Spent some time identifying defencemen that will probably be on the market. Started out by figuring out the teams that are pretty much sure fire sellers: Canadiens, Blue Jackets, Flyers, Blackhawks, Ducks, Sharks, and Sabres*.
I think the Sabres will make some sort of panic move if this season continues to go sideways. They could turn it around enough to finish the same they have the last couple of seasons but will still end up selling someone off.
From these teams, we've got a list of defencemen sorted into 1st pair, 2nd pair, 3rd pair, depth, and a bonus category.
1st Pair:
Travis Sanheim - Flyers - LD - 7y/6.25m (NTC)
2nd Pair:
Cam Fowler - Ducks - LD - 2y/6.5m (4-NTC)
Henri Jokiharju - Sabres - RD - 1y/3.1m (UFA)
Mattias Samuelsson - Sabres - LD - 6y/4.28m
Connor Murphy - Blackhawks - RD - 2y/4.4m (10-NTC)
Ivan Provorv - Blue Jackets - LD - 1y/4.72m (UFA)
Michael Matheson - Canadiens - LD - 2y/4.87m (8-NTC)
David Savard - Canadiens - RD - 1y/3.5m (UFA)
Mario Ferraro - Sharks - LD - 2y/3.25m
Jake Walman - Sharks - LD - 2y/3.4m
3rd Pair:
Brian Dumoulin - Ducks - LD - 1y/3.15m (10-NTC)
Connor Clifton - Sabres - RD - 2y/3.33m
Alec Martinez - Blackhawks - LD - 1y/4.0m (UFA) injured
T.J. Brodie - Blackhawks - LD - 2y/3.75m
Rasmus Ristolainen - Flyers - RD - 3y/5.1m
Jan Rutta - Sharks - RD - 1y/2.75m (UFA)
Cody Ceci - Sharks - RD - 1y/3.25m (UFA)
Matt Benning - Sharks - RD - 2y/1.25m
Depth:
Jack Johnson - Blue Jackets - LD - 1y/0.77m (UFA)
Erik Johnson - Flyers - RD - 1y/1.0m (UFA)
No Chance:
Erik Gudbranson - Blue Jackets - RD - 2y/4.0m (10-NTC) injured
There's also a few players who could be potential Hronek's. This list is much smaller.
Arber Xhekaj - Canadiens - LD - 2y/1.3m (RFA)
Yegor Zamula - Flyers - LD - 2y/1.7m (RFA)
Bowen Byram - Sabres - LD - 1y/3.85m (RFA)
Urho Vaakanainen - Ducks - LD - 1y/1.5m (RFA)
Quibble about whether a player is a 2nd or 3rd pairing guy all you want. Ideally the Canucks approach their other pairing like they did last year where the non-Hughes/Hronek pairs were hybrid 2/3s that traded off on duties every other game.
I don't see the Flyers actually trading Sanheim.
I think the Sabres will make some sort of panic move if this season continues to go sideways. They could turn it around enough to finish the same they have the last couple of seasons but will still end up selling someone off. I wouldn't have put Mattias Samuelsson on here but Satiar Shah brought him up yesterday. His reasoning is the Sabres have him on the 3rd pair with Dahlin, Byram, & Power above him and unlikely to want an all-left handed top-4. I really don't see them trading Byram, especially considering the Canucks won't be offering anything more than picks and prospects.
I don't think the Sharks will trade all of Ferraro, Walman, and Benning I do think one of them will get moved this season. I view both depth Johnsons as worse than the options already on the roster. The real interesting acquisitions (Gavrikov, Pettersson, etc.) are on these bubble teams that will wait as long as possible to figure out where they stand.