25 intriguing NHL offseason moves

Buckle up, it’s the Summer of Chevy. There will be no more popular or busy man than Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff over the next month, as Winnipeg becomes the center of the hockey universe this offseason. One could make the argument the Jets will help dictate the tenor and pace of this offseason as Cheveldayoff attempts to remake his club.

That’s because the Jets have the top goaltender and centers available. Connor Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Blake Wheeler are all prominently featured on Daily Faceoff’s latest Trade Targets board.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that all four players will be leaving Winnipeg this summer.

We’re still waiting for all of the personnel pieces to fall in place—with head coaching vacancies remaining in New York, Calgary, Columbus and Anaheim, as well as potential openings in Ottawa and Toronto—and the Sens’ ownership is still locked in a bidding war. It’s possible those hirings, with added viewpoint and opinion, could shake free other potential roster decisions—along with Brad Treliving and Kyle Dubas landing new jobs.

This trading period might be even more active for a number of reasons, including a weak free agent class and the fact teams may be infused with a substantial salary cap increase for the first time since the pandemic took hold in 2020.

In March, we correctly projected 42 of the Top 50 players traded prior to the trade deadline. The offseason is just getting churning, but here are 25 names in play on the trade targets board, which always seeks to blend a player’s prominence with his likelihood of a trade:

Trade Targets

1. Erik Karlsson
Right Defense, San Jose Sharks
Age: 32
Stats: 82 GP, 25 G, 76 A, 101 Pts
Contract: Four more seasons, $11.5 million AAV
Scoop: Only once in NHL history has a reigning Norris Trophy winner been traded in the same summer he’s taken home the award for a top defenseman: Doug Harvey (1961) going from Montreal to New York. That goes to show you how rare of a transaction this might be. It’s also incredibly complicated. Karlsson put together one of the best offensive seasons of any defenseman ever, yet his contract makes him difficult to move. Sharks GM Mike Grier acknowledged at locker cleanout day he’s ready to listen again on a Karlsson deal. He’ll have to adjust his asking price and be willing to retain his salary. If one is to materialize, this trade always felt like an offseason deal. It may also be now or never, because Karlsson’s value to the Sharks is never going to be higher than it is at this exact moment in time, as the first 100-point defenseman since Brian Leetch in 1991-92.

2. Connor Hellebuyck
Goaltender, Winnipeg Jets
Age: 30
Stats: 64 GP, 2.49 GAA, .920 Sv%
Contract: One more season, $6.17 million AAV
Scoop: While weighing Hellebuyck’s future in Winnipeg, including whether or not he wants to re-sign with the Jets, there has to be a tempting tilt toward cashing in on Hellebuyck’s high value. He is one of the most consistently excellent netminders playing one of the most fickle positions in pro sports. Hellebuyck is coming off a season that rivaled only his 2019-20 campaign that garnered him the Vezina Trophy and was voted a finalist again this season for the third time in six years. He’s in his prime, under a manageable cap hit for one more year, and could vault a roster into serious contender contention. Los Angeles, New Jersey, Ottawa, Toronto, Carolina, Pittsburgh and Vegas all have openings based on play or contractual status.

3. Kevin Hayes
Center, Philadelphia Flyers
Age: 30
Stats: 81 GP, 18 G, 36 A, 54 Pts
Contract: Three more seasons, $7.14 million AAV
Scoop: Interim Flyers GM Danny Briere acknowledged in a recent interview on Frankly Speaking that some players simply aren’t fits for the Flyers—either through timeline, with John Tortorella or both. Hayes seems to check a lot of those boxes. Previous Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher made Hayes available prior to the deadline, but it was too complicated of a transaction to pull off in a short period of time. There was definitely interest though. The Hurricanes, Stars, Wild, Red Wings and Blue Jackets were among those to kick tires. He’d be an ideal fit with his hometown Bruins. The Flyers seemed willing to retain his salary if need be. Expect them to help facilitate a deal for Hayes.

