NHL Rumour Roundup: What’s subsequent for Devils, Canucks after Hughes saga?

We’ve but to succeed in the midway level of the NHL’s 2025-26 marketing campaign, and we’ve already seen some seismic motion on the commerce market.

Quinn Hughes has launched the Minnesota Wild into a brand new stratosphere amongst Western contenders. Tristan Jarry and Stuart Skinner have swapped jerseys in Pittsburgh and Edmonton. And the floodgates have seemingly been opened as basic managers across the league mull strikes of their very own within the wake of this blockbuster flurry.

With the NHL’s vacation roster freeze taking impact on Saturday, let’s test in on the most recent chatter across the league:

Devils nonetheless trying to bolster roster after lacking out on Hughes

When information broke final Friday that Quinn Hughes was not a member of the Vancouver Canucks, most across the hockey world assumed the all-world blue-liner can be heading east to hitch brothers Jack and Luke in New Jersey. Instead, he joined Kirill Kaprizov in Minnesota, leaving Devils followers questioning the place all of it fell aside for his or her membership.

Much has been mentioned within the days since concerning the explanations Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald couldn’t swing a deal to land Hughes. Tops amongst them appears to be that the Devils had been merely outbid by the Wild, who ended up sending Vancouver promising blue-liner Zeev Buium, centreman Marco Rossi, prospect Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round decide.

That mentioned, in keeping with a dialog Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had with one other NHL government, the Devils nonetheless appear intent on including to their roster, regardless of lacking out on the Norris Trophy winner.

“I had a very interesting call on Sunday afternoon from another team, and they think what has happened with the Devils is that, yes they agree there might have been some deals vetoed, but they also think that the Devils reached a point where they knew they weren’t going to get Hughes, because they knew they could not beat the Minnesota offer,” Friedman mentioned on a current episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. “This different supervisor informed me that he doesn’t imagine New Jersey may’ve crushed (Minnesota’s) supply — and he mentioned, consequently, regulate the Devils over the following short while as much as the deadline. 

“He said what he thinks will happen is the Devils may make one of these moves when they’re ready to get someone, or when they think they can get someone.”

Quite a few reviews have the Devils linked with a pair of veterans in Nashville because the Predators seem open for enterprise amid a second straight season of subpar outcomes.

“About a month ago, I started to hear that Steven Stamkos might be on their radar,” The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta mentioned throughout a current look on the NHL Network. “I do believe there’s some internal interest in guys like Stamkos, guys like (Jonathan) Marchessault, also out of Nashville, Ryan O’Reilly as well. … I think with a guy like Stamkos, I believe there’s a willingness in Nashville to move him, I think there’s a willingness on his part to waive his no-movement clause for a sure, clear-cut contender. … If they do do anything, Nashville’s going to have to retain — and it’s really going to come down to how much the Predators are willing to eat on that deal.”

“My understanding is that the New Jersey Devils have discussed his name internally, among many other trade targets,” The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun wrote of Stamkos earlier this month. “The Devils were also among the suitors for Stamkos when he was a free agent in 2024. So there’s a bit of history there. It’s something to keep an eye on as we get closer to the March 6 trade deadline.”

Given their cap state of affairs, the Devils — who’ve had curiosity in O’Reilly for fairly a while, in keeping with Friedman — would possible want to maneuver out wage to make a deal work. Friedman highlighted a pair veterans who appear the almost certainly to be concerned in a possible cap-clearing transfer.

“(Ondrej) Palat is the one I think a lot of people are talking about. But he has protection,” Friedman mentioned throughout an look on Nashville-based podcast, DMase, Vingan & Daunic. “I feel Dougie Hamilton is one other one that individuals have been speaking about in New Jersey. He has some safety. Those are form of the names that persons are . 

“We’ll see — Palat has, I believe, more control than Hamilton does. So you have to maneuver around that.”

Stars linked to Flames’ Coleman, Andersson whereas navigating damage points

Now, in keeping with Pagnotta, the membership finds itself weighing choices for reinforcements whereas attempting to determine how a lot room it has to make a deal.

“I think they were planning on being aggressive before Tyler Seguin was knocked out with that ACL injury,” Pagnotta mentioned throughout that NHL Network look earlier this month. “They’ve got about $3 million in cap space right now. They’re trying to determine what exactly the realistic timeline is for Seguin moving forward — the timeline right now they listed as 6-8 months, but is it realistic for him to come back at some point during the playoffs? If not, if they realize that that’s not the case, they can put him on season-ending LTIR, and utilize his full cap hit of $9.85 million — that’s going to give them a lot of flexibility to add not only one piece, but maybe two.” 

Per Pagnotta, the Stars have eyes on a pair veterans in Calgary.

“We know, at least on the back end, Dallas has been connected to Rasmus Andersson for a while,” Pagnotta mentioned. “He’s got interest in going there — he’s willing to sign, and has been willing to sign an extension, to join the Stars. They also have had interest in both (Nazem) Kadri and (Blake) Coleman in Calgary as well. … They’re going to be aggressive.”

On Saturday, Pagnotta reiterated that the Stars proceed to think about strikes for Andersson and Coleman, although the Seguin damage means they’ll be loads of different names as properly within the lead-up to the deadline.

“The continued connection to Rasmus Andersson and Blake Coleman in Calgary remains,” he wrote. “But expect GM Jim Nill to cast a wide net as he looks to give his team the best shot at a championship this season.”

