubble team
In the past three seasons, Colorado has made a fair number of trades, all but one of which were completed on the final day. However, Sakic has yet to be involved in any kind of deadline blockbuster to match the megadeal sending Matt Duchene to Ottawa earlier this season.
4. Chuck Fletcher, Minnesota Wild
Number of trade deadlines: Eight
Final-month trades: 26, 3.25 per season
Final-day trades: 13, 1.63 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2012, the Wild traded Marek Zidlicky to the New Jersey Devils for Kurtis Foster, Nick Palmieri, Stephane Veilleux, a second-round pick and a conditional third-round pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Bubble team
Fletcher started off slowly, with a combined total of four low-impact trades in his first two seasons, but he has been among the league's more active GMs at the deadline ever since. Will he push some chips to the middle of the table again this season?
5. Stan Bowman, Chicago Blackhawks
Number of trade deadlines: Eight
Final-month trades: 27, 3.38 per season
Final-day trades: Eight, 1.0 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2016, Chicago acquired Andrew Ladd, Matt Fraser and Jay Harrison from the Jets for Marko Dano, a first-round pick and a conditional third-round pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Sellers
As buyers, Chicago has been increasingly active leading up to the deadline over the years, picking up eight complementary players in 2016. However, they might choose to position themselves as sellers at this year's deadline if they remain in last place in the ultra-tight Central Division. If so, it will be uncharted territory for Bowman, who won the Stanley Cup in his first season as the team's GM in 2010.
6. Peter Chiarelli, Edmonton Oilers
Number of trade deadlines: 11, including two with the Oilers
Final-month trades: 34, 3.09 per season
Final-day trades: 16, 1.45 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2011 with the Bruins, Chiarelli acquired Tomas Kaberle from the Maple Leafs for Joe Colborne, a first-round pick and a conditional second-round pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Sellers
Given that this is only the second time that one of Chiarelli's teams has been outside playoff contention this early in the season, it's difficult to predict how active he will be. He traded away Justin Schultz, Anders Nilsson and Martin Gernat while with the Oilers in 2012-16, and he shipped off Milan Jurcina, Kris Versteeg, Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau, Paul Mara and Brad Boyes with the Bruins in 2006-07.
7. Doug Wilson, San Jose Sharks
Number of trade deadlines: 12
Final-month trades: 35, 2.92 per season
Final-day trades: 16, 1.33 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2008, the Sharks acquired Brian Campbell and a seventh-round pick from the Sabres for Steve Bernier and a first-round pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Bubble team
At the deadline, Wilson's tenure with the Sharks has been quite average in terms of overall trade volume, how many deals wait until the final day and only occasional movement of a top-line player. With five teams in close contention for the three Pacific Division playoff spots, Wilson's whims in the coming weeks could have a significant impact on the playoff race.
8. George McPhee, Vegas Golden Knights
Number of trade deadlines: 10, with the Capitals
Final-month trades: 28, 2.8 per season
Final-day trades: 16, 1.6 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2013, the Capitals acquired Martin Erat and Michael Latta from the Predators for Filip Forsberg.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Buyers
Vegas is in the unexpected position of being buyers at the trade deadline, but don't expect any big moves at the deadline because McPhee was not known for blockbuster trades in his time as Washington's GM. Other than accidentally giving up a future star in Forsberg, McPhee never surrendered more than a second-round pick or a secondary prospect to get what he wanted (since 2005).
9. Doug Armstrong, St. Louis Blues
Number of trade deadlines: Nine, including seven with the Blues
Final-month trades: 23, 2.56 per season
Final-day trades: Six, 0.67 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2011, the Blues acquired Kevin Shattenkirk, Chris Stewart and a conditional second-round pick for Erik Johnson, Jay McClement and a conditional first-round pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Buyers
Under Armstrong, the Blues have been about as active as most teams, but they generally get their work done in advance of the final day. The notable exception was in 2015, when the Blues waited until the closing hours to acquire Olli Jokinen, Robert Bortuzzo and Zbynek Michalek in three transactions.
10. Brad Treliving, Calgary Flames
Number of trade deadlines: Three
Final-month trades: Eight, 2.67 per season
Final-day trades: Four, 1.33 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2016, Calgary traded Kris Russell to the Stars for Jyrki Jokipakka, Brett Pollock and a conditional first-round pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Bubble team
Despite being on the playoff bubble, Calgary is unlikely to get involved in any bidding wars with Treliving in charge. There have certainly been opportunities to move veterans and acquire players of impact, but Treliving has chosen to carefully extract good value for outgoing veterans such as Curtis Glencross, Jiri Hudler and Kris Russell and to surrender relatively little for Michael Stone and Curtis Lazar.
11. Jim Nill, Dallas Stars
Number of trade deadlines: Four
Final-month trades: 10, 2.5 per season
Final-day trades: Three, 0.75 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2016, Dallas acquired Kris Russell from the Calgary Flames for Jyrki Jokipakka, Brett Pollock and a conditional first-round pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Bubble team
Nill might not be one of the most active GMs at the deadline, especially on the final day, but we can expect at least one conditional draft pick to change hands. Of the eight draft picks that have been exchanged in his four seasons as Stars GM, all but two of them involved conditions -- both of which were inbound picks.
12. Jim Benning, Vancouver Canucks
Number of trade deadlines: Three
Final-month trades: Six, 2.0 per season
Final-day trades: Three, 1.0 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2015, the Canucks acquired Sven Baertschi from the Flames for a second-round pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Sellers
The trade deadline has been a quiet time in Vancouver during the three seasons that Benning has been the GM, and it might remain that way no matter how many assets the Canucks have to offer. Based on his track record, it will take a reasonable prospect -- such as Jonathan Dahlen or Nikolay Goldobin, whom he has landed in the past -- for Benning to budge on even his team's secondary veterans.
13. David Poile, Nashville Predators
Number of trade deadlines: 12
Final-month trades: 23, 1.92 per season
Final-day trades: 13, 1.08 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2007, Nashville acquired Peter Forsberg for Ryan Parent, Scottie Upshall, a first-round pick and a third-round pick.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Buyers
With a few exceptions, Nashville can certainly be classified as the type of organization that makes their plan early in the season and largely sticks with it. Poile's big moves have been made in the offseason (P.K. Subban for Shea Weber) or earlier in the regular season (Ryan Johansen for Seth Jones). However, with the Stanley Cup within their reach and with the Predators having been quite active at the deadline in 2007 and 2012, are they due for another big push?
14. Kevin Cheveldayoff, Winnipeg Jets
Number of trade deadlines: Six
Final-month trades: Eight, 1.33 per season
Final-day trades: Two, 0.33 per season
Biggest final-month trade: In 2015, the Jets acquired Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux and a first-round pick from the Sabres for Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and Jason Kasdorf.
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Buyers
Despite being locked in a battle for first place in the Central Division, the Jets are among the teams most likely to stand pat. In their final six seasons, the Atlanta Thrashers made 22 trades in the month leading up to the deadline, including nine on the final day. In six seasons in Winnipeg, they have made just eight trades and just two on the final day.
N/A. Rob Blake, Los Angeles Kings
Number of trade deadlines: Zero
Final-month trades: N/A
Final-day trades: N/A
Biggest final-month trade: N/A
Team's role in 2017-18 market: Bubble team
In the past few weeks, the Kings have fallen from a battle for first in the Pacific to being outside the playoff picture. This will be a true test for Blake, whose primary deadline experience involved being traded as a player -- by the Kings to the Avalanche in 2001.