Real Kyper's Trade Board 7.0: A first look at the off-season

Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Brady Tkachuk are NHL stars whose names resonate within their markets like few others can. They represent the hopes and dreams of their respective NHL teams and the fan bases that follow them. 

That vision, however, now comes with a “limited time only” label because each of these three players have only two years left on their contracts before they can test the UFA market.

That means there is a palpable buzz that any, or all, could be wearing a different jersey in the future, and that life without them is something Edmonton, Toronto and Ottawa are all having to begin thinking about more seriously than they would have been a year ago. 

As we approach the off-season for every franchise, the trade rumour mill will kick up again, and McDavid, Matthews and Tkachuk may all get caught up in it. However, as I was working up this trade board with a first look into what’s coming this off-season, there’s still not enough noise to put any of them on here just yet. I will continue to monitor each situation.

However, two other teams are facing tough decisions with their own star players that could very well become major off-season storylines: Minnesota with Quinn Hughes and Dallas with Jason Robertson. 

Unlike with McDavid, Matthews or Tkachuk, there is some urgency for the Wild to figure out what Hughes’ intentions are since he will begin the final year of his contract in the fall. The Wild are prepared to make him a big offer and are more than willing to make him as happy as they did with Kirill Kaprizov last year, when they signed him to a $17-million contract. 

But will Hughes reciprocate? Would he agree to a long-term deal, or perhaps a shorter one? Or is he not ready to consider an extension at all?

There is no question that Hughes is saying all the right things publicly, that he’s open to staying and is happy in Minnesota. But, as one source told me, we can’t forget why he left Vancouver in the first place. Former Canucks president Jim Rutherford openly acknowledged multiple times Hughes’ desire to one day play with his brothers. What the Wild have to figure out is if that desire comes as early as 2027, when Hughes would become a UFA. 

If that is indeed the case, the time for Wild GM Bill Guerin to trade Hughes is this summer, and not at next season’s trade deadline. 

In theory, Guerin has the same option Rutherford did and could trade Hughes to any NHL team because he doesn’t have trade protection. But there is one major difference this time. Heading into the final year of his contract, Hughes would now be seen as a rental player and so there might not be a team willing to spend what the Wild did in their trade to acquire Hughes. If he’s destined to head to free agency, Guerin might be limited to dealing only with the Devils. 

Coincidentally, there might be a swap that makes some sense. Nico Hischier is also heading into the final season of his contract before being able to test the UFA waters, and the Wild very much need to solidify a big hole they have at centre. Hischier would fill that void.

For now, the Hughes situation is one I’m continuing to monitor before putting him solidly on the trade board.

Meantime, in Dallas, Robertson is one of the more talented scorers in the NHL and he is a restricted free agent this summer, eligible for salary arbitration before becoming UFA eligible in 2027. He could instead choose to re-sign with Dallas on a long-term extension, provided the Stars are willing to make a commitment of at least $12 million or more per season. But Dallas is feeling a salary-cap squeeze and will need to make a decision sooner than later. The last thing the Stars want is to face the same type of scenario Toronto found itself in with Mitch Marner, where they are left scrambling next trade deadline without a contract in place. 

Given this uncertainty and urgency, Robertson is on the trade board.

We’re also keeping an eye on certain players who are in dire need of a fresh start, including Morgan Rielly, Dougie Hamilton and Darnell Nurse.

The overwhelming feeling around the league is that all three of these players in their early-30s still have plenty left to offer if they are priced correctly and placed more fittingly on a depth chart. That means a team looking into acquiring any of them may want their trading partner to retain some money.

And finally, in Vancouver, Elias Pettersson was on the trade board all season and there is no indication that a new management team will be enough to save his long-term future in British Columbia. Pettersson, along with every one of his teammates, will be available at the right price. 

There is lots more to come and much can change over the next few weeks as we head toward the draft and free agency. Next week, teams will come together at the draft combine in Buffalo, where lots of conversations will be had that will set the tone for the June draft and beyond. Seeds will be planted next week and it will be fairly important for the non-playoff teams, especially, to get the ball rolling on their off-seasons. 

So, for now, here is my latest trade board that peers into the summer. I’ll follow up with another one in June, when the trade market will start getting red hot again.

(All contract information via PuckPedia and reflects next season.)

It wouldn’t be ideal for this process to go through arbitration, leaving Dallas with a star player heading into his walk year. Don’t expect it to get that far. This situation is far more likely to be resolved, either with a contract extension or a trade, if no agreement can be made. Even if the Stars do re-sign Robertson, they’ll be facing a cap crunch, so keeping him on a long-term deal would lead to other questions and potential trade rumours, namely around Mavrik Bourque, who is also an RFA this summer.

