NHL Rumour Roundup: What’s next for Devils, Canucks after Hughes saga?

We’ve yet to reach the halfway point of the NHL’s 2025-26 campaign, and we’ve already seen some seismic action on the trade market.

Quinn Hughes has launched the Minnesota Wild into a new stratosphere among Western contenders. Tristan Jarry and Stuart Skinner have swapped jerseys in Pittsburgh and Edmonton. And the floodgates have seemingly been opened as general managers around the league mull moves of their own in the wake of this blockbuster flurry.

With the NHL’s holiday roster freeze taking effect on Saturday, let’s check in on the latest chatter around the league:

Devils still looking to bolster roster after missing out on Hughes

When news broke last Friday that Quinn Hughes was no longer a member of the Vancouver Canucks, most around the hockey world assumed the all-world blue-liner would be heading east to join brothers Jack and Luke in New Jersey. Instead, he joined Kirill Kaprizov in Minnesota, leaving Devils fans wondering where it all fell apart for their club.

Much has been said in the days since regarding the reasons Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald couldn’t swing a deal to land Hughes. Tops among them seems to be that the Devils were simply outbid by the Wild, who ended up sending Vancouver promising blue-liner Zeev Buium, centreman Marco Rossi, prospect Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round pick.

That said, according to a conversation Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had with another NHL executive, the Devils still seem intent on adding to their roster, despite missing out on the Norris Trophy winner.

“I had a very interesting call on Sunday afternoon from another team, and they think what has happened with the Devils is that, yes they agree there might have been some deals vetoed, but they also think that the Devils reached a point where they knew they weren’t going to get Hughes, because they knew they could not beat the Minnesota offer,” Friedman said on a recent episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. “This other manager told me that he doesn’t believe New Jersey could’ve beaten (Minnesota’s) offer — and he said, as a result, keep an eye on the Devils over the next little while up to the deadline. 

“He said what he thinks will happen is the Devils may make one of these moves when they’re ready to get someone, or when they think they can get someone.”

A number of reports have the Devils linked with a pair of veterans in Nashville as the Predators appear open for business amid a second straight season of subpar results.

“About a month ago, I started to hear that Steven Stamkos might be on their radar,” The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta said during a recent appearance on the NHL Network. “I do believe there’s some internal interest in guys like Stamkos, guys like (Jonathan) Marchessault, also out of Nashville, Ryan O’Reilly as well. … I think with a guy like Stamkos, I believe there’s a willingness in Nashville to move him, I think there’s a willingness on his part to waive his no-movement clause for a sure, clear-cut contender. … If they do do anything, Nashville’s going to have to retain — and it’s really going to come down to how much the Predators are willing to eat on that deal.”

“My understanding is that the New Jersey Devils have discussed his name internally, among many other trade targets,” The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun wrote of Stamkos earlier this month. “The Devils were also among the suitors for Stamkos when he was a free agent in 2024. So there’s a bit of history there. It’s something to keep an eye on as we get closer to the March 6 trade deadline.”

Given their cap situation, the Devils — who have had interest in O’Reilly for quite some time, according to Friedman — would likely need to move out salary to make a deal work. Friedman highlighted a couple veterans who seem the most likely to be involved in a potential cap-clearing move.

“(Ondrej) Palat is the one I think a lot of people are talking about. But he has protection,” Friedman said during an appearance on Nashville-based podcast, DMase, Vingan & Daunic. “I think Dougie Hamilton is another one that people have been talking about in New Jersey. He has some protection. Those are kind of the names that people are looking at. 

“We’ll see — Palat has, I believe, more control than Hamilton does. So you have to maneuver around that.”

Stars linked to Flames’ Coleman, Andersson while navigating injury issues

Out west, the Dallas Stars have seen their plans derailed somewhat as veteran centre Tyler Seguin suffered an ACL injury that could keep him out for the rest of the campaign.

Now, according to Pagnotta, the club finds itself weighing options for reinforcements while trying to figure out how much room it has to make a deal.

“I think they were planning on being aggressive before Tyler Seguin was knocked out with that ACL injury,” Pagnotta said during that NHL Network appearance earlier this month. “They’ve got about $3 million in cap space right now. They’re trying to determine what exactly the realistic timeline is for Seguin moving forward — the timeline right now they listed as 6-8 months, but is it realistic for him to come back at some point during the playoffs? If not, if they realize that that’s not the case, they can put him on season-ending LTIR, and utilize his full cap hit of $9.85 million — that’s going to give them a lot of flexibility to add not only one piece, but maybe two.” 

Per Pagnotta, the Stars have eyes on a couple veterans in Calgary.

“We know, at least on the back end, Dallas has been connected to Rasmus Andersson for a while,” Pagnotta said. “He’s got interest in going there — he’s willing to sign, and has been willing to sign an extension, to join the Stars. They also have had interest in both (Nazem) Kadri and (Blake) Coleman in Calgary as well. … They’re going to be aggressive.”

On Saturday, Pagnotta reiterated that the Stars continue to consider moves for Andersson and Coleman, though the Seguin injury means they’ll be looking at plenty of other names as well in the lead-up to the deadline.

“The continued connection to Rasmus Andersson and Blake Coleman in Calgary remains,” he wrote. “But expect GM Jim Nill to cast a wide net as he looks to give his team the best shot at a championship this season.”

