NHL Rumor Mill – June 18, 2025
What’s next for the Oilers after another Stanley Cup Final defeat? Has Aaron Ekblad played his final game for the Panthers? What’s the latest on Mitch Marner? Find out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE OILERS?
THE ATHLETIC: Daniel Nugent-Bowman looks ahead at the Edmonton Oilers’ offseason after losing in the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year.
Team captain Connor McDavid has a year left on his contract and is eligible to sign an extension on July 1. It’s assumed he’d re-sign since his longtime agent, Jeff Jackson, took over the Oilers’ hockey operations in 2023. Teammate and friend Leon Draisaitl’s contract extension last fall heightened those expectations, but nothing has been finalized yet.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McDavid will re-sign with the Oilers, either this summer or before his UFA eligibility next July. It’s doubtful Draisaitl would’ve re-signed if he felt McDavid wouldn’t do the same.
Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard (NHL Images).
Defenseman Evan Bouchard is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights who will seek a substantial raise over the $3.9 million average annual value of his recent contract. The Oilers have $12 million in salary cap space next season and Bouchard could take up three-quarters of it.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Some Oilers fans believe Bouchard should be traded given his defensive deficiencies. However, moving him would leave the Oilers lacking offense from the blueline. They’ll likely re-sign Bouchard for between $9 million and $10 million annually, and try to find a suitable stay-at-home defense partner for him.
The Oilers must free up cap space once Bouchard is re-signed. Nugent-Bowman noted that players who could be moved for performance or cap reasons have full no-movement protection (Adam Henrique, Viktor Arvidsson) or partial no-trade clauses (Evander Kane).
Goaltending remains a big question mark. Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard each have a year left on their contracts with cheap salary cap hits. However, Nugent-Bowman wondered if management would bring them back. The pickings are slim for replacement goalies in this summer’s free-agent market.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Gerry Moddejonge of the Edmonton Journal also wondered about the Oilers’ goaltending, specifically Skinner. He suggested the possibility of an offseason trade exists, but Skinner’s consistency could make him a tough sell. There’s also the question of finding a suitable replacement in the trade market.
HAS AARON EKBLAD PLAYED HIS FINAL GAME WITH THE PANTHERS?
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Adam Proteau observed the Florida Panthers have $19 million in salary cap space with Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad UFA-eligible on July 1. They also need a new backup goalie for Sergei Bobrovsky.
Proteau doubts the Panthers can afford to re-sign all three, leaving Ekblad as the odd man out. They acquired right-shot defenseman Seth Jones in March, and he’ll only cost $7 million annually against the Panthers’ cap. They also have blueliner Gustav Forsling, Niko Mikkola, and Dmitry Kulikov under contract next season, making Ekblad a luxury they cannot afford.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ekblad has frequently said he wants to stay with the Panthers. He might have to accept a pay cut from his current $7.5 million AAV to do so.
THE LATEST ON MITCH MARNER
TSN: Darren Dreger reports Mitch Marner could delay his signing a new contract this summer into the middle of July as he and his representatives review offers and meet with the interested teams.
The 28-year-old winger has not informed the Toronto Maple Leafs that he doesn’t intend to sign with them. They could still be part of the bidding once the UFA market opens on July 1.
Multiple teams appear set to make offers to Marner on July 1. The question remains how much he’ll earn and whether he’ll become the highest-paid player in the league. He’s coming off a six-year contract with an AAV of $10.9 million.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl is currently set to become the highest-paid player for 2025-26 when his contract extension begins on July 1. Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is second at $13.25 million.
It will be interesting to see how long the Marner camp takes before deciding on a suitable destination. I wouldn’t mind if he takes two or three weeks, as the speculation would help this site’s offseason traffic (hey, I gotta make a living), but I can understand why some fans would prefer he get it done and over with quickly.
Bouchard and Kane for Parayko and Kyrou.
Darren dreger says marner has NOT told the maple leads that he does not intend to sign with them.
