NHL rumor mill: Duchene on trading block, Preds looking for forward help
Islanders could also be loading up for scoring talent, and Vegas has plenty of D-men to sell
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2 min read
All of a sudden, the Pittsburgh Penguins' second straight Stanley Cup championship seems like a distant memory.
The 2017 NHL Entry Draft is over. The Vegas Golden Knights have a full roster. The regular-season schedule is out. And free agency is right around the corner with a handful of big names, from Kevin Shattenkirk to Joe Thornton, set to become available.
Teams haven't been shy about striking deals early in the offseason, either, with notables like Artemi Panarin and Jordan Eberle finding themselves on the move.
More activity, of course, figures to be on the way as those big-name free agents test the open market and more trades materialize. And the rumors regarding what could be coming down the pipe have been rampant.
Checking in on speculation around the league, here's a look at a few of the bigger talking points:
Predators hunting for Matt Duchene
The Colorado Avalanche have been trying to sell young center Matt Duchene since before March's trade deadline.
And Nashville, after losing James Neal to the Golden Knights in the expansion draft, is apparently pursuing forward help in the form of Duchene, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Carolina is also "in the mix" for Duchene, per Pagnotta, but the biggest question is just what the Avalanche will end up commanding for the 26-year-old target. Colorado may be forced to drop its price if it wants to ensure a trade, and that could work in Nashville's benefit, especially if the Preds are bent on retaining their top four defensemen.
Golden Knights auctioning off defensemen
Vegas general manager George McPhee admitted before the expansion draft results went public that his team would be looking to benefit from an excess of blue-liners.
Now, everyone knows the NHL's 31st team has a plethora of veteran D-men to sell. The list includes some bigger names like Nate Schmidt and Marc Methot, who was reportedly offered a chance to go to the Montreal Canadiens but has all Canadian teams except for his former club, the Ottawa Senators, on a no-trade list.
What'll be most interesting about Vegas' impending moves isn't necessarily whether it parts with someone as notable as Methot but what they seek in return. Do the Golden Knights go hard after proven forward help to balance a defense-heavy lineup headlined by goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, or do they keep raking in future draft picks for long-term insurance?
Islanders, Rangers collecting cap space for offensive help
Dealing Travis Hamonic netted the Islanders a haul of draft picks, but it also gave the club added ammunition for scoring talent, even after it brought in Eberle from the Edmonton Oilers.
Elsewhere in New York, the Rangers have long been considered contenders for an offensively geared D-man like Shattenkirk, and NHL.com's Dan Rosen sees them as financially capable of making a big splash:
The Rangers have approximately $20 million in NHL salary-cap space, according to CapFriendly.com, and they need to fill some holes. They need at least one center to play on one of their first three lines and possibly two centers overall, depending on how they feel about some of their prospects.