Oilers likely not done after swapping Skinner for Pittsburgh’s Jarry

The Edmonton Oilers made waves of their own last week when they sent netminder Stuart Skinner — who backstopped them to two straight Stanley Cup Final appearances — to Pittsburgh in exchange for Tristan Jarry, both netminders enduring tumultuous runs with their prior clubs. The Oilers also acquired prospect Sam Poulin in the deal, while Pittsburgh also netted defender Brett Kulak and a 2029 second-round pick.

According to Friedman, though, more moves could be coming for Connor McDavid’s club.

“I’m not convinced Edmonton’s done. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more between now and March 6th,” Friedman said during his own appearance on the NHL Network last week. “McDavid gave them a bit of a shot across the bow earlier this year when he extended for two years. … What McDavid did at least was say, ‘Hey, I’m here and I want to win here, I want to win with this group of players. But there’s only right now a finite window.’ 

“So, I think if you’re the Edmonton Oilers, you’re saying, ‘We constantly have to be looking to upgrade, we constantly have to be looking at, what are our weaknesses, how can we make ourselves better?’ I think the idea that Edmonton is ever in sort of a stasis, where they say, ‘This is our team and we go with it,’ I don’t think you can ever assume that until we’re after a trade deadline.”

Per Pagnotta, speaking with Sportsnet 960 last week, before the Skinner-Jarry trade dropped, the Oilers had eyes on bringing in a physical defender to shore up their blue line, as well as a middle-six forward.

Could Penguins flip Skinner, Kulak before the deadline?

On the other side of that Skinner-Jarry trade, the Penguins now find themselves in an interesting position. While Sidney Crosby’s club has surprised this season with a strong start that still has them in the playoff mix as we reach the midway point of the campaign, the club’s recent history suggests its focus is still firmly on the future.

Which opens the door for GM Kyle Dubas to potentially flip Skinner and Kulak before the season is through, if the right offer comes along.

“Don’t forget, they’ve got four goalies there, still,” Friedman said during his NHL Network appearance. “They have (Arturs) Silovs, they still have (Sergei) Murashov and they still have (Joel) Blomqvist, and I know they really like the two young guys. … I remember last year, Kyle Dubas went out and he traded for Luke Schenn from Nashville, in the Michael Bunting-Tommy Novak deal. And the moment he made that deal — and, granted, that deal was closer to the deadline — his phone was ringing, like ‘What are you doing with Luke Schenn?’ 

“So I have no doubt that Dubas’s phone will be ringing, like ‘What are you doing with Skinner? What are you doing with Kulak? What are you thinking here?’ And then Dubas can make his decision — does he want to keep them, or does he want to flip them? He has time to figure this out. 

“But you know what Dubas is thinking — he’s thinking, ‘Even though we’re off to a good start here, and we’re in the race, we still have to get a bit younger and we still have to collect assets.’ So I think you should be prepared for anything with him.”

Canucks still open for business after moving on from captain Hughes

While much of the focus in the wake of the Hughes news has been on the other clubs reportedly in the mix, and whether No. 43 might ink a long-term pact in Minnesota, there’s also the matter of what happens next for the team he left behind.

Having made the franchise-altering decision to trade their captain, it seems more moves could still be coming for the Canucks as they turn the page and set the franchise up for the future.

“I think they’ve still got their other UFAs and veterans out there,” Friedman said during an appearance on Morning Cuppa Hockey. “I don’t know that anything’s imminent, but I still think they’d move (Kiefer) Sherwood if they could, and some other UFAs also. I think that Vancouver’s going to let this season unfold however it does, and then I think they’ll see what happens in the off-season.”

According to LeBrun, in his recent piece for The Athletic, a familiar club was interested in Sherwood before the Hughes deal dropped.

“The Minnesota Wild are among the teams that have shown interest,” LeBrun wrote of the hard-nosed Sherwood. “The Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars have also kicked tires. Given their injuries, the Boston Bruins would make sense, but I’m told the Bruins haven’t engaged yet. An obvious connection to make is the Philadelphia Flyers, former Canucks coach Rick Tocchet’s team, but I’m told they haven’t talked to Vancouver at this point.”

Sherwood’s appeal as an in-season pickup is clear. The veteran winger has 13 goals on the year, ranks second league-wide with 140 hits, and has an incredibly team-friendly cap hit of $1.5 million. According to Pagnotta, a number of interested clubs are closely monitoring the 30-year-old’s situation.

“Teams continue to check in (on Sherwood). They want to know if the price tag is going to change a little bit,” Pagnotta said during his NHL Network segment. "It’s effectively right now the equivalent of a first-round pick-plus for Kiefer Sherwood. … Either that or equivalent value. They have not given teams permission to speak to his agent — he’s a pending UFA. But he brings a lot to the table with his physicality and secondary-scoring ability.”

Past Sherwood, it seems the Canucks remain open to offers on a number of other veterans as well. 

“They’re willing to listen on (Conor) Garland — they’ve had some discussions with some teams, but that’s a convince-me type of move,” Pagnotta continued. “It’s more geared towards guys like Sherwood, like Teddy Blueger — who’s battling injury and is a UFA at the end of the year — even Drew O’Connor, who has another year on his contract, a bottom-six add for some teams. That’s another player the Canucks are listening on.”