So the Oilers get a better all-around defenseman and a good young scoring winger and the Blues get an expensive offensive defenseman and get stuck with an aging, increasingly ineffective Kane? Please explain the logic behind this deal that is so obviously in the Oilers’ favor.
Cap space for signing Connor and other moves this year.
That doesn’t explain why the Blues would make that trade. Your proposal so obviously favors the Oilers. It makes no sense from the Blues POV.
Oilers should do a retool like Washington by selling what they can between now and trade deadline and then get younger and deeper. They have 9 players except McDavid in their last year of the contract. I think even McDavid understands that something needs to change
Lots of teams wants to get better next season so plenty of takers
OK, then Bouchard, Skinner for Parayko, Binningham
Why would the Blues swap out the starter who backstopped them to a Stanley Cup, who nearly outduelled Connor Hellebuyck in the first round, for an inconsistent goaltender who hasn’t won anything?
They are already talking about signing Bouchard to a 9-10 million aav.What? Was anyone else watching the same hockey as me? He is great on the power play but like a pylon defending.The Panthers were going up his side over and over and he was more than obliged to help.He is not worth anywhere near 9 or 10million aav! And as good as Marner is,he is not worth being paid the highest salary in the NHL.That should be for the best Player in the NHL.Not the 10th best(imo)
Megaderp
Kane has a no movement clause, no?
Owen,
Kane has a 16 teams no trade clause.
Johnny z, seek medical attention ASAP you are clearly in some kind of mental stress based on your absurd trade proposals. Also nobody else wants Bouchard he is a defensive liability.
Waiting until July 1st almost guarantees Marner’s looking for a shorter term deal. Otherwise, he would have allowed the Leafs to make the 8 yr offer prior to the end of his contract.
If I were a betting man, I’d say he’s looking for $14MM x 4yrs in a state without state taxes.
That state tax loophole needs to be addressed in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement (great big PERIOD).
The league and the PA have already indicated that it is not going to be part of the next CBA. I could rehash the reasons why it’s not an issue, but PA director Marty Walsh explained that it is simply too complex to resolve state by state, province by province, and country by country.
It shouldn’t be complicated. The easiest way is to set a baseline using take-home pay. Say a player nets $5M in Florida. To get that same $5M in the worst tax market—like Montreal—they’d need to make $8M (Example). So, for cap purposes, Florida would carry an $8M hit for that player. The player still takes home the same amount, but now every team is working from a level playing field.
Its not as big an issue as you think. If it was such a big issue why didnt Tavares sign in Florida, or other no tax state, or Panarin or Gaudreau??? (the biggest UFA signings over the past 7 years) Second, the panthers plucked Forsling (arguably their best d-Man in the final) off waivers and Verhaege. So, good management, good coaching and good ownership wins championships
Yes that loophole needs to be fixed to even out the playing field.And the LTIR loophole which has helped win cups the last few years should be fixed.It was Kucherov a few years ago when he was on LTIR to free up more money to sign other guys to help them win a title.He was skating with the team every day.And this year it was Matthew Tkachuk.There would be no Marchand or Jones on the team without that money.How come it is the top salary guys that get hurt and go on LTIR? Very sad.
Addressing the LTIR playoff loophole is reportedly part of the CBA negotiations
What needs to happen is cities that insist on confiscatory taxation need to negotiate with their teams, to create some sort of offset.
Good luck with that.
Blah, blah, blah. Boo freaking hoo. From a holistic team personnel perspective, it is not impactful. They all have to be CAP compliant anyway, so who cares? And, no, the team I follow is not one of the “favored” tax free cities.
Great bigger and fatter PERIOD.
If it needs fixed then vote for politicians that will make the necessary state or province or city tax changes so your team now plays in a tax free place. Not the nhls problem
And then, they’ll sit and wonder why living in a no-tax state or province hasn’t magically turned their team into multiple Stanley Cup champions like the Panthers. According to the Panthers critics, that’s the only reason they won back-to-back Cups. Nothing to do with a shrewd general manager or a smart head coach. 😉
😂
Blues38 I doubt it. Players get hurt and short contracts, especially in your prime years is a risk too great to take. Marner’s contract will be similar to what Tavares signed when he hot tailed it out of the Isles.
