The early free-agency chaos has faded, the dog days of the off-season are here, and a number of NHL clubs still find themselves heading toward the 2025-26 campaign with squads still craving upgrades.
A thin free-agency market has complicated that issue for the organizations in need, with few sure-fire options out there for teams looking to improve. That’s forced more GMs to turn to the trade market as they look to get their groups ready for the coming season, meaning upgrades will come at a cost greater than dollars alone.
While the potential game-changers available seem few and far between, the Penguins still have a couple notable pieces that seem very much in play given Pittsburgh’s position as a rebuilding franchise: wingers Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust.
Neither forward figures to be a long-term solution for clubs hoping to bolster their offensive groups, each already over 30 and likely to slow down over the next few seasons. But both proved just last season that they can still hang, Rakell coming off a career-best 35-goal, 70-point season and Rust coming off a career-best 31-goal, 65-point season — both accomplished while playing for a woeful Penguins squad.
The Pens have proven reluctant to trade either winger for a less-than-stellar return, given the club still needs reliable scorers, and Rust is a fan favourite. Still, everything GM Kyle Dubas has done of late suggests he’ll move one or both wingers if it makes the Penguins better down the line.
That being the case, who might be interested?
Since moving on from Mitch Marner, the Maple Leafs have brought in a number of depth pieces to fill out the club’s forward corps, but they have yet to replace the offensive production and creativity lost with No. 16’s departure.
Toronto was never going to bring in a player of Marner’s calibre, of course — the central point of turning the page on the Core Four era is spreading out the dollars earmarked for Marner to other corners of the lineup. Still, the thinking early on was that GM Brad Treliving would target Sam Bennett or Brad Marchand, game-changers who would cost less than Marner’s $12-million cap hit. Instead, the Maple Leafs have brought in Matias Maccelli, Nic Roy and Dakota Joshua — three solid additions, but three players who have yet to top the 20-goal plateau.
Toronto still has plenty of high-end offensive pieces on the roster, but given the club was linked to Andrew Mangiapane and Jack Roslovic earlier this summer, it seems Treliving and Co. may still be hunting for a more impactful addition. Either Rust or Rakell could slot in as a top-six piece with a bit more scoring pedigree, pushing one of the other recent additions into a needed depth role.
Financially, the Maple Leafs have cap space to work with should they look to bring in another scorer, and names who could be moved to help facilitate a deal, such as veteran David Kampf.
Colorado’s aggressive roster retooling came back to bite them in Round 1 of the 2025 post-season, as star castaway Mikko Rantanen burned his former club in Game 7, when the stakes were highest.
Like Toronto, the Avs must now find a way to rediscover some of what was lost in Rantanen’s departure. They also have to contend with a Western Conference that houses a few behemoths, including a Vegas squad that’s improved immensely this summer.
Trading away Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood, and losing Jonathan Drouin in free agency, Colorado’s forward corps remains in flux. Although they still boast one of the most prolific forwards in the game in Nathan MacKinnon, and perhaps the league’s best blue-liner in Cale Makar, the team as built around those two doesn’t seem set up to contend with the rest of the league’s best.
Rakell or Rust seem worthwhile swings if GM Chris MacFarland is looking for another veteran scorer. Rust may be the more fitting choice, having proven during his time in Pittsburgh that he has enough versatility in his game to find success anywhere in the top nine. Colorado has some space at its disposal, but would similarly need to move out a depth piece to get such a deal over the line.
The Red Wings’ need for offensive help is so pressing, it’s seemingly begun to cause friction within the organization. At his end-of-season availability, captain Dylan Larkin lamented the fact that his club didn’t add any pieces at the trade deadline, sending a message to GM Steve Yzerman about what’s expected from the group before 2025-26 rolls around.
“We didn’t gain any momentum from the trade deadline, and guys were kind of down about it,” Larkin had said. “So, it’d be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice, and a morale boost as well.”
Yzerman has brought in a couple additions up front, signing veteran James van Riemsdyk and former Winnipeg Jets forward Mason Appleton. But both are depth pieces who don’t figure to significantly alter the club’s approach. A 30-goal threat would do more to move the needle — Rust, a product of Pontiac, Mich., seems a natural fit, and such a homecoming might be easier to stomach for both the winger and the Penguins fanbase. Financially, there would be no issue here, as the Red Wings still have more than $12 million in cap space to work with.
The Kings remain on the hunt for pieces that can help them get past Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, who’ve ousted L.A. in the first round the past four years, and remain the Californian club’s most daunting post-season obstacle.
GM Ken Holland has addressed the areas that burned the team most last time out, bringing in Corey Perry and Joel Armia to bolster the bottom six, and adding Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin as a new third defence pair. Still, those additions don’t exactly put L.A. in position to take down McDavid and Co., or any of the other contenders around the league, for that matter.
The Kings simply need more reliable scorers to get pucks over the line, the club’s offence ranking middle-of-the-pack last season. Rakell seems a potential fit on that front, the right-handed winger able to bring some finesse, potentially partner with fellow Swede Adrian Kempe, and perhaps find the consistency he showed last time he played in California. Like Detroit, there would be no issue here financially, as the Kings have just under $7 million in cap space to utilize, should they look to continue adding.
It’s been a decade-and-a-half since the Sabres made it to the playoffs, and it’s tough to see them getting back next season, given where the club sits. The recent trend of trading away young pieces — which has continued this off-season with the deal that sent J.J. Peterka to Utah — hasn’t helped. For Buffalo, the path ahead seems straightforward, the club simply needing to add as much talent as it can, hoping to stitch together a group that can find a spark, claw their way back to the post-season, and build some much-needed momentum.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the Sabres’ interest in Rust ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft, and it would seem a worthy gamble for the organization. Rust’s versatility and blue-collar approach would make him a good bet to find success somewhere among the pieces in the Sabres’ top six — and, of course, he has history with Buffalo’s Jason Zucker, the pair playing well together during Zucker’s stint in Pittsburgh.
More importantly, the two-time Cup champ could bring veteran experience and leadership to a Sabres group that seems to need it. Financially, Buffalo has cap space to work, but the club would likely need to move out a depth piece to facilitate a deal.