NHL rumblings: Why it could be a long summer, plus latest on Canadiens, Pettersson, Rust and more

New York Times

10 hours ago

Draft week provides the kind of deadline that forces a team's hand.
It's always busy, and this year will be no different, already kick-started by Monday's Trevor Zegras trade.
Several teams with mid-range first-round picks are willing to move their draft capital to upgrade with ready-made, top-half-of-the-roster players, so we might get those trades by Friday night. But it's the second part of the trade market that intrigues me even more — the one we might have to wait to see how it plays out over the entire summer.
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In talking to a dozen teams over the past four or five days, one thing I've heard a lot is that if they can't get done what they hope to in the next eight or nine days, they may reset and circle back on trade conversations, which may take more finessing over the course of several weeks.
So we may wake up to some August trades — significant moves at a time that is normally the offseason's dead period.
That goes back to a point I made a few weeks ago: this offseason is shaping up to be unique because there are so many buyers looking to add a piece and so few sellers. The Chicago Blackhawks just added a piece over the weekend, for example, in Andre Burakovsky. The Philadelphia Flyers added Monday in Zegras. These are teams that have a longer view in mind, but in the interim, they want to get better now, too.
The Buffalo Sabres may be busy over the next week or two — not because they are selling, per se, but because they're looking at hockey deals to improve their roster. So if Bowen Byram gets dealt, it won't be for futures, I don't think.
Point being: Aside from the Pittsburgh Penguins, will there be another outright seller? Name them.
Some teams may need the entire summer to find that right deal. And as one general manager noted to me Monday, it could mean more in-season trades next season, too, especially if some teams come out of the gates slowly and start to think ahead to the franchise player going with the No. 1 pick in a year.
What else am I hearing from around the NHL right now? Rumblings:
The Anaheim Ducks didn't get a sexy return on Zegras, and looking back now, they probably should have moved the 24-year-old a year or two ago for whatever was on the table then. Not being healthy two years in a row really hurt Zegras' trade stock.
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In talking to other teams who looked into a trade for Zegras, another concern was his $5.75 million qualifying offer a year from now when he's a restricted free agent — in the event he doesn't bounce back and find his offense, that is. Long way of saying, the Ducks didn't have as big a market as you might have thought for a player with that brand name. And the Flyers took full advantage of it.
Whether Zegras can rebuild his game in Philly or not, there's little downside to this trade for the Flyers. They were desperately looking for a young center and potentially found one. Zegras still has to learn to play a two-way game, but I love the swing here by Flyers GM Daniel Briere. If the ceiling hits, it's a home run.
As for the Ducks, I don't think you can look at this trade in a vacuum. They've added Chris Kreider and Ryan Poehling in separate moves and lost Zegras. Ducks GM Pat Verbeek likes the fit of Poehling in his bottom six. But Monday's trade will probably make more sense over the next 10 days or so once we see the other shoe drop. They created cap space Monday. There's more in the works if the Ducks have their way. That second-round pick they got Monday could be used as part of a package to add another piece.
I don't think Verbeek is done yet. I would prefer judging the Zegras deal once Anaheim's offseason work is done and I see how the entire puzzle comes together.
It's good to be Jake Allen. It's not a deep year at all on the unrestricted-free-agent goalie market. There are more jobs to be had than there are quality goalies available. Allen is the top UFA goalie on a market that also includes Alexandar Georgiev, David Rittich, Anton Forsberg, Alex Lyons, Dan Vladar, Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek.
Allen led all those goalies with a .906 save percentage in 31 games this past season for the New Jersey Devils. He hasn't closed the door on returning, and I know the sides are still talking, but New Jersey may not have the cap space to re-sign him, depending on other moves it wants to make up front.
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Allen, 34, coming off a two-year deal paying him $3.85 million average annual value, is probably looking to sign for around a $4 million AAV on a two-year deal or $3.5 million AAV on a three-year deal. There are seven or eight teams that have different levels of interest. The Kings, for one, are looking for a second goalie to partner up with Darcy Kuemper.
There's been all kinds of noise around JJ Peterka dating back to the trade deadline. The Sabres are definitely getting calls on him. I believe they've gotten trade offers, too. And the player would prefer a change of scenery at this point. But Sabres GM Kevyn Adams views Peterka as a fantastic asset that they've drafted and developed and are heavily invested in. The Sabres want to keep him in a Sabres uniform if possible.
