NHL Rumor Mill – February 16, 2026
Steven Stamkos to the Kings? Nazem Kadri to the Canadiens? Could the Blackhawks trade some of their veterans with term left on their contracts? Find out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
COULD THE KINGS PURSUE STEVEN STAMKOS TO REPLACE KEVIN FIALA?
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Adam Proteau suggested the Los Angeles Kings should look into acquiring Steven Stamkos from the Nashville Predators.
The Kings’ playoff hopes suffered a devastating hit when scoring winger Kevin Fiala suffered a season-ending leg injury in the 2026 Winter Olympics. Proteau thinks the 36-year-old Stamkos could help them replace Fiala’s offense.
Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos (NHL Images)
Stamkos carries an $8 million average annual value, which nearly aligns with Fiala’s $7.875 million. He wouldn’t be a rental player because he has two more years on his contract. Stamkos also has a full no-movement clause, giving him complete control over his situation.
If the Predators become sellers at the March 6 trade deadline, Stamkos might fetch the type of return that speeds up their rebuild/retool. Should he become available, he could provide a boost to the Kings’ offense.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Kings have over $15 million in projected trade deadline cap space. General manager Ken Holland already made a big move by acquiring playmaking winger Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers earlier this month.
Following that deal, Holland hinted that he might not be finished making moves before the trade deadline. Losing Fiala could send him back into the trade market for another scoring forward. Adding a resurgent Stamkos might not be a bad short-term plan if he and Panarin mesh well offensively.
Predators GM Barry Trotz reportedly hasn’t received any offers yet that would motivate him to approach Stamkos about waiving his no-movement clause. Even then, there’s no certainty he wants to be moved, or would accept going to Los Angeles.
WOULD ACQUIRING NAZEM KADRI BE A BAD DECISION FOR THE CANADIENS?
TVA SPORTS: Renaud Lavoie recently noted the trade speculation linking the Montreal Canadiens to Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri. However, he doesn’t believe it would be in the club’s long-term interest to add the 35-year-old to their roster.
Lavoie believes the Canadiens had an interest in Kadri, but that didn’t mean a trade would happen. He felt Kadri’s age would be an issue, suggesting he might only help the Canadiens for a season or two before his play declines significantly.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Oliver Kapanen’s performance on the Canadiens’ second line has lessened the need to acquire a center. If they were to pursue one, they might prefer someone who fits within their young core, such as 26-year-old Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues.
THE LATEST BLACKHAWKS SPECULATION
THE ATHLETIC: Scott Powers recently responded to some of his readers’ questions about the Chicago Blackhawks’ plans for the upcoming NHL trade deadline.
Powers doesn’t see the Blackhawks trading veterans who have term remaining on their contracts, such as Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, or Andre Burakovsky. They’re banking on their respective salary-cap hits to help them reach the cap floor next season.
Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy is UFA-eligible and is garnering some interest in the trade market. Peters considered it doubtful that they would get a second-round pick for him, suggesting a third-rounder seems more likely.
Stammer had a long adjustment period when he started with the Preds, how long an ADJUSTMENT PERIOD WOULD HE REQUIRE WITH THE KINGS? Stammer could help the Kings immensely next year if he can transition back to playing center.
I’d stay the course if I were the Habs GM. Kapanen as mentioned and Michael Hage on the way. They’re eventually set unless Hage doesn’t pan out. But I don’t really see that happening.
Agreed.
A 3rd round pick for Connor Murphy? I’m in.
Retain 50% and I’ll trade a 2nd for him.
He’s 32, UFA at the end of the year, he plays hard 1st and 2nd pairing minutes, in Montreal he’d play 3rd pairing and top pairing penalty killing.
I think one of the reasons why so many of your proposals don’t sit well with me is that you would bring in mostly middling (IMO) players to fill a temporary role, while I want our younger players to be given more ice time.
There are exceptions; I have come around with the Habs acquiring Danault, and Textier was an inexpensive addition (though his play seems to have fallen off).
Otherwise, I would much rather see Engstrom get ice time given where the Habs are now. I also would like Xhejak to get more ice time, including on the PK. Currently he gets less than 10 minutes a game. Why not see if he can grow, to determine whether he is worth keeping after this year? Currently he gets less than 10 minutes a game.
