Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – August 24, 2025
A suggested trade for the Maple Leafs and Penguins, and speculation the Kings considered shopping Brandt Clarke in the Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup.
THE LEAFS NATION: cited former Toronto Maple Leafs player Jay Rosehill saying he’d welcome a trade that would have the Leafs ship defenseman Morgan Rielly and winger Nick Robertson to the Pittsburgh Penguins for puck-moving blueliner Erik Karlsson.
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson (NHL Images)
Rosehill made his comments about the mock trade during his Aug. 21 appearance on the “Leafs Morning Take” podcast. He believes they’re trying to move Nick Robertson because he doesn’t think there’s a fit for the winger on their roster. Rosehill also noted that Rielly’s performance has stalled, and he no longer produces as he used to.
Despite the 35-year-old Karlsson’s age, Rosehill believes the former Norris Trophy winner would still have upside quarterbacking the Leafs’ power play.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: You can tell we’re still mired in the dog days of a quiet offseason when a mock trade starts making the rounds in the rumor mill.
Thankfully, September is fast approaching, and so is the start of training camp. We should soon start seeing some movement in the trade market, and hopefully some more realistic trade rumors once the pundits all return from their vacations.
As for this mock trade, Pittsburgh would have to retain $3 million of their $10 million share of Karlsson’s $11.5 million average annual value through 2026-27 to make the dollars fit for the Leafs. Regardless, the Penguins likely won’t take on the remaining four years of Rielly’s contract ($7.5 million AAV) just to get the final two years of Karlsson’s deal off their books, especially when it appears Rielly’s performance is declining.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Jesse Courville-Lynch cited Michael Russo of The Athletic saying the Los Angeles Kings considered trading defenseman Brandt Clarke.
Russo made those comments during a recent appearance on the “DFO Rundown” podcast. The 22-year-old Clarke had 33 points last season, which was his first full NHL campaign. According to Russo, there were points during this offseason when it felt like the Kings would consider moving Clarke. However, he believes general manager Ken Holland wants to “get his eyes on him” before making a major move like that.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Kings lost defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to the New York Rangers through free agency and traded blueliner Jordan Spence to the Ottawa Senators. They added Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin via free agency, two moves that were greeted with criticism.
Some observers suggest that Clarke could be traded for a return that bolsters their forward depth. However, moving him could further deplete their blueline, making life miserable for their goaltenders.
No spank you.
Concur
We absolutely don’t need another pip-squeak (Robertson) and most critically absolutely cannot afford convert current $10 cash commitment (EK) into $32 M remaining commitment (O’Reilly) AND retain $3 M (EK)
$ 10 M in commitments change into a total of $36.8 M in commitments (includes Robertson and EK retention); AND we get weaker, and do so for longer
Absolutely no way this should transpire
More appropriately
We give Leafs EK at 50%
We take on Kampf and Jarnkrok (we bury both) to more or less balance Leafs Cap balance
Cost for that is :
McMann and Danforth and Quillan
OR no Kampf no Jarkrok
EK at 50%
For
O’Reilly + McMann + Danforth +Quillan
if neither of the above; just a complete (and polite) NO to Tre and Leafs
Man if ignorance could be heard, you’ll be deafening, 8787!
Lyle, “ We should soon start seeing some… realistic trade rumors once the pundits all return from their vacations.” made me laugh. It would be nice to see realistic rumors especially from these insiders.
*insert that Ray Liotta gif here*
Yeah Ron he seems to think Karlsson still has some kind of value and some idiot in Toronto wants to trade for him. Oh wait, there was an idiot in Toronto who thought Karlsson was a difference maker and was willing to trade for him. Luckily we fired Dumbass and we wish him a long and useless career in Pittsburgh
Ron and Yogi
You’re missing my point
This is not about me overstating EK’s value.
Leafs apparently want him
EK is better than O’Reilly , who has struggled , appears on steady decline; and still with considerable term
Leafs and Leafs media seem to want to punt Robertson
He holds zero value to Pens
Add to that, the suggested trade has Pens jumping from $10 M commitment to almost $37 M
So…. Leafs want us to take on ~ $27 M in extra commitments AND for term and get worse in the process
Dubas has lost trades (some very badly); but even he couldn’t accept that grossly one-sided deal
My suggestion of increasing the retention AND taking on two other Leaf dump players to be waived to WBS; also grossly sides with Leafs; hence the extra assets coming back
If its not negative value in Jarnkrok and Kampf coming over but it’s the even more long term negative of taking on O’ Reilly; then the trade coming back to Pens must be commensurate
We have to stop being dumping grounds with literally pittance coming back (need only cite the Hayes dump on Pens)
Where in your demented little mind did you come up with the Leafs want Karlsson. The only person that had an interest in Karlsson was Dubas and that ship set sail and landed in Pittsburgh. 8787/ Pengy you need help lots of it. Seek help before it’s too late.
You know… 8787 for all his inanity has never responded to the vitriol in a rude or deliberately insulting manner. How did a penguins fan school people from Canada on politeness?
I thought Riley’s performance was said to have improved when they paired him with Carlo??
Is this the voices of the “never be happy” Leaf “fans”?
