The trade and rumor mill around the NHL kept spinning over the weekend, with Jason Robertson, Connor Hellebuyck, Devon Levi, Vladimir Tarasenko and the Vancouver Canucks all landing in the conversation.
Jason Robertson remains the big name in the middle of it all. After a chaotic draft weekend, the latest twist is that the Dallas Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins had trade talks that, according to Elliotte Friedman, got some real traction before stalling out.
“Now I heard that there were talks with Pittsburgh on Friday or Saturday, and there were a couple of teams who thought there was some momentum there, but obviously it didn’t happen. Pittsburgh, by the way, is another team that people are saying is trying to do something with some heft to it. So I wasn’t so surprised to hear that.”
Robertson, 26, is coming off a 96-point season and remains a restricted free agent. His situation has already taken plenty of turns, including the revelation that he turned down an eight-year, $120 million offer from the Seattle Kraken and had no interest in going to the St.
Louis Blues. For now, Dallas is still sorting through its options, and nothing looks settled yet.
Goaltending chatter also picked up, with the Edmonton Oilers digging into the market and doing their homework on Buffalo Sabres goalie Devon Levi. Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast that Edmonton did serious research on Levi over the weekend, though no deal came together.
Buffalo, meanwhile, has made Levi available to multiple teams ahead of free agency. The 23-year-old has shown enough to keep teams interested, but he still hasn’t locked down a full-time NHL starter role. For an Oilers team in win-now mode, that makes him an intriguing but imperfect fit.
The bigger goaltending story involved Connor Hellebuyck. Trade discussions reportedly got close between the Sabres and Winnipeg Jets, and Hellebuyck was even willing to waive his no-trade clause to go to Buffalo.
A reported package had Winnipeg looking for a major return, including a high draft pick, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and additional pieces. The No. 4 pick from the draft was part of the conversation, but since Buffalo used that selection, the exact status of those talks is murky. David Pagnotta also reported that the Carolina Hurricanes do not appear likely to chase Hellebuyck.
Another situation that turned heads involved Vladimir Tarasenko. After he hired new agent Dan Milstein, reports surfaced that he had been given permission by the Minnesota Wild to speak with other teams before July 1. The Wild quickly pushed back on that idea.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported that GM Bill Guerin made it clear no blanket permission was granted, which lines up with NHL rules that bar early negotiations unless a player’s rights are traded. If Milstein had been told he could talk with other teams, that would be tampering, especially with the league recently reminding everyone that there is no courting period before free agency opens. That could put both agent and player in a tough spot.
It has been a busy stretch for Minnesota beyond the Tarasenko story, too. Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic also reported that Mats Zuccarello is “pretty ticked” about how negotiations have gone and is now set on testing free agency when the market opens on July 1.
And in Vancouver, trade chatter continued there as well, with the Canucks adding Brendan Gallagher from the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal is retaining 50% of Gallagher’s salary.
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For a Predators front office that has already added Ross Colton, Jack Drury and Adam Edstrom, the deal fits the broader pattern of stacking depth while keeping plenty of flexibility. Nashville still has nearly $17 million in cap space heading toward free agency, so the move raises the question of whether this is another incremental piece or just the latest step in a much bigger offensive shuffle. [Read more 🡒]