The NHL All-Star Break is upon us and that means more NHL rumours to pass the time between games. There’s a lot of chatter about deals and one was made on Wednesday night. Some general manager are looking add pieces to make a run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, other clubs are trying to lock down some of their future players to deals. Today’s NHL rumours focus on the Minnesota Wild and New York Islanders.
All NHL Rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Minnesota Wild
Rumour: The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith went over who will get a big-time contract extension once the huge amount of dead money comes off the books.
Analysis: Minnesota is dealing with a load of dead money on their salary cap for this season and next. This is due to the Wild buying out both the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter contracts. Minnesota has over $14.7 million in dead money until the end of the next season. However, those two buyouts will be greatly reduced to nearly $1.7 million in the 2025-26 season. This means some Wild players looking to secure a big payday will hopefully “get the bag.”
One of the players that Russo and Smith discussed which players will see the biggest benefit from the new-found money. Both agreed that rookie defenceman Brock Faber is the most likely to get a big payday when that money is freed up. Faber has played well in his first full season with the Wild. He is making $925,000 for this season and the next. The former University of Minnesota product has 29 point this season and is considered a cornerstone of the Minnesota blueline group.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin does have to concern himself with an extension for Kirill Kaprizov after the 2025-26 season. However, Faber’s contract comes first and he’ll likely get himself a hefty raise when his contract comes up.
New York Islanders
Rumour: Arthur Staple of The Athletic listed some trade targets for the Islanders at the upcoming March 8 trade deadline.
Analysis: As of this time, the Isles look to still be buyers. However, that could change if the team continues to slump. Staple whip up a list of players that could come over in a deal. The Islanders sit four points from the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference behind the Philadelphia Flyers.
New York has already made a change behind the bench from Lane Lambert to the fiery Patrick Roy. However, the Isles are still on the outside looking in on the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The All-Star Break could be a time to reset for Roy and general manager Lou Lamoriello.However, time might be running out for the Islanders to insert themselves back into the post-season race.
Common names like Noah Hanifin, Jakob Chychrun, Jason Zucker, Morgan Frost and Adam Henrique are mentioned by Staple. However, there are other names that have to be mentioned as rumoured to be involved in deals. Players like Jack Roslovic, Alexandaer Barbanov, Peyton Krebs, Alexander Texier and Jonatan Berggren were mentioned as trade targets.
Roslovic has had a hard time finding his role with the Columbus Blue Jackets and could find a new home with the Islanders. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent and likely won’t get more than the $4 million that he’s getting now. The 27-year-old could be useful because he plays multiple forward spots.
Krebs, Frost and Berggren are also having troubles finding spots on their respective teams and could get a fresh start on Long Island. Roy is solid at developing young players and that might be the case if he wants to mold the Islanders in his own image
Main photo by: Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports
