from Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun,

Without further ado, here is Postmedia’s NHL Trade Deadline Primer — Eastern Conference edition.

ATLANTIC DIVISION

BOSTON BRUINS

LET’S MAKE A DEAL?: Right in the middle of the playoff hunt, the Bruins would like to add talent, especially on the back end. But if a stalemate in contract talks forces GM Don Sweeney’s hand into dealing top-six forward Loui Eriksson, acquiring goals to replace him might be a more pressing need.

TRADE WINDS: Eriksson, 30, already rejected an offer approaching $6 million US per season and is said to be looking for a long-term extension of at least five years, which is believed to be more than the Bruins would like to hand out. If Eriksson does go, that would free more money to re-sign Brad Marchand, who becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2017.

BUFFALO SABRES

LET’S MAKE A DEAL?: Selling, selling, selling. If you have draft picks and prospects you are willing to move, please call Sabres GM Tim Murray.

TRADE WINDS: Despite being mired near the bottom of the standings, the future is bright in Buffalo with a young core of Ryan O’Reilly, Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Evander Kane (when he isn’t missing practice) and Rasmus Ristolainen. Pending UFA forwards David Legwand, Jamie McGinn, defencemen Mike Weber, Carlo Colaiacovo and goalie Chad Johnson could all be in play to be moved out. Interesting to see if Murray would be willing to ship out banged-up forward Tyler Ennis or the underachieving Matt Moulson.

read on for all of the teams in the East...