Oilers possible not finished after swapping Skinner for Pittsburgh’s Jarry

The Edmonton Oilers made waves of their very own final week once they despatched netminder Stuart Skinner — who backstopped them to 2 straight Stanley Cup Final appearances — to Pittsburgh in change for Tristan Jarry, each netminders enduring tumultuous runs with their prior golf equipment. The Oilers additionally acquired prospect Sam Poulin within the deal, whereas Pittsburgh additionally netted defender Brett Kulak and a 2029 second-round decide.

According to Friedman, although, extra strikes could possibly be coming for Connor McDavid’s membership.

“I’m not convinced Edmonton’s done. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more between now and March 6th,” Friedman mentioned throughout his personal look on the NHL Network final week. “McDavid gave them a little bit of a shot throughout the bow earlier this 12 months when he prolonged for 2 years. … What McDavid did at the least was say, ‘Hey, I’m right here and I wish to win right here, I wish to win with this group of gamers. But there’s solely proper now a finite window.’ 

“So, I think if you’re the Edmonton Oilers, you’re saying, ‘We constantly have to be looking to upgrade, we constantly have to be looking at, what are our weaknesses, how can we make ourselves better?’ I think the idea that Edmonton is ever in sort of a stasis, where they say, ‘This is our team and we go with it,’ I don’t think you can ever assume that until we’re after a trade deadline.”

Per Pagnotta, talking with Sportsnet 960 final week, earlier than the Skinner-Jarry commerce dropped, the Oilers had eyes on bringing in a bodily defender to shore up their blue line, in addition to a middle-six ahead.

Could Penguins flip Skinner, Kulak earlier than the deadline?

On the opposite aspect of that Skinner-Jarry commerce, the Penguins now discover themselves in an fascinating place. While Sidney Crosby’s membership has shocked this season with a powerful begin that also has them within the playoff combine as we attain the halfway level of the marketing campaign, the membership’s current historical past suggests its focus remains to be firmly on the long run.

Which opens the door for GM Kyle Dubas to probably flip Skinner and Kulak earlier than the season is thru, if the fitting supply comes alongside.

“Don’t forget, they’ve got four goalies there, still,” Friedman mentioned throughout his NHL Network look. “They have (Arturs) Silovs, they nonetheless have (Sergei) Murashov they usually nonetheless have (Joel) Blomqvist, and I do know they actually like the 2 younger guys. … I keep in mind final 12 months, Kyle Dubas went out and he traded for Luke Schenn from Nashville, within the Michael Bunting-Tommy Novak deal. And the second he made that deal — and, granted, that deal was nearer to the deadline — his cellphone was ringing, like ‘What are you doing with Luke Schenn?’ 

“So I’ve little question that Dubas’s cellphone will probably be ringing, like ‘What are you doing with Skinner? What are you doing with Kulak? What are you thinking here?’ And then Dubas could make his choice — does he wish to preserve them, or does he wish to flip them? He has time to determine this out. 

“But you know what Dubas is thinking — he’s thinking, ‘Even though we’re off to a good start here, and we’re in the race, we still have to get a bit younger and we still have to collect assets.’ So I think you should be prepared for anything with him.”

Canucks nonetheless open for enterprise after transferring on from captain Hughes

While a lot of the main target within the wake of the Hughes information has been on the opposite golf equipment reportedly within the combine, and whether or not No. 43 would possibly ink a long-term pact in Minnesota, there’s additionally the matter of what occurs subsequent for the workforce he left behind.

Having made the franchise-altering choice to commerce their captain, it appears extra strikes may nonetheless be coming for the Canucks as they flip the web page and set the franchise up for the long run.

“I think they’ve still got their other UFAs and veterans out there,” Friedman mentioned throughout an look on Morning Cuppa Hockey. “I don’t know that anything’s imminent, but I still think they’d move (Kiefer) Sherwood if they could, and some other UFAs also. I think that Vancouver’s going to let this season unfold however it does, and then I think they’ll see what happens in the off-season.”

According to LeBrun, in his current piece for The Athletic, a well-recognized membership was interested by Sherwood earlier than the Hughes deal dropped.

“The Minnesota Wild are among the teams that have shown interest,” LeBrun wrote of the hard-nosed Sherwood. “The Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars have also kicked tires. Given their injuries, the Boston Bruins would make sense, but I’m told the Bruins haven’t engaged yet. An obvious connection to make is the Philadelphia Flyers, former Canucks coach Rick Tocchet’s team, but I’m told they haven’t talked to Vancouver at this point.”

Sherwood’s attraction as an in-season pickup is obvious. The veteran winger has 13 objectives on the 12 months, ranks second league-wide with 140 hits, and has an extremely team-friendly cap hit of $1.5 million. According to Pagnotta, numerous golf equipment are intently monitoring the 30-year-old’s state of affairs.

“Teams continue to check in (on Sherwood). They want to know if the price tag is going to change a little bit,” Pagnotta mentioned throughout his NHL Network phase. “It’s successfully proper now the equal of a first-round pick-plus for Kiefer Sherwood. … Either that or equal worth. They haven’t given groups permission to talk to his agent — he’s a pending UFA. But he brings lots to the desk together with his physicality and secondary-scoring skill.”

Past Sherwood, it appears the Canucks stay open to presents on numerous different veterans as properly. 

“They’re willing to listen on (Conor) Garland — they’ve had some discussions with some teams, but that’s a convince-me type of move,” Pagnotta continued. “It’s more geared towards guys like Sherwood, like Teddy Blueger — who’s battling injury and is a UFA at the end of the year — even Drew O’Connor, who has another year on his contract, a bottom-six add for some teams. That’s another player the Canucks are listening on.”