He was a star, top six center and went on to sign with Toronto for about 13% of the cap the year he signed…if Marner were to get the same offer of 13% of the current cap, it will be around the $13.5 range. If it’s true that Tavares left money on the table and Marner being a 100pt winger who can be used in all situations, might bump that up a bit but I would bet his contract will suck up about 13-14% of cap space to who ever signs him.
Oilers need to trade Nurse and I wouldn’t pay Bouchard more than 8, hopefully someone sends an offer sheet and ”I” can use those picks to get a D that can actually defend in the playoffs
Who is going to take Nurse and that contract?
I said need…. hopefully there is some desperate GM that is fooled by him being tall
Interesting. Johnny. My first reaction was hell no from St.Louis perspective…but then I re-read it a couple times. Maybe….maybe. It’s not an awful trade off. I just don’t see why either would do it.
Sens back up Anton Forsberg will be available and while Sens fans have seen the good and the bad, I think in front of capable defense he can be consistently “ok”. Sometimes even steal some for you. He’s probably more interested in term than $$’s . Also there’s a certain goalie who may or may not be available after a legal decision is rendered in (what’s rumoured to be) late July.
While I wouldn’t sign him. It’s possible someone does. Probably an American team where it’s less of a circus. My personal prediction is some level of guilt for all involved – no jail time – it all just goes away.
Sens fan here. Forsberg at $1million is a great backup. He is frustrating….for every great game/save he has, he has an equally bad game/goal.
Both Marchand and Bennett had good good playoff runs but, bringing both back would be a mistake. Bennett’s career numbers are average at best. He’s a different animal in playoffs though, and will be 29 on Friday. A long term deal will not age well. Marchand already 37. Was a nice deadline pickup, but if I’m Florida, I’m prioritizing Ekblad over him. Florida’s strength is from back end out. Bob in net and a solid D corps. Ekblad a homegrown player willing to take a paycut. Left side is set with bargain players Lyle mentioned whose combined cap hit is just over 10m.
Kane will be a hard sell to anyone without a sweetener.
I don’t agree. Kane only has 1 year left on his contract. And an affordable 5 mil contract. He is can be had probably cheap for a team to full their top 6 and then be shopped for more at the deadline
1Oilerfan, Edmonton goes into the off-season committed to
11F Draisaitl $14,000,000, McDavid $12,500,000, Hyman $5,500,000, Kane $5,125,000, Nugent-Hopkins $5,125,000, Arvidsson $4,000,000, Henrique $3,000,000, Janmark $1,450,000, Tomasek $1,200,000, Jones $1,000,000, Podkolzin $1,000,000 – for a total of $53,900,000
6D Nurse $9,250,000, Ekholm $6,000,000, Walman $3,400,000, Kulak $2,750,000, Emberson $1,300,000, Stecher $787,500 – for a total of $23,487,500
2G Skinner $2,600,000, Pickard $1,000,000 for a total of $3,600,000
giving them a cap reserve of $11,962,500 with which to sign 4.
Seemingly quite doable – on the surface, However, with their only RFA – RD Evan Bouchard – coming off a cap hit of $3,900,000 and figuring to get from $8,000,000 to Nurse-money (he has arbitration rights) – Bowman would then be left with anywhere from $2,712,500 to $3,962,500 to sign 4.
Not many of his 6 UFAs will be back, with the possible exception of RW Corey Perry, who’s coming off a cap hit of $1,150,000. If he does decide to play another season at age 40+ I don’t see him doing so for less than he made this season, Not after scoring 19g 11a 30 pts during the season, and adding 10g 4a 14pts in the playoffs. A repeat of that cap hit would leave Bowman with $1,562,500 to $2,812.500 to sign 3.
I doubt any of the remaining UFAs will be re-signed – LW Jeff Skinner ($3,000,000); RW Connor Brown ($1,000,000); C/RW Kasperi Kapanen ($1,000,000); LW Trent Frederic ($2,300,000); RD John Klingberg ($1,755,066). But combined, they accounted for 43g 48a 91 pts during their seasonal production, and in the playoffs added 11g 14a 25 pts.
