Matthew Knies<\/a> back out there, but he\u2019s not enough for Werenski. I could see this dragging out all summer as Columbus looks for a package that works.\u00a0<\/p>\nDetroit and Buffalo are still the most logical landing spots for Hellebuyck. Detroit is more reluctant with a much deeper goalie prospect pool and trading for Hellebuyck would throw a curve ball into that. Most likely scenario still has Winnipeg revisiting the Buffalo Sabres. A draft weekend trade with Buffalo did not come to be, but the Sabres are still trying very hard. I had heard Winnipeg asked for Zach Benson, but that\u2019s not happening. The Jets need a\u00a0strong\u00a0return on Hellebuyck to\u00a0keep current Jets stars such as Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, somewhat satisfied. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Stars are still trying to bridge the contract gap with Robertson, but he knows what his value is and I\u2019m not sure Dallas can get to it.\u00a0The last thing Robertson wants to see is a situation where if he takes a long-term deal in Dallas \u2014 for example, seven years and a $13 million AAV \u2014 that the Stars don’t immediately trade him to Seattle where he already turned down $124 million. That would be somewhat embarrassing to end up in the city he already turned down. As mentioned in the top, this may go to arbitration, which would result in a one-year contract and Robertson set up to become a UFA next summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Steve Yzerman holds tight and Larkin\u2019s trade list remains narrow, this is not close to a resolution. Minnesota and Vegas just don\u2019t seem to want to move what the Red Wings would need, and so Yzerman just is not interested right now. Larkin may yet still be a Red Wing in the fall.<\/p>\n
Between Werenski and Marchenko, Columbus GM Don Waddell\u2019s off-season planning has been severely disrupted. Next summer, Marchenko will be in a similar situation to Robertson, an RFA who\u2019s just one year from unrestricted free agency. The Blue Jackets want to come out of this still with competitive upside. With the Werenski situation in a feverish state the last 24 hours, Marchenko seems to be in a holding pattern.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the Maple Leafs do something huge, such as a move for Werenski, Knies is the top asset they have to offer. His name is bound to come up in any blockbuster type of move Toronto might be interested in exploring.\u00a0Chicago, Montreal, Buffalo and most recently Dallas and Columbus are poking around. With Knies having zero trade protection, I don\u2019t hear this trade noise on him slowing down. For now, the Leafs are happy pushing the narrative\u00a0that anything short of a great offer \u2018we are happy to keep him.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
His preference is to move East, but Edmonton might be able to get a better deal from a team out West, so we\u2019ll see if Nurse expands his list or not. The Oilers just don\u2019t want to take back a bad contract and would prefer to create a little cap space in this move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s\u00a0a less enticing market for Rielly than Nurse so the\u00a0Maple Leafs will be treading lightly for now. Like the Edmonton Oilers, the Leafs are reluctant to throw in “sweeteners” to make a deal happen, like eating salary or giving up draft assets. As the summer goes on, scenarios will change for teams that could change the interest level in Rielly.<\/p>\n
Florida traded for Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid, seemingly taking one team out of the running for Binnington. Yes, the off-season game of goalie musical chairs is in full swing and Binnington is one of the possibilities to land somewhere. Oilers management is under the impression that he’s open to being traded there. However, there is strong speculation that Winnipeg is still on Binnington’s no-trade list.<\/p>\n
With the decision by new GM Alex Steen to back off shopping Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko, the more likely scenario is Binnington at least starts the season in St. Louis and re-visits the goalie market in the fall. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Did acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev change the Rangers\u2019 plans for Trocheck at all? Word is the asking price is still sky-high for the 32-year-old centre, and no one has been willing to meet it yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An RFA who is not eligible to sign an offer sheet, there are all kinds of teams interested in Nikishin, but the Hurricanes want a solid return for the 24-year-old coming off his rookie season. There\u2019s also the matter of a new contract. How much does Nikishin want on an extension? Someone out there is willing to pay Nikishin as much as $7-8 million per year and maybe more if the market for top defencemen keeps exploding. Carolina surely can\u2019t go there\u00a0as they focus on what Jalen Chatfield\u2019s extension could look like.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sense still is that the new management group is more open to the idea of retaining salary to make a deal work, but the Canucks need to get a return to be happy with. Pettersson remains very much in play and becomes a more interesting acquisition at a lower cap hit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is part of the teardown, looking to move a 29-year-old winger in the middle of a seven-year contract. DeBrusk can be helpful for a team in the playoff mix, but in rebuilding Vancouver the timing just doesn\u2019t line up anymore. This is not the team DeBrusk thought he was signing on to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Penguins aren\u2019t afraid to get creative and have an eye on getting younger, so Rakell remains a player I\u2019m watching on my board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Flames aren\u2019t expected to be active in free agency and are focused on managing assets to set the team up for long-term success after they move into their new rink. If anything, the Flames are still looking improve their future outlook and as long as that\u2019s the case, Coleman is a trade possibility.<\/p>\n
As the Flyers weigh what to do next, Ristolainen is someone who could potentially offset in a return for Darnell Nurse. <\/p>\n
Traded off Kyper’s Board: Jordan Kyrou, Simon Nemec, Bowen Byram, Jordan Greenway,\u00a0Valeri Nichushkin,\u00a0Mason McTavish, Brandon Carlo, Evan Rodrigues, Jacob Markstrom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"July 1 may not deliver a star-studded group of unrestricted free agents, but the potential for trades is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-772291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Free](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/hc-signing_1200x900_Thumbnail-v2-640x360.jpg\")
Free agency kicks off on Sportsnet<\/p>\n