Real Kyper’s Trade Board 9.0: Who could still get moved this summer?

July 1 may not deliver a star-studded group of unrestricted free agents, but the potential for trades is sky-high. At another important date on the NHL calendar, here’s what I’m hearing:

• If Jason Robertson does get traded by the Dallas Stars, it appears that now it won’t come with the guarantee of signing a long-term contract. 

Word is that the biggest concern is about trade protection. If Robertson signs a long-term deal, the first season would not be eligible to have a no-trade clause with it because it’s not a UFA year. So, even if he did come to terms with the Stars (or any other team) on a long-term deal, he would be exposed to the possibility of a trade. The most likely scenario now for Robertson is salary arbitration, which would likely award him with a one-year deal in the vicinity of $9-10 million. It would be a risky decision, but one that would give him a lot more control on his long-term.

• With Jacob Markstrom heading from New Jersey to Florida, Connor Hellebuyck’s name is now linked with the Devils. But that doesn’t seem to be a fit for Winnipeg because they need more experience coming back than the unproven goalie prospects New Jersey has.

The likely scenario here is Buffalo sending NHL netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Jack Quinn, the eighth overall pick of the 2020 draft, to the Jets. The Jets’ original ask was for Zach Benson, but the Sabres haven’t been willing to go there. 

• It never got close between Sergei Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers, which is quite surprising. Bobrovsky was looking for a contract similar in term to the ones signed last year by Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad, but the Panthers didn’t approach that. Now a team in the open market, perhaps the Toronto Maple Leafs, could possibly get him for a three- or four-year deal if the AAV is sufficient.

• DJ Smith has become the highest paid assistant coach in NHL history, cracking the $1 million mark. It came down to Toronto and Edmonton and there’s a sense Jim Hiller was pushing for him to join the Leafs’ staff. But in the end, they wouldn’t match Edmonton’s money. With Paul Coffey leaving Edmonton, any chance Toronto would have interest in bringing him behind the bench?

• The Red Wings would have no problem trading Dylan Larkin to Minnesota if the Wild were prepared to part with Matt Boldy. Other than Boldy, there is nothing else Detroit GM Steve Yzerman is too interested in. 

That leaves Larkin with three choices:

1. Open up the trade demand to more teams. The Wild and Golden Knights don’t have anything that excites Detroit.

2. Prepare to start next season with the Red Wings.

3. Prepare to stay home and not get paid.

As of July 1, door No. 2 looks like his best bet.

• Finally, Darnell Nurse seems to be attracting more attention than Morgan Rielly. Multiple teams including Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and San Jose love Nurse’s toughness and durability. But Edmonton has no interest in taking back a bad contract. Penguins GM Kyle Dubas wants Edmonton to take Ryan Graves’ contract for Nurse, but Edmonton has so far said no.

So, as the next stage of the NHL off-season arrives, here’s my latest trade board.

Elliotte Friedman reported Tuesday night that Werenski had vetoed a trade to Dallas and that his preference was to stay in the Eastern Conference. No one can come close to Thomas Harley, who the Stars were offering, so this is a major setback for the Blue Jackets. 

Keep an eye on Tampa Bay and Toronto, but can either put together a package that satisfies Columbus’ needs? Can the Lightning build a bigger trade around J.J. Moser? The Leafs don’t even have a proven, young defenceman they can offer, so this pushes Matthew Knies back out there, but he’s not enough for Werenski. I could see this dragging out all summer as Columbus looks for a package that works. 

Detroit and Buffalo are still the most logical landing spots for Helleybuck. Detroit is more reluctant with a much deeper goalie prospect pool and trading for Helleybuck would throw a curve ball into that. Most likely scenario still has Winnipeg revisiting the Buffalo Sabres. A draft weekend trade with Buffalo did not come to be, but the Sabres are still trying very hard. I had heard Winnipeg asked for Zach Benson, but that’s not happening. The Jets need a strong return on Hellebuyck to keep current Jets stars such as Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, somewhat satisfied.   