4. Mark Scheifele
Center, Winnipeg Jets
Age: 30
Stats: 81 GP, 42 G, 26 A, 68 Pts
Contract: One more season, $6.13 million AAV
Scoop: Scheifele and Blake Wheeler and Co. have had plenty of kicks at the can in Winnipeg, and it seems as if massive changes are coming on the Canadian prairie. Scheifele is coming off a career-high in goals (42) and his Hockey IQ is off the charts. Coupled with a paltry $6 million cap hit, there should be no shortage of suitors lining up to pry him out of Winnipeg. So many teams in the NHL are starved for center depth and a pivot like Scheifele could significantly change one of their outlooks heading into next season.

5. Evgeny Kuznetsov
Center, Washington Capitals
Age: 30
Stats: 81 GP, 12 G, 43 A, 55 Pts
Contract: 2 more seasons, $7.8 million AAV
Scoop: Kuznetsov is among the most intriguing players on the board. His off-ice conduct and suspension for cocaine are well documented. His consistency and competitiveness have been questioned. But he’s flat-out one of the most talented players in the league. No one would blink if Kuznetsov bounced back with another point-per-game type season next year. His name circulated in trade rumors in 2021 and he netted 78 points in 79 games that next season. Because he may also be slowing down, as evidenced by his drop in production, his contract likely will not be easy to move. Trading Kuznetsov would remove most of the veteran Russians in Alex Ovechkin’s lineup and leave him without a primary feeder on the power play. The Caps are expected to explore a multitude of options.

6. J.T. Miller
Center/Wing, Vancouver Canucks
Age: 30
Stats: 81 GP, 30 G, 52 A, 82 Pts
Contract: Seven more seasons, $8 million AAV
Scoop: The way Miller closed out the season under new coach Rick Tocchet, it’s easy to envision him in the Canucks’ opening night lineup in October. He posted 41 points in 35 games under Tocchet, who will have no problem managing Miller’s challenging locker room presence. Yet, we know that the Canucks were deep in talks with the Penguins to move Miller before the deadline. Those fizzled and now Pittsburgh’s regime has changed. Has that trade partner evaporated? How much will the Canucks push to move him before his “no-trade” clause kicks in on July 1? They could desperately use the cap flexibility. You have to allow for the possibility in a depressed free agent market that a team will covet Miller enough to make a play.

7. Pierre-Luc Dubois
Center, Winnipeg Jets
Age: 24
Stats: 73 GP, 27 G, 36 A, 63 Pts
Contract: Pending RFA, $6 million AAV
Scoop: This is a massive summer for the Winnipeg Jets. They are a team in transition, likely to turn the page from the Mark Scheifele/Blake Wheeler core officially to Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor. Will Dubois be part of that? He fits the age scheme. He would fill a huge void if Scheifele is gone. But it doesn’t seem like Winnipeg necessarily fits him. Notably, he did not sign a long-term extension with the Jets last summer, and many speculated on comments made by his agent that he says was blown out of proportion that he could one day play for the Canadiens. Nonetheless, Dubois needs a new deal. And this is where the rubber meets the road. Or better yet, where pen meets paper? We’ll see.

8. One St. Louis Blues Defenseman
Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Nick Leddy, Marco Scandella
Scoop: Pick one, anyone, but GM Doug Armstrong is looking to create flexibility on his salary cap by moving one of his higher-priced defensemen. We know Torey Krug isn’t going anywhere, but the rest are up for grabs. Interest seemed to percolate on Parayko around the deadline, but he still has nearly $45 million remaining on his massive contract over the next seven seasons. That’s a big commitment for a big man. Faulk and Leddy have both seen declines in their games. The tough part for Armstrong is all of his top five defensemen have “no-trade” clauses that can be tricky to navigate.

