The Hurricanes wasted no time making their major cup-chasing move. Despite the NHL Trade deadline being over a month away, Carolina added the most-significant firepower imaginable by acquiring Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche in a complicated three-way trade involving the Chicago Blackhawks.

Welcome to Scott Wheeler’s 2025 rankings of every NHL organization’s prospects. You can find the complete ranking and more information on the project and its criteria here, as we count down daily from No. 32 to No. 1. The series, which includes in-depth evaluations and insight from sources on nearly 500 prospects, runs from Jan. 8 to Feb. 7.

Although the Calgary Flames were expected to miss the playoffs for a third straight campaign, the team continues to hang around in 2024-25.

The NHL trade deadline (March 7) is a little more than a month away and teams are already starting to position themselves as buyers and sellers. So let's take a look at four teams that could be positioned to be the most aggressive buyers,