Everything is resolved, and everything isn\u2019t. The 2026 NHL Draft is now history. As the picks unfolded Friday and Saturday, we saw the Toronto Maple Leafs set up their next era with No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna; the San Jose Sharks load up with a first-round trifecta of Ivar Stenberg, Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin; and the Pittsburgh Penguins secure identical twins Liam and Markus Ruck. We also saw several-long rumored names change hands via trade, from Mason McTavish to Sebastian Cossa to Brandon Carlo, with some surprises such as JJ Peterka sprinkled in.<\/p>\n
Plenty of names remain in play for trades in the coming days; the most recent pre-draft DFO Trade Board can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n But who are the names for whom we are truly holding our breath? Here\u2019s a quick rundown of the players who could still shift the NHL\u2019s power balance if moved this offseason.<\/p>\n Dylan Larkin, C,\u00a0Detroit Red Wings<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 29 With the UFA market looking so barren, Larkin\u2019s trade request earlier this month was an absolute boon. Half the teams in the league could use a speedy center who gets 30 goals every year and plays a ton of minutes. Larkin\u2019s request reportedly began with just three teams in (yawn) the Panthers, Wild and Golden Knights,\u00a0but that won\u2019t stop other suitors from knocking<\/a>. It does feel like the Wild are an overwhelmingly good fit for Larkin, though.<\/p>\n Zach Werenski, D, Columbus Blue Jackets<\/p>\n Age: 28 The USA paranoia is real, and it doesn\u2019t appear the Blue Jackets and their fans are completely immune when it comes to the reigning Norris Trophy winner and Olympic gold medallist. Werenski is two years away from free agency, just like Brady Tkachuk was, and Werenski hasn\u2019t played in a postseason since 2020. Werenski and the Blue Jackets\u00a0were supposed to meet after the 2026 Draft\u00a0to discuss his future, but things have accelerated to the point GM Don Waddell is already fielding trade calls, reports The Athletic\u2019s Aaron Portzline<\/a>. A Werenski trade could be the story of the offseason.<\/p>\n Connor Hellebuyck, G,\u00a0Winnipeg Jets<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 33 Brady Tkachuk doubled down on being committed to the Senators in his end-of-season media availability\u2026 and still left town. Hellebuyck was much more cryptic and exasperated in his comments after the Jets\u2019 season wrapped. No two situations are the same, but Hellebuyck is part of the USA Olympic clique, having backstopped them to gold in Milan,\u00a0and we have to pay attention to comments like<\/a>, \u201cIt\u2019s not so easy to say, \u2018Hey, we are going to be great next year.\u2019 \u201d If the Panthers decide the Bobrovsky era is over, will they come calling? What about Vegas after Carter Hart flopped in the Stanley Cup Final? The Sabres would be interesting, too. Hellebuyck is the best player in Thrashers\/Jets franchise history, but if he can bring in a return that corrects Winnipeg\u2019s overall course, does GM Kevin Cheveldayoff have to entertain the idea? The Jets are now open to it <\/a>but haven\u2019t seen an offer they like enough. Will that change?<\/p>\n Kirill Marchenko, RW,\u00a0Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 25 His name is out there, but look at that contract, combined with being 25 years old and playing just south of point-per-game hockey the past couple seasons. The offer would have to be pretty damn franchise-altering. Still, according to ESPN\u2019s Kevin Weekes<\/a>, Marchenko is unlikely to re-sign with the Blue Jackets, meaning they may have to cash out. At least his value is at its peak right now.<\/p>\n Vincent Trocheck, C,\u00a0New York Rangers<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 32 The Blueshirts aren\u2019t obligated to move Trocheck the way they were the expiring Artemi Panarin a few months ago, but it wouldn\u2019t be the worst idea to explore a trade now while Trocheck\u2019s value remains high. With his mix of scoring ability, agitation tactics, physicality and faceoff acumen, he\u2019d be a dream No. 2 center for almost any contender, even if his defensive game has slipped. The Wild have lukewarm interest, reports DFO\u2019s Anthony Di Marco<\/a>, but Trocheck is likely more of a plan B if they can\u2019t land Larkin.