{"id":844607,"date":"2026-08-03T15:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T15:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/844607\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T15:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T15:20:13","slug":"nhl-rumor-mill-august-3-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/844607\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumor Mill \u2013 August 3, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In today\u2019s NHL Rumor Mill: we take another look at the notable players available in the UFA market, plus an update on the Red Wings search for a new general manager.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyfaceoff.com\/news\/top-remaining-2026-nhl-free-agents-ufas-still-available\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DAILY FACEOFF<\/a>: Winger <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/patrik-laine\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Patrik Laine<\/a>, defenseman <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/logan-stanley\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Logan Stanley<\/a>, and winger <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/vladimir-tarasenko\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Vladimir Tarasenko<\/a> top the list of notable players still available in this summer\u2019s unrestricted free-agent market.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105575\" class=\"wp-image-105575 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Laine-215x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"158\" height=\"220\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 158px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 158\/220;\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-105575\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Montreal Canadiens winger Patrik Laine (NHL Images).<\/p>\n<p>SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/team\/new-york-islanders\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Islanders<\/a> insider Stefen Rosner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theelmonters.com\/p\/islanders-mailbag-evan-gold-patrik-laine-prospect-pool\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">recently reported<\/a> that the Isles had some interest in Laine, but only in signing him to a professional tryout offer. It was also rumored that the <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/team\/los-angeles-kings\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Los Angeles Kings<\/a> were interested, but nothing seems to have come of it.<\/p>\n<p>Stanley was reportedly seeking a four- or five-year contract worth an average annual value of $5 million when the market opened on July 1. It\u2019s doubtful the 27-year-old blueliner will find anything like that now.<\/p>\n<p>Tarasenko had been mentioned as a possible option for the <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/team\/edmonton-oilers\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Edmonton Oilers<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/team\/ottawa-senators\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ottawa Senators<\/a>. Some observers wonder if he might attempt to return with the <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/team\/minnesota-wild\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Minnesota Wild<\/a> for another season.<\/p>\n<p>Forward <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/michael-bunting\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Michael Bunting<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/eeli-tolvanen\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Eeli Tolvanen<\/a>, goaltender <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/cam-talbot\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cam Talbot<\/a>, and defenseman <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/john-klingberg\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">John Klingberg<\/a> are also among the top 10 UFAs remaining.<\/p>\n<p>SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: There\u2019s been little speculation linking those four players to any specific teams. Sure, there\u2019s been the occasional suggestion that one of them might be a good fit somewhere, but nothing to suggest they\u2019ve had any meaningful discussions with any clubs.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t mean they won\u2019t be signed. Bunting, Tolvanen, and Klingberg still have some value that should earn them one-year contracts with clubs seeking affordable, experienced depth. Given the need for reliable goalies around the league, Talbot might land with someone on a PTO contract.<\/p>\n<p>Other notable veterans still available include forwards James van Riemsdyk, <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/david-perron\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">David Perron<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/jonathan-drouin\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jonathan Drouin<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/adam-henrique\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Adam Henrique<\/a>, defensemen <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/nick-blankenburg\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Nick Blankenburg<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/carson-soucy\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Carson Soucy<\/a>, and goaltenders <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/connor-ingram\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Connor Ingram<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/puckpedia.com\/player\/james-reimer\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">James Reimer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/sports\/nhl\/red-wings\/2026\/07\/31\/red-wings-gm-search-could-drag-into-september-nhl-analyst\/91130411007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">THE DETROIT NEWS<\/a>: cited NHL analyst John Shannon, who believes the Red Wings\u2019 search for a new general manager \u201cmay not be rectified until September.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shannon made the remark to Daren Millard during a recent episode of their podcast, 100% Hockey with Millard &amp; Shannon. He also said that he was told the search for a new GM would take \u201ca lot longer than people realize.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Red Wings have been searching for a new general manager since announcing on July 15 that Steve Yzerman would be moving out of that role to become a senior advisor to team owner Chris Ilitch. Yzerman is handling the day-to-day management until his replacement is found.<\/p>\n<p>SPECTOR\u2019S NOTE: So far, there\u2019s no word regarding who the Red Wings could be pursuing as Yzerman\u2019s replacement. They could also promote from within, with assistant GMs Kris Draper and Shawn Horcoff mentioned as possible candidates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In today\u2019s NHL Rumor Mill: we take another look at the notable players available in the UFA market,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-844607","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\/844607","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=844607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}