9. Ross Colton
Left Wing, Tampa Bay Lightning
Age: 26
Stats: 81 GP, 16 G, 16 A, 32 Pts
Contract: Pending RFA, $1.125 million AAV
Scoop: Colton is due a massive raise and it doesn’t appear that the Lightning has room to pay him. The late-blooming, fourth-round pick who made a dent during Tampa’s 2021 Stanley Cup run also has to cash in. His career earnings total $2.9 million. This is his prime earning time, so a hometown discount likely isn’t in order. Colton has arbitration rights and has established himself as an 18-to-20-goal scorer who can be a consistent contributor on a contending team’s third line. That will make him in demand for teams who think he can elevate their lineup. Even if Alex Killorn walks in free agency, Tampa will have less than $10 million to spend to fill out eight roster spots, and will also have to pay Tanner Jeannot.

10. John Gibson
Goaltender, Anaheim Ducks
Age: 29
Stats: 53 GP, 3.99 GAA, .899 Sv%
Contract: Four more seasons, $6.4 million AAV
Scoop: Gibson has let the Ducks know that after 10 seasons, he is ready for a change of scenery. With little defensive support, Gibson was tagged with the worst statistical season of his career. Amazingly, Gibson’s save percentage was still exactly league average (.899), which is an indication of how much game he has left. How much better would those numbers look on a properly constructed (read: not rebuilding) team? That’s what has teams wondering. Gibson was available last summer but at a high price. Considering the term remaining on his deal, even if his cap hit is fine, it’s still a large commitment. Would the Ducks be willing to retain a chunk to get Gibson in line closer to $5 million to make a move more palatable? He makes sense as a replacement for Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh, which happens to be Gibson’s hometown.

11. Taylor Hall
Left Wing, Boston Bruins
Age: 31
Stats: 61 GP, 16 G, 20 A, 36 Pts
Contract: Two more seasons, $6 million AAV
Scoop: The Bruins’ cap picture would indicate Hall’s cap hit is a luxury Boston cannot afford. The complicating factor for Boston is a $4.5 million salary cap overage that will be placed on next year’s books by virtue of the Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci earned performance bonuses. So whatever next year’s cap ends up being, take $4.5 million off the top. Then factor in that they’ll need to sign nearly half of their roster—and might try to keep a trade acquisition like Tyler Bertuzzi—and the dollars get stretched thin in a hurry. Hall was strong in Round 1, but his regular season production at that cap hit is less than ideal. He has a 10-team “no-trade” list.

12. Adam Henrique
Center, Anaheim Ducks
Age: 33
Stats: 62 GP, 22 G, 16 A, 38 Pts
Contract: One more season, $5.825 million AAV
Scoop: If not for an untimely injury before the trade deadline, it’s likely Henrique’s tenure with the Ducks would have ended in February. Even with the injury, there were a couple of teams hovering around Henrique on Deadline Day to see if they could pry him out of Anaheim. Outside of Cam Fowler, Henrique is Pat Verbeek’s easiest or most valuable veteran to move. He plays a responsible game, rarely gets himself in trouble on the ice, and can reliably post a 20-goal season. If he doesn’t get moved this summer, he will be another top trade deadline chip in 2024.

13. Sean Walker
Right Defense, Los Angeles Kings
Age: 28
Stats: 70 GP, 3 G, 10 A, 13 Pts
Contract: One more season, $2.65 million AAV
Scoop: You can write it in Sharpie and underline it: the Los Angeles Kings are 100 percent, absolutely guaranteed to trade a right-shooting defenseman this summer. They have too many. One GM called LA the “NHL’s right-shot defenseman bullpen.” Their lineup balance is off as a result of the glut, and it’s blocked a path for some to the NHL (Jordan Spence) and forced other players (Sean Durzi) to play on their off-hand side. Add in the fact that Walker was a healthy scratch for four of the Kings’ first five postseason games this spring and it’s easy to see why he might be the one to go.

14. Matt Grzelcyk
Left Defense, Boston Bruins
Age: 29
Stats: 75 GP, 4 G, 22 A, 26 Pts
Contract: One more season, $3.69 million AAV
Scoop: Tough decisions are ahead for the Bruins. The piper needs to pay. And the local boy’s time may be running low in Beantown. Grzelcyk has scratched twice already in this first-round series against Florida. Brandon Carlo would also seem to be in the crosshairs this summer as a $4.1 million defenseman, but his term may make him a little more difficult to move. Grzelcyk’s game is respected around the league and he could be a salary cap casualty on Causeway Street.