<\/p>\n Alexander Nikishin, D,\u00a0Carolina Hurricanes<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 24 The big, talented rookie had excellent on-ice results regardless of whom he played with this season, but he still wasn\u2019t entrusted with huge minutes during the stacked Canes\u2019 run to the Stanley Cup.\u00a0General manager Eric Tulsky had every opportunity to refute trade rumors during his draft media availability and did not. Given Nikishin\u2019s well-rounded skill set and monstrous upside, the return would have to be significant. <\/p>\n Darnell Nurse, D,\u00a0Edmonton Oilers<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 31 Not only is a Nurse trade looking likely now \u2013 teams were still knocking as of Saturday, reported David Pagnotta<\/a> \u2013\u00a0but the Oilers are confident they won\u2019t have to retain much if any money on the deal now, and it sounds like Nurse is finally ready for a change of scenery after more than a decade in a hockey hotbed.<\/p>\n Jason Robertson, LW,\u00a0Dallas Stars<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 26 Only eight players have more points over the past five seasons<\/a>. The Stars would be foolish to push him out. But Robertson\u2019s contract negotiations with them have been frosty in the past, they are low on cap space, and they badly need help on defense. Could Nill search for a major hockey trade to better balance his roster? It sounds like that\u2019s more of a contingency idea,\u00a0as Nill indicated post-draft<\/a> he prefers to re-sign their star scorer.\u00a0Still, the wolves are at the door, with the Kraken and Blues making their pitches, but Robertson wasn\u2019t interested. Given the Kraken\u00a0were willing to pay him $15 million annually and he still said no<\/a>, it\u2019s clear he isn\u2019t chasing a bag. So if it isn\u2019t Dallas, what is his preferred destination?<\/p>\n Elias Pettersson, C,\u00a0Vancouver Canucks<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 27 Pettersson doesn\u2019t get enough credit for his all-around play, but, yes, he\u2019s nowhere close to an $11.6-million player right now.\u00a0That\u2019s a monstrous cap hit to navigate. Still. Pettersson is still young enough to reassert himself as a star if he finds the right situation.<\/p>\n Rasmus Ristolainen, D,\u00a0Philadelphia Flyers<\/a><\/p>\n Age: 31 Ristolainen got healthy and proved an important part of Philly\u2019s blueline in its push from outside the playoffs to the second round. He averaged an even 25 minutes of ice time across 10 postseason games. But he\u2019s exiting his prime and on the final season of his deal; would he be a worthy casualty if he helped the Flyers land another scoring-line center in a trade? Even after extending Jordan Spence, the Ottawa Senators remain a potential fit, Di Marco reports<\/a>, as while search for a righty to pair with Thomas Chabot.<\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n Recently by Matt Larkin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everything is resolved, and everything isn\u2019t. The 2026 NHL Draft is now history. As the picks unfolded Friday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-765903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765903","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=765903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Cap hit: $8,700,000 through 2030-31
(No-trade clause)<\/p>\n
Cap hit: $9,583,334 through 2027-28
(No-movement clause)<\/p>\n
Cap hit: $8,500,000 through 2030-31
(No-movement clause)<\/p>\n
Cap hit: $3,850,000 through 2026-27<\/p>\n
Cap hit: $5,625,000 through 2028-29
(12-team no-trade list; becomes 10-team no-trade list July 1)<\/p>\n
Restricted free agent<\/p>\n
Cap hit: $9,250,000 through 2029-30
(No-movement clause)<\/p>\n
Restricted free agent<\/p>\n
Cap hit: $11,600,000 through 2031-32
(No-movement clause)<\/p>\n
Cap hit: $5,100,000 through 2026-27<\/p>\n