BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring a trade candidate from every NHL team!
Is Leon Draisaitl’s excellent two-way presence just a mirage? One Edmonton pundit says they may very well be, BLH says not so fast. Read about it here.
A new name in the rumor mill for Oilers fans! Check out who it is here.
Could Tyson Barrie be trade bait for the Oilers? Read about that here.
This is not the kind of news Edmonton Oilers fans will like.
NHL Rumors and Speculation
The Athletic asked the writers of all 31 teams who they thought is getting traded by the April 12th NHL trade deadline. I’ve already posted the first 15 teams, so here are the remaining 16 teams.
- Montreal Canadiens: 2021 third-round pick
“The Canadiens have limited cap space to work so trading a first- or second-round pick doesn’t apply when bargain hunting. Look for a depth move here, if anything.” – Arpon Basu
BLH’s Candidate: Victor Mete is the player I think the Habs could move and maybe it’s in a deal for the player right below.
- Nashville Predators: Mattias Ekholm
“He is No. 1 on our NHL Trade Deadline Big Board for a reason.” – Adam Vingan
BLH’s Candidate: Erik Haula. Who wouldn’t like a cheap center who can skate like the wind?
- New Jersey Devils: Dmitry Kulikov
“Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov’s combination of solid play in top-four minutes, strong underlying numbers and low price on a one-year, $1.15 million contract could make him a very popular target…” – Corey Masisak
BLH’s Candidate: Sami Vatanen. He had a ton of interest in the off-season.
- New York Islanders: 2021 first-round pick
“Lou Lamoriello isn’t a patient man. With his captain out indefinitely and a pick likely to be in the 20s in a weird draft year, the Islanders may be willing to gamble to get immediate help. – Arthur Staple
BLH’s Candidate: Now that Anders Lee is out for the year, the Isles have one helluva opportunity to go out and get Taylor Hall to reunite him with Jordan Eberle. Maybe that kind of deal would involve a Michael Del Colle, Kiefer Bellows, or Oliver Wahlstrom if Buffalo would take Andrew Ladd as well.
- New York Rangers: Ryan Strome
“With an abundance of cap space materializing after the conclusion of this season, the Rangers almost certainly will be in the market for a legit top-two center. That makes Strome expendable.” – Rick Carpiniello
BLH’s Candidate: I think this all depends on how badly they want to get Jack Eichel in the off-season. Pavel Buchnevich’s value is very high right now and it could be a sneaky time to move Anthony DeAngelo. Personally, I’d keep Strome.
- Ottawa Senators: Ryan Dzingel
“He could be a good target for Canadian teams looking for depth — without having a 14-day quarantine period attached to the player.” – Ian Mendes
BLH’s Candidate: Austin Watson or Erik Gudbranson. Good playoff teams are always on the lookout for tough durable depth players.
- Philadelphia Flyers: 2021 first- and second-round picks
“Last deadline, Chuck Fletcher shied away from trading his first-rounder. I’d expect him to be more aggressive this time around — if his team proves worthy of the investment over the next few weeks, that is.” – Charlie O’Connor
BLH’s Candidate: Nolan Patrick. If Fletcher wants to be bold (and he might have to be with the way his team is playing), moving Patrick in a deal to the Nashville Predators for Mattias Ekholm might be the kind of move that keeps them in the playoff race.
- Pittsburgh Penguins: Marcus Pettersson
“Because he is a moveable asset and if the Penguins are going to be a legitimate Cup contender, they need to add at least one impactful forward.” – Josh Yohe
BLH’s Candidate: Boy, that team is just a hodge podge of bottom-sixers and bottom-pairing defenders eh? Dealing Pettersson isn’t going to move the needle much but for the sake of conversation, Juuso Riikola is a more realistic option for me. He’s $3M cheaper than Pettersson and a little bit more experienced as a hockey player. Plus whenever he’s come to Edmonton or the Oilers have played the Pens, Riikola has played a strong game.
- San Jose Sharks: Devan Dubnyk
” If there are teams out there looking for some goaltending depth, maybe Dubnyk returns a mid-to-late round pick.” – Kevin Kurz
BLH’s Candidate: Matt Nieto or Marcus Sorensen might have some interest for teams looking for depth and speed in their bottom-six. But Dubnyk is an excellent candidate and only being paid a shade over $2M this year.
- St. Louis Blues: Vince Dunn
“He has struggled this season, and with Niko Mikkola emerging and Scott Perunovich on the way, he might be disposable.” – Jeremy Rutherford
BLH’s Candidate: I have to agree with Rutherford here. Personally, I’d like to see some more rugged defenders on the Blues but that could be accomplished using Dunn I reckon.
- Tampa Bay Lightning: 2021 first-round pick
” Lightning won’t be trading core players, with prospects or picks their best chips. But keep in mind that with no cap space, any Lightning deal would have to be dollar in, dollar out.” – Joe Smith
BLH’s Candidate: It’s hard to argue with Smith’s suggestion here. I will say that I wouldn’t be shocked if they deal a younger player or two for an experienced veteran like Luke Glendening or Eric Staal.
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Alexander Kerfoot
“Freeing up his $3.5 million cap hit would allow Toronto to add a significant piece before the deadline. And it frees up money for the Leafs to sign their UFAs like Zach Hyman in future years, too.” – James Mirtle
BLH’s Candidate: Travis Dermott, in my mind, is the guy they could realistically move.
- Vancouver Canucks: Tanner Pearson
“If the team doesn’t believe they can or should re-sign Pearson, they’ll need to consider flipping him at the deadline to ensure that he doesn’t walk away for nothing.” – Harman Dayal
BLH’s Candidate: My feeling is that if Pearson isn’t traded, Brandon Sutter will be.
- Vegas Golden Knights: Nick Holden
“The Golden Knights currently have zero cap space to improve the roster, so if they’re looking to shed cap to make room, Holden would be the option that would least impact the current lineup.” – Jesse Granger
BLH’s Candidate: I look at Vegas’ defense and it looks awfully shallow without Alex Pietrangelo and I remember Jonathan Marchessault’s name being bandied about quite a bit in the off-season. He’s being paid $5M for the three seasons after this, so any team that’d want him would need to be able to take on salary. Do you think they’d send him to Columbus for David Savard?
- Washington Capitals: Dmitry Orlov
“Given the cap crunch, the only way the Caps can acquire anyone at the deadline is to move money.” – Tarik El-Bashir
BLH’s Candidate: I don’t know if that $5.1M cap hit is going to encourage any GMs to come in and inquire on Orlov. If they need to move a right-shot defender, wouldn’t it make more sense to go with Nick Jensen and a prospect?
- Winnipeg Jets: Sami Niku
“With Ville Heinola and Dylan Samberg next up as highly touted prospect D, Niku is clearly the odd man out.” – Murat Ates
BLH’s Candidate: Good shout from Ates, I wonder if Kristian Vesalainen or Mikhail Berdin might be trade fodder as well.
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