You have said in the past that young players have to earn their spot, which is true but isn’t the whole picture. Think about what the Habs have learned about Davidson, Florian X and Roy, and what they have learned, which only came about by giving them ice time.
The importance of this year for the Habs is to get into the playoffs and get that experience. They will, without further tinkering with their line up. And that experience is incomplete without our current young and prospects getting playing time.
Nonetheless, keep the suggestions coming. They do get my, and others, attention.
There might be some significant competition for Murphy. I could see hawks getting a conditional 1st for him. I’d be ok with pens sending their 1st conditional on them making the conference finals. Changes to a second if not with a mid round pick added in 2027.
LJ.
First of all Connor Murphy is far from middling, he’s a top 4 D who can be very useful in the role I’ve suggested.
Second of all the D is not ready for prime time, the only RD prospect is Reinbacher and has yet to survive a season without being hurt. He’s only 21y/o so there’s time but he’s a few years from being a full time NHLer.
The Habs keep trying to slot LD in on their wrong side and it just doesn’t work with the exception of Hutson who is redefining the role to what was called the rover, and that was before George’s time.
Guhle, Struble, Xhekaj, Engstrom are all LD and it’s where they belong and looking honestly at the Habs the LD role belongs to Matheson, Hutson and Guhle. The RD belongs to Dobson, Carrier and for now, a plug-in who doesn’t belong.
The goal isn’t to get into the playoffs and learn, it’s to get into the playoffs and win. The Habs roster is “young” but how wide a window is there? 4 years?
The difference in opinion we have is whether the team is still rebuilding or is it contending and the trades that I keep suggesting are to plug holes with roster players that the team has done without for most of the year.
RD, penalty killers, physical wingers- guys that are needed for a playoff run.
Id but a good wager that there is no way Murphy going for a 3rd. He’s an ideal playoff rental for one of the most sought after positions. I agree with Chrisms, he’ll probably get closer to a conditional third or a stud prospect.
I can see why Davidson figures he needs to retain the $16.4 mil total cap of Burakovsky, Bertuzzi and Teravainen to help reach the cap floor next season, especially with Shea Weber’s $7,857,143 LTIR crutch finally coming off the books.
As matters now stand, he is committed to 8F (Burakovsky, Bertuzzi, Teravainen, Donato, Nazar, Greene, Moore, Slaggert) – 5D (Ellis ($6,250,000 on LTIR), Kaiser, Levshunov, Crevier) – 2G (Knight, Soderblom) and, factoring in dead cap of $2,758,000 for Brodie and Seth Jones, they have a total cap expenditure of $55,558,324.
With the cap set at $104,000,000 next season, and a cap floor of $76,900,000, they have $48,441,676 with which to sign 8, and must spend $21,341,676 just to get to the cap floor.
They only have 2 RFAs to re-up, with Connor Bedard, coming off his $950,000 ELC, obviously getting a big increase. The question is – how much? Early estimates range from $12.5 to $15 mil. Let’s split the difference and say $14 mil per long term, with Dach likely looking at a 3-year bridge at no more than $1.2 mil per, so those combined still leaves them $16,141,676 short of the cap floor. So dealing any of Burakovsky, Bertuzzi or Teravainen only makes it just more difficult.
They also have these 6 pending UFAs and their expiring cap hits – Nick Foligno age 38 $4,500,000, Jason Dickinson age 30 $4,250,000, Ilya Mikheyev $4,037,000, Sam Lafferty age 30 $2,000,000, Connor Murphy age 32 $4,400,000 and Matt Grzelcyk age 32 $1,000,000. That’s a total of $20,187,000.
Even if a couple are re-upped – including Murphy obviously out of necessity – with new deals, Davidson is still going to have to bring in some high-priced UFAs from other organizations just to get to the cap floor.
They could trade for Pietrangelo’s contract this summer. That is $8.8M
Not if Vegas makes other moves that necessitates his retention for the final year of his $8.8 mil per deal on LTIR. And I would not put that past them … once they’re certain he has given up – or has been forced to give up – return to action.
Preds trail Kings by 1 point and Ducks by 4 points for last WC slot. SJ is 1 point behind Nashville. Ducks have 5 games left before tdl. Others all have 4. With Fiala injury,Nashville would seem to have a better shot than Kings.