#nhl-trades

#nhl-trades

Post trade, we had a quick conversation. But we were just more focused on how excited we were to add Kiefer to the group, and I think he's going to love it here. He's excited. We're excited to have him, and we think it's a great fit. So hopefully down the road at some point, we'll be able to work something out.

Rielly, the Leafs' longest-tenured player, has drawn trade calls due to his apparent lack of production. That's justified. Rielly is supposed to be the Maple Leafs' top offensive blueliner. While he's certainly leading Toronto defensemen in scoring this season, his comparative numbers aren't quite what Leafs Nation would hope for. In 41 games this season, Rielly has five goals and 21 assists for 26 points.

Trocheck's game has not deteriorated, though he did have somewhat of a down season following the 2024 postseason run. Trocheck's locker room presence also did not prove to help, as the team struggled to get on the same page, and Trocheck's nightly "we're doing all the right things" quotes enraged fans rather than comforting them. With a slightly improved team this season, Drury may want to hold onto his prized center.

It's unfortunate Scott Laughton has been somewhat ineffective since he joined the Leafs. Brandon Carlo underwent foot surgery on December 3. When he was available, he looked a step slower and less physical than he was playing as a member of the Boston Bruins. In both cases salary retention were involved in the trade. If you're going to overpay for two players, you shouldn't be overpaying for a fourth-line center and bottom-pair defenceman.

Toronto has struggled out of the gate in a big way. From sloppy defensive coverage, to underachieving superstars, to injury woes, it has not been pretty through the first month of the 2025-26 season. Treliving has been rumoured to be searching for a top-six forward on the trade market, and also a right-handed top-four defenceman, but there's one serious problem. The Maple Leafs' GM has nothing to work with in negotiations.

The Blues seem to look towards Kyrou as a scapegoat at times, and when things aren't going the way they need them to, Kyrou sits. It is common for teams to sit a top player to send a message, especially when the team is second-last in the NHL with a 5-8-2 record. Kyrou hasn't been playing too poorly this season, scoring eight points in 14 games, though the Blues would like to see a bit more.

When the New York Rangers traded Ryan Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche at last year's trade deadline, most analytically-minded fans like myself felt more relief than anything else. The Rangers organization is best known for handing long-term contracts to aging, declining defensemen. Think back to the contracts of Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, two players who went from beloved Rangers to despised for their on-ice play by Rangers fans.

Many Rangers fans felt at the time of the Mika Zibanejad trade that the Rangers made a mistake. Brassard had been crushing it for the Blueshirts and Zibanejad had a couple of good seasons but hadn't truly broken out yet. Fast forward to today, and Zibanejad has been one of the most valuable Rangers ever. How do we come to terms with Mika Zibanejad's career, though? This is a player who never truly competed for any major award, never made it to the Stanley Cup Final, and at this point in his career is someone fans look at as a potential negative if his decline is real.

Hockey careers are strange beasts. Some burn bright and fade quietly. Others, like Dustin Penner's, explode in flashes of brilliance and then implode in ways that leave you shaking your head. Born in Winkler, Manitoba, Penner wasn't the most heralded prospect coming out of the University of Maine or the American Hockey League, but he had the size-6-foot-4, 247 pounds-and the sneaky skill that makes a power forward dangerous. Related: NHL Rumors: McTavish Trade, Draisaitl Theory & Luke Hughes Done? Anaheim got a glimpse of

In comments to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun on Monday, Crosby's agent Pat Brisson didn't just acknowledge the "reality" of trade speculation. Brisson admitted a trade is a "possibility." "I mean, I'm answering something that ... let's put it this way, it's always a possibility, you know?" Brisson said. "It's been three years they haven't made the playoffs. It all depends on how Sid is going to be and how the team is going to do.

We are 48 hours from the start of hockey activity. The buzz has begun, and team previews are rolling in as a few teams are waiting for that big shoe to drop, as the NHL trade market remains clogged, but several teams are absolutely making moves, eventually. For better and worse, we also looked at the Pittsburgh Penguins trade trees under Kyle Dubas, but also looked at the San Jose Sharks' Erik Karlsson tree-which might hurt Penguins fans just a bit.

The NHL trade market appears to be in a state of gridlock. That's not a subjective assessment. It's the prevailing thought among league executives. A new report from James Murphy at RG Media, published on September 3, discussed the chatter among league executives as training camps loom. Anonymous league sources spoke to Murphy within the context of the NHL GM and coaches' meetings in Detroit this week.