{"id":426345,"date":"2026-01-22T18:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/426345\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T18:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:08:09","slug":"nhl-rumor-mill-january-22-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/426345\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumor Mill \u2013 January 22, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could Auston Matthews<\/a> consider moving on if the Leafs miss the playoffs? Would Dougie Hamilton<\/a> be a good fit in Toronto? Could the Penguins attempt to acquire Jason Robertson<\/a> and re-sign Evgeni Malkin<\/a>? Will the Blues trade Robert Thomas<\/a>? Check out the latest in today\u2019s NHL Rumor Mill.<\/p>\n

THE LATEST MAPLE LEAFS SPECULATION<\/p>\n

TORONTO STAR:<\/a> Nick Kypreos wonders what Auston Matthews<\/a> will be thinking if the Maple Leafs miss the playoffs this season. The 28-year-old superstar center has two seasons left on his contract.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews (NHL Images).<\/p>\n

Kypreos believes Matthews will need assurances that the Maple Leafs are capable of building a contender. He pointed out that other elite NHL players, such as Matthew Tkachuk<\/a> in 2022 and Quinn Hughes<\/a> last month, forced a change of scenery, and wondered if Matthews might do the same at some point if the Leafs are no longer playoff contenders going forward.<\/p>\n

SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Matthews isn\u2019t going anywhere this season, but it\u2019s fair to raise the question about his future if the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs. Even if they squeak in but endure another early elimination, that will spark speculation about whether he\u2019ll finish his contract in Toronto.<\/p>\n

Kypreos also addressed whether Dougie Hamilton<\/a> would be a good fit with the Maple Leafs. The 32-year-old New Jersey Devils<\/a> defenseman has surfaced in the rumor mill after his agent recently indicated that the blueliner was willing to be flexible with his 10-team trade list.<\/p>\n

\u201cAside from the high acquisition cost and a few warts in his game, the Devils defenseman does check many boxes the Leafs desperately need on their blueline for a playoff push.\u201d<\/p>\n

SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Warts aside, the acquisition cost is the biggest stumbling block in the path of a trade here. Hamilton carries an average annual value of $9 million through 2027-28. It\u2019ll likely take a sweetener to convince the Devils to retain any part of that cap hit.<\/p>\n

The Leafs have limited cap room and trade capital. They could face difficulty trying to outbid other clubs.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Kevin McGran noted<\/a> the logjam in the Maple Leafs crease with Anthony Stolarz<\/a> due to return soon from injury, joining Joseph Woll<\/a> and Dennis Hildeby<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McGran believes Hildeby will likely return to their AHL affiliate because he\u2019s waiver-exempt. If Stolarz regains last season\u2019s solid form, the Leafs could be tempted to use one of those three goalies as a trade chip to shore up the defense.<\/p>\n

COULD THE PENGUINS PURSUE JASON ROBERTSON AND RE-SIGN EVGENI MALKIN?<\/p>\n

THE ATHLETIC<\/a>: Josh Yohe speculated recently that the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> might go the trade route this summer to bring in a young NHL star forward.<\/p>\n

He believes the Penguins love Jason Robertson<\/a>. The 26-year-old Dallas Stars<\/a> winger is slated to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights on July 1. He will draw lots of attention if the Stars make him available in the trade market, suggesting the Penguins have the salary-cap space and the tradeable assets to make a solid pitch. He also doesn\u2019t see them attempting to go the offer sheet route as the compensation required would be over the top.<\/p>\n

SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas will probably be in touch with the Stars if they decide to trade Robertson this summer. And yes, it would be in the summer because the Stars are all-in this season to win the Stanley Cup, and that includes having Robertson in the lineup.<\/p>\n

The Penguins would be well-situated to outbid most teams. The question is whether Robertson would be committed to joining them on a long-term deal. He could opt to go to arbitration, sign a one-year deal, and test the unrestricted free-agent market in 2027. That would crush his value in next season\u2019s trade market, making him enticing only to Stanley Cup contenders seeking a postseason rental.<\/p>\n

Yohe also reported that long-time Penguins star Evgeni Malkin<\/a> is willing to sign a one-year contract and accept a pay cut to stay in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

Malkin, 39, realizes this could be his final NHL season, but he\u2019s not ready to retire yet. He\u2019s not interested in playing for another team.<\/p>\n

SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Dubas indicated last fall that he would meet with the Malkin camp during the upcoming Olympic break to discuss his future. Despite missing 15 games with an upper-body injury, he\u2019s third among their scorers this season with 37 points in 34 games. It won\u2019t be surprising if he ends up with that one-year deal at a reduced price.<\/p>\n

COULD THE BLUES PEDDLE ROBERT THOMAS?<\/p>\n

THE ATHLETIC<\/a>: With St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas<\/a> surfacing in recent trade speculation, Jeremy Rutherford and Shayna Goldman looked at his potential value in the trade market.<\/p>\n

Thomas, 26, is in the third season of an eight-year contract with a AAV of $8.125 million. Rutherford and Goldman believe he\u2019ll fetch more than the asking price of a comparable center on an expiring contract.<\/p>\n

SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: You\u2019ll need a subscription to see their detailed breakdown of comparables, cost, and whether it would be worthwhile for the Blues to trade Thomas. In my opinion, he could fetch three assets containing at least a first-round pick and a top prospect or a promising young NHL player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Could Auston Matthews consider moving on if the Leafs miss the playoffs? Would Dougie Hamilton be a good…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-426345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}