A regular on my in-season trade boards, the Rangers looked hard into trading Vincent Trocheck during the season, but no one met their price. They will try again this summer. As the Rangers look to reset themselves, it wouldn’t be great to hold on to Trocheck, who will be 33 when next season begins. Still a highly regarded two-way player who scored 53 points in 67 games this season, New York would do well to find a trade now while he’s still contributing at a high level. 

Robert Thomas was among the many Blues on my in-season trade board as Doug Armstrong looked at several options, but he was never all that close to moving because the Blues never got an offer that blew them away. Jordan Kyrou is a different story. After a 46-point season and with new GM Alexander Steen taking over after a non-playoff season, Kyrou comes into focus as a trade candidate here. It’s a lot more likely Kyrou will be traded this summer than most other players on the Blues’ roster. 

Given how Joel Hofer stepped up this season, the Blues will continue to explore trading Jordan Binnington to allow the younger goalie to grow his role. Binnington will be heading into the final season of his contract and has a 10-team no-trade list. I think the Oilers are still looking into this. I also think there’s a possibility that Sergei Bobrovsky can find more money as a free agent this summer and leaves Florida, which would make the Panthers another candidate for Binnington. It seems like the market for Binnington is beginning to grow again and that his future is not in St. Louis. 

We can't ignore the fact that the Blues were trying to move Colton Parayko before this year's trade deadline and nearly did trade him to Buffalo before he flexed his no-trade clause. He will have an NTC next season as well. It's debatable if the Blues will still be trying to trade him this summer, but perhaps someone other than Buffalo will have interest.

As I wrote about Rielly in April, before Toronto’s new front office was put in place, industry sources believed the Leafs would be looking into moving on from their longest-tenured player. That remains true, now that Mats Sundin and John Chayka are in place. The way it’s been told to me is that Toronto is looking into things, Rielly is aware of it, and that he will be presented with a few options if they arise. Rielly still has no-movement protection for the next two years, but the belief is that wouldn’t be a major hurdle to overcome. However, if there isn’t anything on offer that Toronto is happy with, it will keep him. 

Edmonton will have around $15.5 million in salary cap space this summer, but a good chunk of that will be used up if it can re-sign some of its most important UFAs. Jason Dickinson, Connor Murphy and Kasperi Kapanen all played well and contributed something to this year’s team. Combined, those three could combine to eat up at least $10 million of the available space. The Oilers have been pinched against a cap tighter than this before, but this off-season comes with greater urgency in that GM Stan Bowman has to improve the team and have a roster in September that can get back to taking a run at a Stanley Cup. The McDavid clock is ticking. To change up the group, Nurse is a trade candidate to watch, though the Oilers might have to both retain some of his $9.25-million cap hit (depending on the trade) and get Nurse to sign off on anything, given he has a no-movement clause for next season as well. 

The Devils are another team that will be wrestling some with the salary cap. With Arseny Gritsyuk and Simon Nemec becoming RFAs, their available cap room will be taken up quickly and so new GM Sunny Mehta will be looking for other ways to shave off money. Hamilton had appeared on my trade board all regular season and the challenge remains finding a taker for his $9-million cap hit, or retaining money on that to make a deal work. He has two years left on his contract. 

Another player we had our eye on all season, Pettersson has now had declining point-per-game averages for three consecutive years and he barely reached the 50-point mark this season. The trick here remains to be the fact he comes with an $11.6-million AAV, is signed through 2030-31 and has a full no-movement clause. The Canucks are rebuilding under new management and need to shake up the group, which trading Pettersson would accomplish. But this will not be easy to achieve. 

The situation just has not worked out as planned with Jake DeBrusk in his two years with the Canucks. His own production has remained relatively steady in recent years, but he’s meant to be a big, complementary winger with strong linemates instead of a team’s goal-scoring leader, which he was in Vancouver this season. He makes $5.5 million through the 2030-31 season, which is not a bad rate for a player of his skill as the cap rises. Lots of teams are thinking long and hard about this player, and getting him to waive his no-move out of Vancouver is not expected to be an issue.