It did, Rosehill = Kyprios wanna be. It’s at the the point of the summer where the Toronto media start looking to who can make the dumbest trade, just to get attention. His podcast numbers must be dropping
If EK 65 is a power play specialist why did Grezlyk run their 1st PP unit last year.And he can t even get an NHL contract right now.
Not only that, PP time runs about 3.5 minutes a game, what use is Karlsson the other 56.5 minutes. He makes Rielly look good in his own end. That’s a lot of cap space to waste on a guy who doesn’t know where the front of a net is
Reilly had 1 less pp point than EK
Kings already lost Spence to OTT this offseason, if they trade Clarke they will need another offense dman to replace them
and i wouldn’t be surprised to see that EK65 for Robertson/Reilly deal, the Pens would get younger, especially a young scoring winger. Dubas loves his former Leafs
mikep, L.A. didn’t “lose” Spence to Ottawa … rather it was a conscious decision to deal him for a 2025 3rd round pick and a 2026 6th rounder, and “go after” UFAs Dumoulin and Ceci (as if there was going to be a lot of competition for those two).
Apparently they feel they’ll be better with the “projected” D pairings of
Anderson-Doughty
Edmundson-Clarke
Dumoulin-Ceci
with Burroughs as the 7th D
It won’t take long to determine if they were right.
I agree with Lyle’s take – dealing Clarke for F depth would turn that D corps into a dog’s breakfast.
I mean, seriously, does anyone in here, for example, see those signings by Holland, costing a combined $8.5 mil off the cap, as beneficial to the team’s D? It’s not like the immediately resultant main pundit reaction was not one of complete astonishment, widely regarding them as the worst deals made this year in the UFA “frenzy,” many highlighting the poor underlying metrics.
Ceci, who turns 32 in December, has been with 6 teams over the past 6 seasons and he got $4.5 mil per for 4 seasons, at the end of which he’ll be turning 36, while Dumoulin, who turns 34 on September 6, got $4 mil per for 3 years, at the end of which he’ll be turning 37, and he’s skated for 3 teams over the past 2.
Holland held on to Broberg and was patient with Bouchard. His track record would suggest is not trading Clarke . Why would you ? I thought they could have played him more last year. In my opinion Clarke is the heir apparent to Doughty
Smartest move Fitzy ever made was drafting Hughes younger brother,figuring that all 3 might like playing together.Even if not this year,soon in the future. Now he has to dump Hamilton,Palat and other dead weight.
Leafs should send Reilly and Kampf to the Canucks then the Canucks sends the third brother to the Devils and a late pick to the Leafs. The Devils send Hamilton to Leafs and Nemec to Canucks.
The Devils get the best player, by far, the Canucks get the best secondary piece, and the the cap hits are pretty close.
Don’t want anything to do with Karlson unless Pittsburg takes Kampf, Jarnkrok and Robertson and holds 30% cap.
The Canucks would want more for Hughes, and the Leafs would demand some salary retention on Dougie. But this has quite a bit of merit to it.
To Van: Mercer, NJ 1st (unprotected), Riley
To Leafs: Dougie (retain $1.25M)
To NJ: Quinn
Tug you do remember what happened when the Canucks lost in the 7th game of SCF in 94 & 11. They would go ‘Nuclear’ if a trade this bad was made. Any Quinn trade with Devils start with His chief and they won’t be taking any dead weight contracts especially from a 3rd party team especially the Leafs
The Canucks aren’t going to trade Hughes this year, unless he tells management he wants out. And he has been quoted as saying he wants to stay.
Nemic is not he 2nd best player in your scenario.
Everyone talks about NJ getting Quinn Hughes, but what if Alvin pulled one out of his hat and got Jack and his brother 🤔
Yes please. 😃
Bobs your uncle, can I have one of whatever you are drinking!
It’s actually not that far fetched, but unlikely. Jerseys not a powerhouse either and the brothers may decide they all want to play on a contender like Dallas
Yogi, the Bros Hughes have a lot of MI ties, so Detroit is not outta the question! 😉👍
The Leafs would be nuts to trade Robertson and Reilly for EK. Robertson deserves a chance and will get it with MM give.
The Kings would be nuts to trade Clarke, period. A big puck moving RD with 33 points in his first full season. His type doesn’t grow on trees.
Ceci’s contract the worst of the FA season.
I hope you’re right!!
Signed,
A Bruins fan wary of the Jeannot signing.
Jeannot – too many years – the way he plays, he won’t hold up over the seasons
Rosehill was a good player who played within his skillset.
He is not an “insider” with management or a guy with GM experience.
After a few years of trying to run Marner out of town, he and his podcast pals need a new scapegoat to draw views.
Morgan Reilly is the new “Marner”…despite the other players and coaches repeatedly telling us that Reilly is one of the best leaders on the team.
This ain’t even a rumor….just click-bait for “Leafs Nation” podcasters, in a very quiet month.
Rosehill was a good player who played within his skillset.
He is not an “insider” with management or a guy with GM experience.
After a few years of trying to run Marner out of town, he and his podcast pals need a new scapegoat to draw views.
Morgan Reilly is the new “Marner”…despite the other players and coaches repeatedly telling us that Reilly is one of the best leaders on the team.
This ain’t even a rumor….just click-bait for “Leafs Nation” podcasters, in a very quiet month.