The Stars are still trying to bridge the contract gap with Robertson, but he knows what his value is and I’m not sure Dallas can get to it. The last thing Robertson wants to see is a situation where if he takes a long-term deal in Dallas — for example, seven years and a $13 million AAV — that the Stars don’t immediately trade him to Seattle where he already turned down $124 million. That would be somewhat embarrassing to end up in the city he already turned down. As mentioned in the top, this may go to arbitration, which would result in a one-year contract and Robertson set up to become a UFA next summer. 

As Steve Yzerman holds tight and Larkin’s trade list remains narrow, this is not close to a resolution. Minnesota and Vegas just don’t seem to want to move what the Red Wings would need, and so Yzerman just is not interested right now. Larkin may yet still be a Red Wing in the fall.

Between Werenski and Marchenko, Columbus GM Don Waddell’s off-season planning has been severely disrupted. Next summer, Marchenko will be in a similar situation to Robertson, an RFA who’s just one year from unrestricted free agency. The Blue Jackets want to come out of this still with competitive upside. With the Werenski situation in a feverish state the last 24 hours, Marchenko seems to be in a holding pattern. 

If the Maple Leafs do something huge, such as a move for Werenski, Knies is the top asset they have to offer. His name is bound to come up in any blockbuster type of move Toronto might be interested in exploring. Chicago, Montreal, Buffalo and most recently Dallas and Columbus are poking around. With Knies having zero trade protection, I don’t hear this trade noise on him slowing down. For now, the Leafs are happy pushing the narrative that anything short of a great offer ‘we are happy to keep him.’ 

His preference is to move East, but Edmonton might be able to get a better deal from a team out West, so we’ll see if Nurse expands his list or not. The Oilers just don’t want to take back a bad contract and would prefer to create a little cap space in this move. 

There’s a less enticing market for Rielly than Nurse so the Maple Leafs will be treading lightly for now. Like the Edmonton Oilers, the Leafs are reluctant to throw in “sweeteners” to make a deal happen, like eating salary or giving up draft assets. As the summer goes on, scenarios will change for teams that could change the interest level in Rielly.

Florida traded for Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid, seemingly taking one team out of the running for Binnington. Yes, the off-season game of goalie musical chairs is in full swing and Binnington is one of the possibilities to land somewhere. Oilers management is under the impression that he’s open to being traded there. However, there is strong speculation that Winnipeg is still on Binnington’s no-trade list.

With the decision by new GM Alex Steen to back off shopping Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko, the more likely scenario is Binnington at least starts the season in St. Louis and re-visits the goalie market in the fall.  

Did acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev change the Rangers’ plans for Trocheck at all? Word is the asking price is still sky-high for the 32-year-old centre, and no one has been willing to meet it yet. 

An RFA who is not eligible to sign an offer sheet, there are all kinds of teams interested in Nikishin, but the Hurricanes want a solid return for the 24-year-old coming off his rookie season. There’s also the matter of a new contract. How much does Nikishin want on an extension? Someone out there is willing to pay Nikishin as much as $7-8 million per year and maybe more if the market for top defencemen keeps exploding. Carolina surely can’t go there as they focus on what Jalen Chatfield’s extension could look like. 

The sense still is that the new management group is more open to the idea of retaining salary to make a deal work, but the Canucks need to get a return to be happy with. Pettersson remains very much in play and becomes a more interesting acquisition at a lower cap hit. 

This is part of the teardown, looking to move a 29-year-old winger in the middle of a seven-year contract. DeBrusk can be helpful for a team in the playoff mix, but in rebuilding Vancouver the timing just doesn’t line up anymore. This is not the team DeBrusk thought he was signing on to. 

The Penguins aren’t afraid to get creative and have an eye on getting younger, so Rakell remains a player I’m watching on my board. 

The Flames aren’t expected to be active in free agency and are focused on managing assets to set the team up for long-term success after they move into their new rink. If anything, the Flames are still looking improve their future outlook and as long as that’s the case, Coleman is a trade possibility.

As the Flyers weigh what to do next, Ristolainen is someone who could potentially offset in a return for Darnell Nurse.

Traded off Kyper’s Board: Jordan Kyrou, Simon Nemec, Bowen Byram, Jordan Greenway, Valeri Nichushkin, Mason McTavish, Brandon Carlo, Evan Rodrigues, Jacob Markstrom