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Best and worst buys at the NHL trade deadline

Lee Stempniak and Eric Staal are both potentially on the move at the trade deadline. One of them makes for a best buy, while the other does not. Getty Images

Every contending team's general manager has nightmares of making a trade deadline blunder that costs their team in the short or long term. A win-now move can blow up in their face with a first-round elimination or with the picks and prospects sacrificed becoming superstars elsewhere.

So the buying GM must understand which players will be overpriced, and which useful players will go more under the radar.

Here is a look at five upcoming unrestricted free agents (UFA) who will make savvy deadline acquisitions and five who will probably cost more than they are worth.