That has to be replaced somehow with the limited cap left. It’s safe to assume that 1 or 2 of the players committed to above will be involved in trades – and perhaps more if it’s decided to go after an established, reasonably consistent goalie.
so, who goes?
Kane costs nothing against the cap. Just put him on LTIR until he is magically ready to play on the first day of the playoffs. (Am I doing this right?)
LOL medwards, Looks good on paper .. but since he played in the playoffs, unless he re-injures himself golfing his cap hit remains.
Review his play during finals and you can see why I don’t think you’ll have too many bites for his services. It would take a sweetener and even then.
1Oilerfan, their situation is even a bit worse than described above because I forgot the $2,550,000 in “dead cap” for the Jack Campbell buy-out ($2,300,000) and the $250,000 for “Bonus Carryover Overage.”
So, their cap reserve to sign 4 is $9,412,500 and not $11,962,500.
Just about all of that new number will go to Bouchard, either through contract settlement or arbitration. Leaving next to nothing to flesh out the remaining 3 spots.
So, there is definitely a trade or two in the offing.
I can’t see any way Bouchard signs for less than Nurse’s 9.5 million. I would say a minimum 10 million. His playoff numbers have been outstanding from an offensive perspective. 81 points in 75 playoff games including 20 goals. He’s also been a plus 48 for the past two regular seasons. The occasional brain farts on D can be corrected.
Exactly, that is why they need to trade him, his cap hit and lack of defense make him detrimental to the Oil extending Connor and getting better defensively and in goal. Something has to give. Bouchard has a very high trade value and now is the time to cash in!
Heck, maybe a Karlsson at 1/2 salary + Bryan Rust or Rickard Rackel for Boosh might be acceptable!
How is a 34-year-old Karlsson an improvement over Bouchard?
Karlson over Bouchard. And I’m a Karlson fan. If Bouchard could carry a team in the playoffs (like Karlson did with the Sens) then maybe. Erik was such puck possession hog that nobody else (any team) touched the puck. That’s what made him so good. Bouchard doesn’t play that way. He plays like Chabbot did for a couple seasons. Lots of O upside..lots of D downside. He needs the steady problem solver stay-at-home D beside him.
Currently the Oilers have 6 players signed for the 2026-27 season. Bowman has a lot of work to do.
This is more about retaining Connor McDavid and the huge cap problem and roster problem that looms going forward with that signing and having 2 D men getting $20M and the lousy replacement pipeline and only 6 players signed beyond 2025-26!
Counter proposal Johnny Z
Both Karllsson AND Rust @ 50%; and the Wild’s 3rd in ‘25
For
Bouch
Philp
Savoie
And we’ll take Kane off ur hands
I can’t see a way that the Oil sign Bouchard at anywhere near that price. Yeah, he had a very strong offensive performance in the playoffs but as George pointed out Nurse sits at 9.5.
Were I to grind my way through puckpedia I am sure I would not find the top two D on any team clocking in at 19 million dollars per.
We all know that the Oilers’ issue is depth at bottom , 5/6/7 D, and in goal. Even if McDavid sacrifices and comes in at 14 million per, the Oil have 6 UFAs to sign or replace, with a decision on Ekholm next year.
They would be better off parting with him and get a line up that doesn’t depend on heroics from McDavid and Draisaitl.
The problem is Nurse. He’s a lousy Dman and vastly overpaid at $9.5 million. Retain $3 million and dump him.
Why would McDavid take less than Draisatyl?
He’ll be at least 16-17 mill per.
McDavid needs to pull a Crosby and pull a 9.7 million a year if he wants to win a cup in Edmonton. There’s just enough money to make a balanced team. How much is Florida’s highest two players?
Mcdavid already is set for life with the $ he makes off endorsements. If I were McDavid, and I wanted to win, that’s what I’d do.
LJ, you got me curious … so I did grind my way through Puckpedia to create a list of the top 2 D cap hits for each team … and have to admit I was more than a bit surprised as to who came out on top! BUFFALO – perhaps at the root of their problem??
