Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images Welcome to the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline. Today is the last day for teams to register trades that will allow playoff participation. In other words, it is effectively the last day for trades to be made during the season. All deals must be registered with the league’s offices by 3 PM ET. Some may get reported a bit after then, but the deadline is with the league and that is a true deadline. As with many recent seasons, the New Jersey Devils are mostly sellers. It will be tricky to do so this season. About half of the NHL is only cap compliant due to players on long term injured reserve allowing temporary space. Most teams have 48 or more contracts out of the maximum of 50 on the books. On top of that, there are rumors that the salary cap will not increase for 2021-22. The upcoming expansion draft for Seattle means 30 teams have to make sure they have players to meet the league’s exposure requirements. There is also a global pandemic known as the Coronavirus, which has led to a mandate from Canada that all incoming players have to quarantine for a week before joining their teams. This is not to say there will be no moves made. Just that there are additional complications than usual - which I covered in my early 2021 NHL Trade Deadline primer - and they will be at least a little more difficult to manage.