There’s no shortage of buzz around the NHL trade market, though it hasn’t led to a whole lot of action as of yet.

The injury-plagued Vancouver Canucks swung a deal to acquire Lukas Reichel from the Chicago Blackhawks last week for a fourth-round pick, but it appears most teams are looking to settle into their seasons before considering any significant moves.

The struggling Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins are in the spotlight with the futures of centres Nazem Kadri and Pavel Zacha in question. Tuesday’s edition of Insider Trading has served to cool the rumour mill around both players, with a Zacha trade potentially being off the table for good.

“There’s no question, and sources confirm, that the Vancouver Canucks did indeed reach out to the Boston Bruins over the summer to gauge interest and to see if (Zacha) was available,“ TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun explained.

“What I’m being told is that the Boston Bruins view Pavel Zacha as a long-term fit. He has another year on his deal after this year but don’t be surprised if they try to extend him this summer. At 28 years old, they look at him as being age-appropriate for this roster transition, and they feel he fits in very well and would like to keep him around.“

The 28-year-old Zacha has two goals and 10 points in 12 games with the Bruins this season while carrying a cap hit of $4.75 million through next season. He had a down year last season, finishing with 14 goals and 47 points in 82 games after topping 20 goals and 56 points in each of the previous two years.

Despite Zacha’s strong start to the campaign, the Bruins hold a 5-7-0 record and sit tied for last in the competitive Atlantic Division, with two more games played than the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning, who also have 10 points.

Kadri, 35, is also off to a promising start to the season with two goals and eight points in 11 games. The Flames, however, have struggled mightily out of the gate, owning the league’s worst record at 2-8-1.

The pressure may be turning up in Calgary, but neither the team or Kadri is looking for a change as of now.

“There is a lot of talk and a lot of speculation driven by the media,” TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger said. “The reality is it comes from a place where the Calgary Flames are playing well below expectations and there are other Canadian markets – namely the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, and maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs – that could absolutely envision a No. 2, experienced centre like Nazem Kadri in their lineup.

“The reality is that Nazem Kadri loves Calgary and unless the Flames decide that their roster needs reconstruction, and that could happen through the rest of the regular season leading up to the trade deadline, then at least for the moment, it is premature.

“There’s tons of interest. Don’t get me wrong. But the timing isn’t right yet.”

Kadri, who is four games away from playing his 1,000th in the NHL, remains signed through the 2028-29 season at a cap hit of $7 million. That deal was signed by then-Flames general manager Brad Treliving, who is now with Kadri’s first NHL team, the Maple Leafs.

Treliving has spoken openly since the summer about the Maple Leafs’ desire to add a top-six forward to help replace Mitch Marner, but has been unable to find a deal.

“It’s not been from a lack of trying,” Treliving said in September of entering training camp without a top-six addition. “There’s just not a lot of them out there that everybody’s willing to hand over to you, right? So, I think today is no different than yesterday and the day before. It’s going to be tomorrow. You’re always looking to try to improve your team.”

The 35-year-old Kadri scored 35 goals last season, topping the 30-goal mark for the first time since he was with Toronto in 2017-18. He offers Stanley Cup pedigree to any potential suitor, having won a championship with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, just over a month before joining the Flames.

While it remains early in the season, it will be no small task for Calgary to dig out of their early hole. The team fell painfully shy of the playoffs last season, missing out via a tiebreaker with the St. Louis Blues.

General managers around the league are trying to resist the urge to hit the panic button amid slow starts. Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin is concerned over his team’s 3-5-3 record, but told The Athletic over the weekend that he’s not ready to tinker with his roster yet.

“It is just hard when it’s not even 10 games in,” Guerin said. “That’s not really a great runway for not just our team, but the other teams to really know what you have. So it doesn’t seem like everybody’s really willing to make deals now, me included, because I haven’t seen us play at our best yet so I don’t want to overreact. But this is, I guess historically, not a time where a lot of trades have been made.”

Just over four months remain until the March 6 trade deadline, leaving plenty of time for teams to chart their course before making any big moves.