The latest NHL trade chatter had a little bit of everything: a young defenceman making a fast impression in Edmonton, a familiar Maple Leafs blueliner looking for a cleaner fit, and a Boston rumour that may have been cooked up by Instagram itself.
Start in Edmonton, where Shakir Mukhamadullin has already done enough in preseason to earn praise from his new coach. Babcock liked the 6’5″ defenceman’s simple approach, saying he made smart plays instead of trying to get too fancy. That effort helped him beat out Spencer Stastney and Ty Emberson for a roster spot, at least for now.
Babcock also pointed to the value of a change of scenery, and he went a step further with Stan Bowman, saying he “could have made a hell of a deal” on Nurse in the Darnell Nurse trade. Whether that was a direct shot at Nurse or not, the result looks strong for Edmonton. Few expected the Oilers to move Nurse’s full salary, but Bowman did exactly that and brought back a useful young defenceman in the process.
Mukhamadullin’s new two-year extension comes in at $1.75 million per season, which is about 19% of what Nurse was making. If he keeps playing like this, that’s a tidy piece of business for the Oilers.
In Toronto, Morgan Rielly is looking for a different kind of reset. His last couple of seasons have been rough, and the source of a lot of that trouble was how he was deployed under Craig Berube.
Rielly has always been an offensive defenceman, but Berube’s defence-first setup pushed him into something closer to a true number-one role. He was playing more than 21 minutes a night and getting exposed in his own end, which showed up in a combined minus-26 over two years.
Now the hope is that Jim Hiller can put him in a spot that actually suits him. The setup appears to be more manageable, with Rielly skating alongside Darren Raddysh and moving to the second power-play unit.
That would mean fewer minutes and less pressure. If the Maple Leafs shelter him from tough defensive starts and let McCabe and Tanev handle the heavy lifting, Rielly could get back to being productive again.
A finish north of 40 points feels realistic, and 50 is in play if things break right.
There’s also a milestone waiting in the background. Rielly is 49 games shy of 1,000 with the Maple Leafs, which would make him the sixth player in franchise history to reach that number.
Then there’s the strangest item of the day: a possible Kirill Marchenko-to-Boston connection that seems to have started on Instagram. Bruins forwards David Pastrnak and Nikita Zadorov both started following Marchenko, and Marchenko followed them back. A bot account called the NHL Follow Tracker caught it, and that was enough to get fans talking, especially with Boston already linked to Marchenko and Columbus still in a messy spot.
Even ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski got involved, basically wondering if the Bruins were trolling everyone.
The sensible read is that it probably means nothing. NHL players follow each other all the time for all sorts of reasons, from training ties to agents to simple familiarity. But that’s not nearly as much fun as imagining a bot account beating the insiders to the punch.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs Have A Waiver Chance That Could Heat Up Canadiens Rivalry
Ryan Suzuki landing on waivers gives the Maple Leafs an interesting depth option at a time when roster shuffling is already part of the daily grind around the league. Ottawa made the move as it adjusts its lineup, and Toronto, always looking for low-cost ways to bolster its organization, now has a brief window to decide whether it wants to get involved.
The wrinkle, of course, is the family tie to Montreal, where Nick Suzuki has become one of the Canadiens most important players. Any claim by Toronto would not just be about adding another body to the mix, it would also add a fresh layer to a rivalry that never needs much help getting hotter. For now, though, there has been no official claim or transaction reported. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs May Have To Risk A Core Young Piece Here
The Maple Leafs are once again circling a deal that would reshape the top end of their forward group, with Toronto and Columbus reportedly deep in discussions over Kirill Marchenko. Marchenko is still a restricted free agent and does not have an extension in place, which makes the timing of any move especially delicate for a Leafs team looking to upgrade without losing too much ground in the process.
Matthew Knies and draft picks have surfaced as the kind of assets that could be involved, which is exactly the sort of price Toronto has to weigh carefully when chasing a player with upside. Nothing has been finalized or officially confirmed, and the talks remain fluid, but this is the kind of trade conversation that forces a club to decide how much of its young core it is willing to risk for a potential swing. [Read more 🡒]
Jack Roslovic Already Faces Pressure In Torontos Top Six
Jack Roslovic is getting an early look in a premium spot with the Maple Leafs, and that alone says plenty about how Toronto views the opportunity in front of him. Slotted into the top six and potentially skating with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, he has a chance to show he can bring more than just depth scoring to a lineup that will be watched closely all season.
Roslovics hold on that role will come down to two things: whether the offense follows, and whether he clicks with his linemates. If it does not, the Leafs have other ways to shape the forward group, with options such as Gavin McKenna and Easton Cowan waiting in the wings, which means the margin for a quiet start is not especially wide. [Read more 🡒]