The NHL trade buzz is already getting loud on October 28, 2026, and three situations are driving the conversation: Vancouver may be heading toward a sell-off, Edmonton is sending a blunt message to one of its highest-paid defensemen, and New Jersey has somehow become the center of a wild Team USA theory.
Vancouver’s direction looks clearer by the day. The Canucks are coming off a 10-game losing streak, and reports say GM Ryan Johnson is prepared to move veterans.
Jake DeBrusk, Drew O’Connor, Filip Chytil and Luke Schenn are all being floated as possible trade pieces, and Elias Pettersson could also be part of the discussion. After the latest loss, Brock Boeser said he doesn’t know where the disconnect is and called it embarrassing.
The idea in Vancouver is not just to dump salary for the sake of it. The Canucks are trying to get younger while still bringing in players who can help immediately.
DeBrusk stands out as the clearest name in that group because he doesn’t fit the rebuild and this is his final year with a full no-movement clause. O’Connor, meanwhile, is a pending UFA who could make sense as a depth addition for a team like Edmonton.
Either way, Vancouver’s front office figure to stay busy.
In Edmonton, Mike Babcock has already shown that contract status won’t buy anyone extra rope. Jake Walman, the Oilers’ $7 million defenseman, was made a healthy scratch against the Flames after Babcock kept seeing the same issues on video.
Walman has been getting caught out of position, and through nine games he has one assist and a minus-7 rating. Even if a few unlucky goals against are removed from the picture, the performance still hasn’t been good enough.
Walman said sitting out is no fun, but he also said he believes in himself and knows he was brought in to be a major piece. This is not a one-off message from Babcock, either.
Trent Frederic was scratched a few games ago and barely played when he came back. When Babcock was asked about the money attached to the contract, he made it clear that it is not his concern.
He just wants to win, and Walman has been warned: he needs to show he can handle the defense-first style Babcock wants.
Then there’s New Jersey, where a strange theory has started making the rounds. The idea is that the Team USA Olympic group may have quietly mapped out a path to land on the same roster.
The Jets traded Connor Hellebuyck to the Devils. A few days earlier, Dylan Larkin added New Jersey to his list of OK destinations.
And with Quinn Hughes reportedly holding off on an extension in Minnesota so he can potentially join brothers Jack and Luke, the whole thing starts to look less random.
Elliotte Friedman even said it sure looks coordinated and suggested the Hellebuyck deal could be step one. Whether it’s a real blueprint or just a string of coincidences, the Devils may not be far from finding out.
The cap situation is complicated, but not impossible. Moving Dougie Hamilton’s $9 million would create room for Larkin, and Hughes is a pending UFA, which means New Jersey wouldn’t need to trade for him.
They’d only have to clear space and hope he takes a team-friendly deal to play with his brothers.
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Pavel Zachas future in Boston is already looking like one of those conversations that can linger well past the offseason buzz. Chris Johnston reported that the Bruins and Zacha have different ideas about what his next contract should look like, which puts a useful middle-six forward in a familiar spot for a contender that has to balance keeping core pieces with staying flexible under the cap.
For a Bruins team that has leaned on Zachas versatility and two-way value, the gap in expectations matters because it can shape how the rest of the roster is built around him. The situation does not have an easy short-term answer, and with Boston still sorting out its longer-range plans, the contract talks now feel like one more decision that could influence how the club approaches the months ahead. [Read more 🡒]