{"id":486048,"date":"2026-02-19T20:19:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T20:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/486048\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T20:19:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T20:19:07","slug":"nhl-rumor-mill-february-19-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/486048\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumor Mill \u2013 February 19, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does the Rangers\u2019 Vladislav Gavrikov<\/a> want out of New York? What could be the Canucks\u2019 and Penguins\u2019 plans for the trade deadline? Find out in today\u2019s NHL Rumor Mill.<\/p>\n

COULD VLADISLAV GAVRIKOV REQUEST A TRADE?<\/p>\n

DAILY FACEOFF<\/a>: NHL analyst Mike Rupp recently said he\u2019d heard rumors that Vladislav Gavrikov isn\u2019t happy with the direction of the struggling New York Rangers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gavrikov signed a seven-year, $49 million contract last summer with the Rangers. However, Rupp said he\u2019d heard that this isn\u2019t what the 30-year-old defenseman signed up for, especially now that his friend Artemi Panarin<\/a> has been traded.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

New York Rangers defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov (NHL Images).<\/p>\n

SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Rupp cautioned that he doesn\u2019t know if there\u2019s any truth to those rumors about Gavrikov. Nevertheless, the club\u2019s decision to stage what they intend to be a quick rebuild has raised speculation about which players they could move. It\u2019s also generated questions about which players are willing to be part of that rebuild.<\/p>\n

Teams are probably calling the Rangers to find out which players they\u2019re willing to move. Some of them could be asking about Gavrikov\u2019s availability. However, he has a full no-movement clause, giving him full control over his situation, including preferred trade destinations.<\/p>\n

THE LATEST ON THE CANUCKS\u2019 AND PENGUINS\u2019 TRADE DEADLINE PLANS<\/p>\n

THE ATHLETIC:<\/a> Thomas Drance looked at the priority items that the Vancouver Canucks<\/a> must address at the March 6 trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Moving Evander Kane is one of them. The 34-year-old winger is due to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He has struggled this season, and there isn\u2019t much of a market for him currently, although that might change as the trade deadline approaches. His agent has been permitted to speak with other clubs about a trade.<\/p>\n

SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Kane\u2019s struggles could also be due to the club he\u2019s playing with this season. He\u2019s proven to be a solid postseason performer, which could make him an affordable depth acquisition for a contender if the Canucks retain half of his $5.125 million cap hit.<\/p>\n

Drance also recommended the Canucks get whatever the market will pay for UFA-eligible depth centers Teddy Blueger<\/a> and David Kampf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Drance\u2019s colleague Josh Yohe<\/a> looked at players and assets likely to be moved by the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> by the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

With the Penguins sitting second in the Metropolitan Division, Yohe believes they\u2019ll be buyers at the deadline, but doesn\u2019t expect many roster players to be moved. Struggling veterans Kevin Hayes<\/a> and Ryan Graves<\/a> seem the most likely trade candidates.<\/p>\n

General manager Kyle Dubas prefers to use draft picks to acquire younger talent. If he makes a move, it\u2019ll likely be for something comparable to his acquisition of Egor Chinahkov from the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: Yohe\u2019s article came out before Penguins captain Sidney Crosby<\/a> suffered a lower-body injury at the Olympics. The severity of that injury could affect Dubas\u2019 plans for the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

If Crosby isn\u2019t seriously injured, Dubas could stick to the plan of acquiring young players. He\u2019s got two second-round picks and two third-rounders in each of the next three drafts, and two fifth-round picks in 2028 to draw on for trade chips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Does the Rangers\u2019 Vladislav Gavrikov want out of New York? What could be the Canucks\u2019 and Penguins\u2019 plans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-486048","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\/486048","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=486048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}