15. Anthony Mantha
Left Wing, Washington Capitals
Age: 28
Stats: 67 GP, 11 G, 16 A, 27 Pts
Contract: One more season, $5.7 million AAV
Scoop: The Capitals have openly engaged teams about the availability of both Kuznetsov and Mantha, looking to shake things up and create some salary cap flexibility in the process. Mantha is a big man (6-foot-5) who has high-end skill, as evidenced by his 24 and 25-goal seasons with the Red Wings. But those were five years ago now, and Mantha has struggled mightily in Washington. And that cap hit is onerous now relative to production. The Caps are looking to have someone take Mantha off their hands, but he may cost an asset as a sweetener to achieve.

16. Kailer Yamamoto
Right Wing, Edmonton Oilers
Age: 24
Stats: 58 GP, 10 G, 15 A, 25 Pts
Contract: One more season, $3.1 million AAV
Scoop: Like Mantha, Yamamoto is a buyout candidate. Just about every part of this season was a little bit “off” for Yamamoto. He didn’t seem quite right. He’s been dealing with a vestibular system issue, symptoms not all that different than a concussion, for a large chunk of the year, which also kept him out of the lineup in the early part of 2023. When he’s been healthy, Yamamoto can be an impact contributor. He collected 20 goals last season. It’s just that the Oilers will have other players to pay (see: Evan Bouchard) and limited room to make deals, making him expendable.

17. Mikael Granlund
Center/Wing, Pittsburgh Penguins
Age: 31
Stats: 79 GP, 10 G, 31 A, 41 Pts
Contract: Two more seasons, $5 million AAV
Scoop: Granlund’s status in Pittsburgh has become fascinating. The Kyle Dubas-led Maple Leafs nearly acquired him one year prior. In Pittsburgh, the Granlund trade was one of the moves that put the nail in the coffin of GM Ron Hextall’s tenure. One word to describe his stay in the Steel City: Disastrous. Granlund scored a grand total of one goal in 21 games as the Pens missed the playoffs. To be fair, that wasn’t all on him, but he certainly didn’t hold up to his end of the bargain. Now, with two more years left on his deal, his contract is either a problem for Dubas to clean up—or one for Dubas and Co. to rehab.

18. Ivan Provorov
Left Defense, Philadelphia Flyers
Age: 26
Stats: 82 GP, 6 G, 21 A, 27 Pts
Contract: Two more seasons, $6.75 million AAV
Scoop: The Flyers will be fielding calls on Provorov this summer, as it has become apparent that there is frustration on both sides—Provorov with his situation, the Flyers with his play. The question is: What is Provorov’s stature in the league? Can he be a No. 1 defenseman? And how do the Flyers view him relative to the rest of the league? Five years ago, Provorov was trending toward being an elite blueliner, numbers right in line with Zach Werenski and others in his same-age cohort. That hope has faded a bit, but Provorov has also played on some poor Flyers teams with little support. No guarantee the Flyers move him, but they’re open to the conversation.

19. Blake Wheeler
Right Wing, Winnipeg Jets
Age: 36
Stats: 72 GP, 16 G, 39 A, 55 Pts
Contract: One more season, $8.25 million AAV
Scoop: It’s difficult to envision a path back for Wheeler in Winnipeg, particularly after he was openly critical of coach Rick Bowness’ post-mortem playoff interview when he said that Bowness was too hard publicly on the team. Despite having the ‘C’ ripped off his jersey last September, Wheeler still wielded a significant (read: too big) influence on the Jets’ dressing room. It’s time for the Jets to cut bait. Last summer, they touted Wheeler as the missing link to a contending team and were unwilling to retain his salary to move him. That has to happen this time around for the Jets to finally turn over control to Josh Morrissey, Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers.