At times this season, I had Jesper Wallstedt on my trade board as a piece the Wild could potentially move in their ongoing search for a No. 1 centre. But there is no question that Wallstedt became more of a No. 1 guy in the playoffs. At the same time, Filip Gustavsson will be just starting on a new contract next season making $6.8 million against the cap and he has full no-move protection. There’s also an injury factor. Gustavsson will have off-season hip surgery and Wild GM Bill Guerin said he wouldn’t know if the goalie will be ready for the start of next season until after that procedure is finished. So, I don’t know if teams are in a hurry to trade for him now. The most likely outcome is that both Wallstedt and Gustavsson remain with Minnesota when training camp rolls around, but the team is still trying to find the centre it needs. I believe one of these goalies will eventually be traded, it’s just a matter of when. 

After several rumours that Nemec had asked for a trade, it now sounds like he wants to stay. However, that doesn’t mean he will. It all depends on whether or not the Devils can move Hamilton, or if they can bring in Quinn Hughes. If New Jersey does go down the road on a Hughes trade, Nemec would certainly be a candidate to be part of the deal heading back to Minnesota. He is an RFA this summer.

The Golden Knights won’t be in a rush to change their goalie depth chart, but the possibility of a move is growing. With Carter Hart locking into the No. 1 job over this playoff run, Hill has become an expensive backup. However, Hill makes $6.25 million through 2030-31 and Hart has just one more season left on his contract at $2 million before he could become a UFA. Vegas will want to look at its options, but returning next season with this duo making $8.25 million isn’t a bad cap situation. 

In his second full NHL season, Shane Wright’s point production fell from 44 to 27, but some teams will still see an attainable young player with upside. Seattle needs scoring, that is no secret, and would be chasing that attribute in a Wright deal. Back in 2018, when Vegas traded prospect Nick Suzuki for Max Pacioretty, it sent away the 13th-overall pick who hadn’t yet played an NHL game for an established veteran scorer. The Golden Knights maybe didn’t see Suzuki becoming the player he has, but were able to get a type of player they needed. That could be a blueprint for the Kraken. Wright is still just 22 years old and several teams are seeking to bring in skilled players in that age range. Would one of them move a veteran scorer for him? There is mounting pressure in Seattle to get into the playoffs and start showing some positive momentum, so look for it to be active this summer. 

Rasmus Ristolainen has been another regular on this trade board for a while, but he remained in Philadelphia because the Flyers couldn’t get their asking price and, this season, were a competitive playoff team. Now this situation is coming to a head, though. Ristolainen will be going into the final season of his contract in 2026-27 and there is little reason to believe he’ll re-sign with the Flyers. Turning 32 in October, Ristolainen is a big right-shot defenceman, and he had a pretty good season for Philadelphia, contributing to the team’s success. 

The Flames are continuing to look at moving veteran players off the roster for the right mix of future assets. For this trade board, we’ll focus on Blake Coleman. Coming off a 20-goal season (in 69 games) Coleman will make $4.9 million against the cap in the final year of his contract and might be able to bring back to Calgary the healthiest trade return of the remaining available players. The bottom line is that the Flames are open for business this summer, and that’s what Coleman represents here. 

With new contracts coming to pending RFAs Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier this summer, Mason McTavish's contract is vulnerable to be moved. He just signed a six-year extension at $7 million last September, missing training camp, and the first year of the deal did not go as planned. McTavish's offensive numbers took a year-over-year dip and he was a healthy scratch in two playoff games. It makes sense for the Ducks to shop him around to see what they can get. He's still a highly valued centre, just 23 years old.  

The Sabres have three important players due big raises this summer. Alex Tuch will be one of the most sought-after free agents, if he makes it to market, and should be able to pull an AAV of at least $10 million. Peyton Krebs and Zach Benson are both RFAs, the latter coming out of his ELC after a career-best regular season and strong playoff. Buffalo will feel the pinch and, since it is so strong on the blue line, one of the defencemen may become a casualty. Michael Kesselring was acquired in last year’s J.J. Peterka trade but managed to play just 34 games. He is also an arbitration eligible RFA this summer and the Sabres might be in tough to even live with his qualifying offer, putting the possibility of a trade on the table. 

After getting into just three playoff games, I’ve heard the Bruins are looking into moving the 25-year-old Mason Lohrei. He’s a good player making $3.2 million for another season before he becomes an RFA, but the Bruins are doing their due diligence to see if his upside is appealing enough to another team to allow Boston to get back someone else who will help them in another part of the lineup.

The second-overall pick in 2019, Kaapo Kakko still hasn't managed a 20-goal season and his career high in points is 44. Now, as the Kraken look for ways to improve their roster, Kakko is very much a trade candidate, already staring down the possibility of joining his third team at just 25 years old. Is there anyone willing to take a shot on him as a reclamation project with two years remaining on his contract with a $4.525 million AAV?