NHL Trade Rumors

Trade and Free Agency Rumors from Around the Hockey World

  • Could Hurricanes Non-Tender Alex Nedeljkovic?

    In 31 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman asks the question: could the Hurricanes decline to tender a qualifying offer to Alex Nedeljkovic?

    Nedeljkovic’s qualifying offer would be $787,500. That figure isn’t the issue. The issue would be the Hurricanes being concerned about the potential arbitration award following a season in which Nedeljkovic finished third in the Calder voting.

    Friedman mentions Thatcher Demko as a comparable for Nedeljkovic. Demko’s final two RFA seasons were valued at $2.5 and $4.5 million.

    If Carolina chooses not to qualify him, he will be an unrestricted free agent.

  • Friedman: Leafs Have Been After Tyler Bertuzzi

    According to Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs have been interested in Tyler Bertuzzi for a while.

    Bertuzzi had a hot start to 2020-21 before a back injury derailed his season. He had back surgery on April 30.

    Bertuzzi, 26, will be a RFA this summer and will be one season away from unrestricted free agency. In 208 games in his career, he has 54 goals and 72 assists for 126 points.

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  • Vladimir Tarasenko Requests a Trade

    Vladimir Tarasenko has officially requested to be traded from the Blues, reports Jeremy Rutherford.

    Like Jack Eichel, it appears the cause of his discontent is injury-related. Rutherford reports that Tarasenko is unhappy about how the Blues handled his shoulder injury. Not being named team captain and having his role on the powerplay changed was also cited as contributed to his frustration with the club.

    He reports that Tarasenko has provided a list of teams he would accept a trade to, and it could be as many as 10 teams. Tarasenko has full no-trade protection.

    Rutherford mentions the Rangers, Islanders, Lightning and Oilers as potential fits. He reports that the Blues are not looking for picks and prospect coming back. He says they are interested in Matthew Tkachuk, but the Flames would require a lot more than Tarasenko in return.

  • Hurricanes Sign Jack Drury

    The Carolina Hurricanes have signed Jack Drury to an entry-level contract.

    Drury could have opted to be a free agent if he chose to go unsigned through August 2022. Instead he has decided to start his professional career in North America immediately. He turned pro and played overseas in 2020-21 when Harvard cancelled its hockey season.

  • Are Blackhawks and Oilers at Duncan Keith Crossroads?

    On 31 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman discusses (25:40) the latest talks between Edmonton and Chicago, as they attempt to facilitate a trade of Duncan Keith to the Oilers.

    He says he wonders if the trade talks are coming to a breaking point. He says the two sides are “staring at each other” and know what each has on the table. The two sides would like to have this situation settled so they know where they stand going into the expansion draft and free agency.

    Friedman says the Blackhawks would like to accommodate Keith’s desire to live closer to his family, and also would like to use the freed up cap space to pursue Seth Jones or Dougie Hamilton. He wonders if a buy-out might be a last resort for them, though obviously a trade would be preferable.

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  • Nick Bjugstad Re-Signing with Wild

    Mike Russo reports that Nick Bjugstad is re-signing with the Minnesota Wild on a 1-year contract.

    Bjugstad, 28, had 6 goals and 11 assists in 44 games with the Wild in 2021.

    CapFriendly reports the contract is 1 year and $900,000.

  • Wild Focused on Contracts for Kaprizov, Fiala

    Michael Russo of the Athletic reports that now that the Wild have Joel Eriksson-Ek under contract, the team is turning its attention back to RFAs Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala.

    He reports that the Wild would prefer a 7 or 8-year deal in the range of $8-9 million per season, but Kaprizov would like a shorter-term contract, so as not to lock himself into a contract that looks undervalued when the cap eventually does rise again. Russo suggests the two sides might need to compromise on a 4-6 year contract. Kaprizov is 3 seasons away from UFA status.

    Russo also reports that Wild GM Bill Guerin says that initial contract talks have started with Kevin Fiala, and they will go deeper into those talks next week.

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  • Brandon Saad Might be Next Target for Kings

    On the most recent edition of 31 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman says (30:00) that the Kings rebuild is over Jeff Marek suggests they might see an opportunity to compete in next year’s Pacific Division, which appears to be the weakest on paper at this point.

    One name he wonders aloud about is Brandon Saad, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer. Darren Dreger reported about a month ago that the Kings were looking for two top-six forwards. They’ve already added Viktor Arvidsson this week.

    Further, he mentions that he’d heard rumblings that Viktor Arvidsson wanted out of Nashville, and that Nashville GM David Poile’s comments on ESPN radio seemed to confirm that fact. He says he thinks Nashville will “take a big run” at re-signing Mikael Granlund.

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