The NHL trade market is already starting to tilt toward desperation, and three teams keep showing up in the conversation for very different reasons.
In Edmonton, Erik Johnson floated a bold idea on Saturday Headlines: the Oilers should go after Jordan Binnington from St. Louis, or Juuse Saros from Nashville if that doesn’t work out.
The reaction was quick and blunt. Fans pushed back on the Binnington idea because his numbers have been rough - a 4.27 goals-against average and an .851 save percentage in five games - and he has already lost the starting job to Joel Hofer.
Saros, meanwhile, comes with a full no-move clause and a $7.74 million contract, which makes that path even tougher.
The pushback also came with a simple counterpoint: Edmonton’s goaltending hasn’t been the problem. Devon Levi came back and helped the Oilers to a calm 4-2 win over Vancouver, Tristan Jarry has been better than he was last year, and Frederik Andersen is still working his way back. With that in mind, there’s no obvious reason for the Oilers to rush into a major move, even if Johnson was strong on the panel otherwise.
Tampa Bay is dealing with a very different kind of noise. Andrei Vasilevskiy said he’s paying close attention to the Nikita Kucherov situation and was surprised to hear about the communication breakdown, though he also said he doesn’t know all the details and hopes the two sides sort it out. But when it comes to his own future, Vasilevskiy made the message clear: he wants to stay in Tampa, and retiring there would be his second biggest accomplishment after the Stanley Cup.
He also joked that he doesn’t know if he’s worth $25 million, which suggests his next contract won’t reach that level. Vasilevskiy has one more season left on his deal after this one, and he could become the biggest goalie on the market by far.
That would invite plenty of interest, but he said it means a lot to spend an entire career with one organization. The article notes the Lightning have not exactly handled this kind of thing smoothly before, pointing to how they disrespected Steven Stamkos and now Kucherov.
They still have time to get it right.
Chicago, though, looks like the team in the most immediate scramble. Elliotte Friedman reported that the Blackhawks have suddenly become active, with the club offering the Florida and Edmonton first- and second-round picks in negotiations. Jordan Greenway and Teuvo Teravainen are also “out there,” and teams have asked about Chicago’s prospects and players who can play center.
The urgency makes sense after a 9-2 loss to Carolina dropped the Blackhawks to 4-13-1. They are 1-8-1 in their last 10, and the goals-against gap sits at 76-39 in year four of the Connor Bedard era. After that loss, the team held a players-only meeting, and Wyatt Kaiser said the room was getting the frustration out and trying to figure out how to get better.
The thinking now appears to be that Chicago wants to act early, buying before the season gets so far off track that selling becomes unavoidable. There’s still time, but the message is clear: the Blackhawks feel the pressure, and they’re looking for a move now.
In Other News...
Oilers Win Came With A Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Scare
The Oilers got the result they wanted in a recent win, but it came with a familiar kind of concern when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was hurt early enough to miss most of the contest. Edmonton still found enough from its line combinations to carry the night, with several units drawing praise for the way they drove play and helped steady the game after the lineup had to adjust on the fly.
There was also a broader roster element hanging over the evening, since the club has been sorting through its forward group while keeping an eye on Bakersfield as well. The Condors recent loss and the goaltending picture there are part of the same larger conversation, and with more moving parts ahead, Edmonton may not be done tweaking things up front once the next wave of help is available. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Would Pay A Serious Price For This Blue-Line Swing
A blue-line swing of this magnitude would be the kind of move that instantly reshapes the conversation around Edmontons roster construction. Roman Josi is the sort of defenseman who can change a teams ceiling, and the appeal is obvious for an Oilers club always searching for more impact on the back end. The fit is easy to imagine, too, because the discussion is not just about adding a name, but about adding a player who could alter how the defense is deployed and how much pressure the top pair can absorb.
The cost, though, is where the idea starts to get serious in a hurry. Nashville would not consider moving a player like Josi without a meaningful haul, and Edmonton would have to weigh the cap implications against the value of keeping its current pieces and future flexibility. There is also the practical hurdle of getting the deal past the players themselves, since no-movement protection would have to be cleared before anything could happen, which is the kind of wrinkle that can turn a bold proposal into little more than a thought exercise. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres May Have A Trade Chance With Ryan McLeod Suddenly In Limbo
Ryan McLeods place in Buffalo has become a little less certain of late, and that has naturally stirred some familiar chatter around Edmonton. The former Oilers forward has not been a regular in the Sabres lineup, which is enough to get people wondering whether there might be a path back to a team that could use more depth down the middle.
For Edmonton, the appeal is obvious enough in theory. McLeod knows the organization, fits the kind of speed-and-support profile teams like to have at center, and his contract makes him the sort of player who can be discussed in trade speculation without too much strain. For now, though, it remains just that, a hypothetical conversation with no confirmed move on the table and no clear sense yet of what Buffalo would actually ask for if it decided to listen. [Read more 🡒]