NHL Rumour Report: Trade market gaining steam as draft, free agency near


Big names have begun to swirl around the rumour mill as the NHL offseason draws closer.

- Grabbing most of the NHL rumour headlines this past week have been the Boston Bruins, who fired head coach Bruce Cassidy in a move that caught the hockey world off guard. But perhaps more astonishing than that has been the deluge of rumours around the direction of the organization. Apparently weighing the merits of a rebuild on the fly, reports suggest Bruins management is preparing for a David Pastrnak trade.


- Pastrnak is slated to become a free agent in 2023, and with the Bruins core aging rapidly or contemplating retirement, they will likely need to either trade or extend their superstar winger before the 2023 NHL trade deadline. Reports have surfaced suggesting Pastrnak may be less eager to extend than assumed, possibly due to the apparent trajectory of the roster towards a form of rebuild. 


- The goalie market continues to percolate, with the Oilers, Devils, Ducks, Sabres, Blackhawks and Maple Leafs all potentially looking for new starters. Talks appear to have broken down between the Leafs and Jack Campbell, who could be a fit in Edmonton. The Oilers are also believed to be eyeing Ville Husso and Darcy Kuemper, who could both hit the market in July. Toronto's targets are less clear, although speculation has linked them at various points to Kuemper, Husso, John Gibson, Semyon Varlamov and Marc-Andre Fleury. 
  
- Also potentially on the market are Mackenzie Blackwood, Alexandar Georgiev, one of Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek, and the ultra-expensive Sergei Bobrovsky, among others. Teams will keep an eye on the status of Carey Price, who continues to battle a concerning knee injury. There will be a compelling game of musical chairs played this offseason.
 
- JT Miller: Still a lot of trade banter; the odds are good that he's moved around the draft. The Devils, Avalanche, Leafs, Rangers and Kings are among the teams that have looked into it. As have the Wild, but offseason cap concerns likely put the kibosh on that.
 
 - Reports suggest the likelihood of a Kevin Fiala trade continue to grow as the draft approaches. Facing a potential cap crunch over the course of the next few seasons, the Wild are likely opting to trade their star winger for a bag of inexpensive players assets. Among the teams that will be aggressive on Fiala are the Senators and Devils.

- There's still a 'could go either way' feeling around the Penguins talks with pending UFAs Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. There's mutual interest in them remaining in Pittsburgh, but the clock is ticking and rumblings grow that the team is preparing a backup plan for free agency if talks sour with either player. Reports suggest Malkin might be slightly more likely to stay than Letang.

- Plenty more to come with NHL free agency fast approaching.

If you enjoyed this rumour update, please consider sharing it and following NHL Rumour Report on Facebook and Twitter for the latest rumour updates!

NHL
RUMOURS BY TEAM

ANH / AZ / BOS / BUF / CGY / CAR / CHI / COL / CBJ / DAL / DET / EDM / FLA / LA / MIN / MTL / NAS / NJ / NYI / NYR / OTT / PHI / PIT / SEA / SJ / STL / TB / TOR / VAN / VGK / WAS / WPG