Nikita Kucherov is suddenly the name to watch in the latest round of NHL trade chatter, and Edmonton keeps coming up in the conversation.
The thread starts with Kucherov’s agent, Dan Milstein, who has long been a vocal admirer of Mike Babcock. Bob Stauffer then suggested Milstein likely already has a destination in mind, while ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that Kucherov wants to play next to another elite superstar.
That’s where the Oilers enter the picture, with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard giving Edmonton the kind of star power that would make any pitch compelling. The Rangers also fit the discussion, thanks to their Russian presence and the pull of a major-market stage.
Even with that, the path to Edmonton would be anything but simple. Other teams can put together stronger trade packages because they have better prospects and draft picks, and the cap math would be brutal if the Oilers tried to squeeze Kucherov in alongside McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard. A free-agent move may be the cleaner route, even if the idea of that power play is enough to make people stop and stare.
In Calgary, Morgan Frost is starting to look less like a trade chip and more like someone the Flames may want to keep around.
The Flames opened the season with five straight losses, but they’ve steadied themselves, and Frost has been part of that push. Chris Johnston had labeled him a trade candidate, yet Pierre LeBrun has since reported that extension talks have taken place. That doesn’t lock anything in, of course, but it does suggest Calgary sees value there, whether that means keeping him or simply testing the market.
Frost backed up the interest with production on Friday, scoring on the power play and adding an assist in a 6-2 win over Seattle. He now has four goals and five assists in 13 games.
Those aren’t eye-popping numbers, but they matter for a team that needs offense. For a rebuilding club, players who can contribute and help younger teammates along the way still carry real weight.
And in Toronto, Sergei Bobrovsky’s recent play has Doug MacLean wondering how long the Maple Leafs can afford to wait.
MacLean said Bobrovsky hasn’t looked sharp for Toronto lately, and he pointed back to Bobrovsky’s difficult start in Florida, which he believes helped lead to Dale Tallon’s eventual departure as GM. He also noted that Bobrovsky has bounced back from that kind of stretch before. Still, at 38, MacLean questioned how much workload he can realistically take on, especially with Toronto allowing too many chances right in front of him.
His main message was simple: the Leafs need to be faster to yank Bobrovsky on a bad night. MacLean’s view is that winning has to come before protecting anyone’s feelings. He stopped short of sounding alarm bells, but he made it clear Toronto can’t keep waiting forever for better goaltending, better defense and better results.
In Other News...
Flames Momentum Vanished Fast Against A Colorado Team They Couldnt Contain
The early momentum Calgary had been carrying into the night disappeared quickly against Colorado, which controlled the game from the start and skated away with a 5-2 win. Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen and Brock Nelson all helped the Avalanche build a four-goal cushion, while Cale Makar kept feeding the attack with four assists and the Flames spent much of the game trying to chase the pace rather than set it.
Calgary did get goals from Joel Farabee and Martin Pospisil, and Farabee has been one of the brighter signs in a lineup that needed more push offensively. The bigger concern was how little room the Flames found against a Colorado team that simply did not let them settle in, leaving Calgary with another reminder of how quickly a promising stretch can turn when the opposition dictates the terms. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Defensive Breakdowns Let Avalanche Take Over Early
The Flames were chasing from the start in Denver, and the early hole only got deeper as Colorado dictated the pace in a 5-2 loss. Calgary did manage to push back at times, but the Avalanche kept finding ways to answer, turning what might have been a manageable road test into a night where the visitors were forced to play catch-up almost immediately.
Arsenii Sergeev had plenty to deal with in goal as the Avalanche kept pressing and stretching the ice on Calgary. Even with the Flames trying to steady things and make a game of it, Colorado stayed in control long enough to put the result away and leave Calgary looking for a cleaner response after another defensive lapse. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Injury Trouble Is Creating A New Wranglers Problem
The Calgary Wranglers Halloween-night visit with the Laval Rocket had all the usual AHL chaos, with penalties, fights and a tight scoreline before Laval pulled away for a 2-1 win and a split of the two-game series. Alex Nylander provided Calgarys lone goal, but the bigger story for the Flames organization has been the ripple effect of injuries at the NHL level, which has already pushed Arsenii Sergeev and William Stromgren up to Calgary.
Connor Zarys latest setback only adds to the pressure on the system, leaving the Wranglers thinner while the Flames keep reaching for depth. Against Laval, the margin for error disappeared quickly, and Calgarys penalty trouble in the second period helped turn a manageable night into one that left the affiliate searching for answers as the roster churn continues. [Read more 🡒]