Buffalo – $19,350,000 – Dahlin-Power
Washington – $17,000,000 – Chychrun-Carlson
Vegas – $16,275,000 – Pietrangelo – Theodore
Colorado – $16,250,000 – Makar – Toews
Minnesota – $16,075,000 – Faber-Spurgeon
Nashville – $16,059,000 – Josi-Skjei
Ottawa – $16,050,000 – Sanderson-Chabot
Boston – $16,000,000 – McAvoy-Lindholm
Pittsburgh – $16,000,000 – Karlsson-Letang
Columbis $15,833,333 – Werenski-Severson
Vancouver – $15,600,000 – Hughes-Hronek
Edmonton – $15,250,000 – Nurse-Ekholm
Los Angeles – $15,125,000 – Doughty-Anderson
Tampa – $14,750.000 – Hedman-McDonough
New Jersey -$14,500,000 – Hamilton-Pesce
Utah – $14,500,000 – Sergachev-Durzi
Seattle – $14,492,000 – Dunn-Montour
Dallas – $13,700,000 – Heiskanen-Lindell
New York Rangers – $13,600,000 – Fox-Borgen
Detroit – $13,300,000 – Seider-Chiarot
Winnipeg – $13,250,000 – Pionk-Morrisey
St. Louis – $13,000,000 – Parayko-Krug
Florida – $12,750,000 – Jones-Forsling
Philadelphia – $12,500,000 – Sanheim-Ristolainen (Ellis $6,250,000 perpetual LTIR)
Toronto – $12,013,102 – Rielly-McCabe
Anaheim – $12,000,000 – Trouba-Gudas
New York Islanders – $11,900,000 – Pulock-Pelech
Calgary – $10,800,000 – Weegar-Andersson
Montreal – $10,475,000 – Guhle-Matheson
San Jose – $10,250,000 – Marc-Edouard Vlasic-Ferarro
Carolina – $9,995,955 – Slavin-Walker
Chicago – $9,000,000 – Alex Vlasic-Murphy (Shea Weber – $7,857,143 perpetual LTIR)
Very surprised that there would be any team close to the projected Bouchard/Nurse hit, George.
I see two teams, Vegas and Colorado, who could be considered in the mix for the Cup in the top 10 on your list. Which IMO is no surprise and why the Oilers would be crazy to pay 2 D anywhere close to 20 million.
Thanks for the hard work.
George, nice list. Most top teams have their 2 top D making 15+. Florida is a bit of an asterix, as they also have Ekbald who is at 7.5, so they’re right up there too.
D matters!
LJ, what also surprised me – to some degree – is seeing Ottawa ranked 7th in that list. In terms of % of next season’s cap, that’s 17% (Buffalo is 20% and the other extreme, Chicago, is 9%).
Owen, two more asterisks would be St. Louis and Vegas. In addition to Parayko and Faulk, Krug also costs $6,500,000 off the cap, while in Vegas, Hanifin costs $7,350,000 – just $75 less than Theodore.
George O. I suspect the summer holds a lot of unforeseen changes for the Oilers. One of them being the pursuit of Marner. They attempted to acquire Rantanen and sign him upwards of 12. I suspect they try to secure Marner.
Is it wise and what will that means to the roster and how to.make the cap work….no idea. But they will not being simply tweaking the roster if I was going to bet. They also have an affinity for ex leafs.
I expect another loud and interesting summer from the team.
I thought Marchand was a rental . Ekblad has to stay in my opinion unless he wants $10m which I doubt as he is more of a defensive posture
A lot of Bouchard points come on the PP.
Agree he has to make Nurse money even though that was a mistake
The Oil are close. They have a deep team with all the elements except stellar goaltending and some youth .
Disagree, they stood no chance vs Florida unlike last year when they were close.
They need a goalie and a 3rd line worth 12-14m, and 2 good 4-6 D, preferably model large who can skate, something has to give
Kent I agree it wasn’t close… I don’t think the oil won a game in regulation or dominated at any time in the series. If someone sees it different, I’ll love to hear why.