20. Tyler Myers
Right Defense, Vancouver Canucks
Age: 33
Stats: 78 GP, 1 G, 16 A, 17 Pts
Contract: One more season, $6 million AAV
Scoop: Myers is a trade that might not materialize right at the beginning of the summer—if at all. Keep an eye on the $5 million signing bonus due. The belief is Myers’ bonus is due to be paid in September, shortly before training camp, which would leave him with just $1 million in salary to be paid after that during the course of the regular season. For any interested acquiring team, there’s little incentive to pick up that tab when you know the Canucks are on the hook for it. That means a trade could come together shortly after it’s paid, though it also makes him a heck of a deadline commodity.

21. Kevin Labanc
Right Wing, San Jose Sharks
Age: 27
Stats: 72 GP, 15 G, 18 A, 33 Pts
Contract: One more season, $4.725 million AAV
Scoop: Labanc finished the season on a bit of a high note, posting five goals in an 11-game stretch in March and early April after what has been a mostly miserable couple of seasons. He seems pretty far removed from the 17-goal, 56-point campaign that put him on the radar back in 2018-19. There have been injuries and probably a loss of confidence, but there is probably something worth trading for if the Sharks are willing to get creative.

22. First-Round Picks
Columbus (22nd overall) and St. Louis (25th and 29th overall)
Scoop: We’ve reported on the availability of these picks, as it will be shocking if Blues GM Doug Armstrong is walking to the podium all three times in the first round on June 28 in Nashville. The Blues are looking to move the picks they got for Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko in exchange for 25-year-old and younger players who can make an impact on their team with cost control. And the Blue Jackets, who have an extra pick from the Vladislav Gavrikov trade to Los Angeles, are also in search of more help (preferably on the blueline) to vault themselves back into playoff contention after an incredibly difficult season.

23. Alec Martinez
Left Defense, Vegas Golden Knights
Age: 35
Stats: 77 GP, 3 G, 11 A, 14 Pts
Contract: One more season, $5.25 million AAV
Scoop: Martinez has more than earned his paycheck as an integral member of Vegas’ run to the Stanley Cup Final. He eats pucks like nobody’s business. But from jump street, there was always the likelihood that the third year of Martinez’s extension was going to be painful for the Golden Knights. There’s no doubt Martinez has veteran savvy and hockey intelligence in spades, but his game has also slowed in a significant way that will force Vegas to ask some tough questions this summer. His “no-trade” list drops down to eight teams this summer.

24. Samuel Girard
Left Defense, Colorado Avalanche
Age: 24
Stats: 76 GP, 6 G, 31 A, 37 Pts
Contract: Four more seasons, $5 million AAV
Scoop: Before the announcement that Gabriel Landeskog will miss the entirety of next season, the math was not in Girard’s favor to stay in Denver. Now they can move all $7 million of Landeskog’s money to LTIR to clear a path to keep Girard and still try and acquire another center for much-needed depth. You still have to allow for a possibility that they pivot and move Girard for better balance, as they have somewhere around $20 million in space to sign upwards of nine players. Girard would appear to be the odd man out on the back end. Devon Toews makes a bigger overall impact; Bowen Byram is three years younger and has a higher upside. Girard is a clear fourth among Avs defensemen in minutes played. All of that might mean that he could do more with more opportunities with another team. His contract is also a reminder you can never go wrong buying all of the prime years of a player’s career on a long-term deal.

25. Cal Petersen
Goaltender, Los Angeles Kings
Age: 28
Stats: 10 GP, 3.75 GAA, .868 Sv%
Contract: Two more seasons, $5 million AAV
Scoop: The Kings made a really bad bet in 2021, signing Petersen to a three-year, $15 million deal a year before his meager $858,000 contract expired. The idea was Petersen would take the reins from Jonathan Quick and the Kings were getting out in front of Petersen ahead of time to potentially save a little money. It’s cost them dearly on the salary cap already, and it’s about to cost them future assets to move on. Another season of Petersen buried in the minors with a $3.9 million cap charge will be untenable—let alone for an additional year beyond this next one. They’re going to have to find a way to convince a team to take on Petersen’s deal. And it’s not going to be pretty.

Next up: Logan Stanley, Winnipeg Jets.