That's what some teams are hearing when they call Buffalo. But that won't stop the calls from coming, because teams know the player isn't overly happy. So this one's hard to read, honestly.
Peterka's an RFA this summer, but he's not eligible for salary arbitration so the Sabres can't force him into a new contract.
This reminds me a bit of the Martin Necas situation from a year ago, when it seemed like Necas would get dealt but instead he signed a two-year deal and started the season with the Carolina Hurricanes, only to be traded a few months later. I'm not saying that's how this is going to play out, because I believe that the Sabres are being genuine in saying they'd rather keep Peterka. It also might be hard to ignore those trade offers if they get more appealing and include a top-four right-shot defenseman.
I loved Arpon Basu's smart piece over the weekend on the Montreal Canadiens' quest to escape the mushy middle.
Here's what I would say based on what I'm hearing across the league: Habs GM Kent Hughes is leaving no stone unturned in surveying the forward market and trying to line up potential trade scenarios for this week and perhaps into the summer. The search for a No. 2 center might be too hard this offseason, so a compromise might be a top-six winger with pop. Some of those calls Hughes is making are in that direction.
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Montreal, armed with the No. 16 and No. 17 picks Friday night, is trying to find a partner who would be interested in a picks/prospects package. But the Canadiens aren't going to force it. If the price to attain a top-six difference maker is out of their comfort zone and hurts their long-term planning, they're willing to stay patient, whether that means an in-season trade or even next summer.
The No. 1 priority, as Basu wrote, is to become a long-term contender that takes multiple swings at a title over time. The priority is absolutely not about making sure they make a short-term swing just to make the playoffs again next year. The longer-term view wins out.
The Devils were among the 15 teams that tried on Jonathan Toews. GM Tom Fitzgerald continues to scour the market looking for top-six or top-nine forward help. I think he will keep an eye on where the Jason Robertson situation goes with the Dallas Stars, for example. But he also ended up making a more modest top-nine-type move by the end of the summer last year. All I know is that Fitzgerald has been active fleshing out the forward market.
Good update Monday from colleague Josh Yohe on the Penguins' trade market.
Here's what I would add to the Bryan Rust situation in particular: There is a lot of interest in the 33-year-old winger, who has three more years on his deal paying him $5.125 million annually, which is a steal for what he produces and the utility that he brings in different roles. He's also a big character guy.
The Penguins are listening but they're in no rush, if they in fact trade him at all. And I think the reason they're in no rush is that some teams who don't accomplish what they're looking to do in free agency or on the trade market in the next 10 days may need to circle back to the Penguins. The market for Rust is already strong, but it may become even more robust as the summer goes.
Back to my comment about potential August trades above to start this article: There's still a world in which Rust is moved this week if a team really, really steps up, but I think it's more likely the Penguins wait it out.
The focus is very much on Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand as the key three pending UFAs on the Cup champ Florida Panthers, but don't forget about Nate Schmidt, who had a solid playoff performance as a third-pairing defenseman. The pending UFA is keeping the door open to returning but is not doing so on a repeat bargain-bin $800,000 contract.
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There are teams waiting on July 1 hoping to make him better offers. The Panthers know this. So it all comes down to the bigger files they are dealing with and where that leaves Schmidt closer to the market opening next week. I think it's more likely than not he's gone.
The trade rumors won't go away until we are past July 1, but regarding Elias Pettersson, it's still my understanding that the Canucks don't plan on trading him — or at least that was the case as of Monday.
As I said a few weeks ago, the Canucks are encouraged by Pettersson's approach this offseason. His full no-move kicks in July 1.
There were some people wondering if Matt Dumba, 30, might be among those bought out when the window opened last week, but for now, the Stars' priority is to find a taker on the trade market. The thinking is that despite the fact that it was a disappointing season for Dumba and he didn't appear in a playoff game, there's such a demand for right-shot defensemen that a team might still bite on the one year at $3.75 million left on that contract. We shall see.
And finally, on the CBA front, the NHL and NHL Players' Association keep inching closer to the finish line, but a league source said Monday that a few outstanding issues remain. The hope had been to have something in place for owners' approval at Wednesday's Board of Governors meeting in Los Angeles. That's still possible, but as of Monday, it looked more like a league update to owners on the CBA, rather than a done deal ready for voting on. But let's see what the next few days bring.
(Photo of Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)