Just as interesting as what did happen at the NHL trade deadline was what fell through in the end.
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- One of the better trade deadlines in recent memories is now in the books. Most of the expected names moved. Only a few high Trade% players didn't go from our Trade Rumour Board. Zucker at 60% was the most significant - sounds like he was almost moved to Calgary but the deal fell through. You have to the think the Wild will try to move him again in the offseason.
- At the end of the day, leading contenders for Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky just weren't willing to pay trade deadline prices. A team like the Florida Panthers - who made a major push for those two players - will be heavily involved in the bidding on July 1st.
- The Panthers didn't end up moving Mike Hoffman either, which is something they will have to revisit in the summer.
- The teardown isn't quite finished in Ottawa with at least one more big piece is still to be shipped out. There was plenty of buzz around defenseman Cody Ceci, whose time with the Sens had appeared to come to an end. It's still highly likely he's moved this summer, perhaps to a team like Tampa Bay or Edmonton.
- The Jesse Puljujarvi rumours are sure to continue into the summer, with some deadline rumours suggesting he might be packaged with Milan Lucic to a team like Ottawa. Edmonton doesn't want to trade him while his value is low, but the player would like a change of scenery.
- Andre Burakovsky somewhat surprisingly stayed put in Washington. He's likely moved this offseason. A huge list of teams kicked tires: Vancouver, Dallas, Edmonton, Arizona, Colorado, Boston and Montreal amongst others.
- There was a lot of smoke around Connor Brown yesterday - the Oilers tried to swing a deal with Toronto. I think it's likely Brown is moved in the offseason as Toronto braces for a cap crunch.
- Next up for NHL Rumour Report is getting the Free Agency Rumour Board up and running in the next few weeks. A lot of the rumours from this trade deadline will help inform who's going where in the summer. And of course, plenty of Rumour Report updates in the days and weeks ahead. The playoffs may be front and center, but about half of NHL teams are out of the mix and planning for a busy offseason of wheeling and dealing.
- The Trade Rumour Board will also get revamped in a week or two - I'm leaving it as is so you can still see who went where and who came up short and whatnot.