Oilers need a goalie. Ones about to be aquitted of a crime in London and hes from Alberta and would most assuredly sign for cheap and is a huge upgrade over Skinner.
Carter anyone?
if acquitted…..one year, league min, show me contract. And alberta and some of the southern teams (no west coast) are about the only places Hart can go. He doesn’t come off as bad as McLeod and Foote in the trial. And he was the only one to take the stand. Not to get off topic….and open up a can o worms….but Hockey Canada comes off the worst out of this. Complete lack of control of its players and the attempt to cover up was damming.
Oh it’s a can of worms alright. And one you’d probably be better off not discussing. I barely scraped the surface of talking about it at another site, was accused of having insider info, and then strangely needed to provide a cell number to “verify my account”? Riiigggght. Haven’t posted there since.
Acquitted or not, it was disgusting what they did in that room whether she wanted to or not. The should be acting much more professional representing team Canada. It’s bad enough having Kane on your team, they would never go for Hart in my opinion.
Em lad is the odd man out? Marchand wants over 7 and teams will be lined up with 8 plus and Bennett will command huge money. Sticky situation
Ekblad
Skinner has played his last game in Edmonton. They can’t bring him back…have to make a change there, whether or not it is deserved. Gibson and a player for Skinner and Kane? Demko? Binnington? No many goalies out there. Also….if I’m Ekblad, Marchand and Bennett I sign in FLA for another year – one year only – to try to win another cup. Then cash in when the cap rises more next year and there are WAY more teams with cap space. But Marchand specific….if people are talking 3 x 8 for him on next contract, why doesn’t FLA go the TB route and sign him long term for the same total money to bring donw the AAV. Like 7 x 3million. Gets the AAV down and he gets more money overall and without state tax for a longer period.
Fans of Canadian teams have permafap over the idea of Binner leaving for that market. The return would have to be better, though, than an unreliable AHL-quality tendy like Dick Skinner.
Is Fla. that much better than everyone else,or did the gauntlet that Edmonton faced in the west left them tired and injured. The third Fla. goal that Skinner failed to catch and freeze put Edmonton to bed.
Why bother with Binnington, I`d offer sheet Hofer first, 4.6 x1. A bit of a gamble, but then 6 months ago Blues fans were demanding Binnington had to go
@ Yogi, Just a few years ago Husso was the Blues BU with all the upside! Beware of the Blues BU!!!
😉😄😄
If they did long term deal for 63 his whole cap remains as it is an over 35 contract so if retires at 40 they have 4 years of $$ without relief
Yogi is right.
Hofer is the guy to target.
Cheaper with significant upside.
Getting way ahead of the game here AND just after the cup; but:
Panther’s with $19 M with 7 to sign
I don’t think; even after his great playoffs; Zito can afford to sign Marchand.
If he re-ups Bennet and Ekblad; top 5 D set and still very strong at D as a team; plus will have 8 of top 9 set
Alscher and Bjornfort at league min for 6th and 7th D
Re-up Bennet and Ekblad for 8 years max $13.5 M combined
That leaves $4 M for 2 forwards and a back up
He also may have some cap flexibility to start the year if Tkachuck has surgery
Out would be:
Marchand, Sturm, Nosek and maybe Sameskovitch (* see below); Megna; Schmidt , and perhaps Vanecek (**)
*22 years old; RFA, 15-16-31 in 72 GP will get a raise from $925 K; obvious trade chip IF Zito wanted (maybe flip for an older back-up [**see below] in the $2 M’ish range; plus another asset)? :
Not saying Zito would look at, but just to name a few:
Wedgewood $1.5 M
Johannson $1.25 M
De sMith $1 M
Pickard $1 M
Quick $1.55 M plus potential $300 K more in PBs
Ingram $1.95 M
** $3.4 M UFA; a pay cut acceptance not likely; might not be in the cards for a re-up. There are Cheaper UFA back-ups (some shown above)
Or just trade Bob and Sammy and a 2nd for Swayman