from Scott Burnside of ESPN,
Here's a look at seven players we're watching closely heading toward Monday's 3 p.m. ET deadline.
Chris Stewart, Buffalo Sabres
Teams have been talking about the big Buffalo Sabres winger since the opening days of the regular season. And he's going somewhere. But for how much and to where? In our minds, anything higher than a third-round pick is too risky given Stewart's uneven play. So, what about the Chicago Blackhawks, who need help up front? We're not comparing Stewart to Patrick Kane, other than he is a human being who plays hockey. But Stewart is attractive to a number of teams -- the Boston Bruins would be another -- because he has shown in pretty small sample that he has an 'A' game, which means crashing the net, scoring and generally banging around in the offensive zone. One executive told us he doesn't care that Stewart isn't likely a long-term option given the wild fluctuations in his game, but playing for a contract over a short period of time, like the playoffs, he would be interested in his services.
Antoine Vermette, Arizona Coyotes
Vermette is undeniably the top pure rental forward available. He can play center, wing, in the top six, top nine. But let's not overstate Vermette's potential impact. He is not, for instance, going to replace the kind of production the Blackhawks lost when Kane went down.
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