Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – February 1, 2026
Check out the latest on Rangers winger Artemi Panarin and Blues center Robert Thomas, plus updates on the Maple Leafs and Red Wings in the Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup.
UPDATE ON ARTEMI PANARIN
SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reports Artemi Panarin still prefers to be traded to a team willing to sign him to a contract extension.
The 34-year-old New York Rangers winger is in the final season of a seven-year deal with an average annual value of $11.64 million. He also has a full no-movement clause, giving him full control over this situation. The Rangers are holding him out of their lineup as they attempt to find a suitable trade partner for Panarin
New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin (NHL Images).
Friedman believes the Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, and Detroit Red Wings could be interested in doing the contract extension. However, he indicated there is some question over how the cap-strapped Panthers might pull this off.
The Carolina Hurricanes are interested in Panarin and are willing to be flexible regarding an extension, but it depends on how much they’re willing to pay him.
Friedman indicated that the Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, and Dallas Stars are trying to convince Panarin to join them as a playoff rental. He believes that as long as the Stars remain committed to re-signing Jason Robertson, they’ll remain interested in Panarin solely as a rental.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Capitals and Sharks have sufficient trade-deadline cap space to acquire the remainder of Panarin’s contract, though they’re likely to move some salary to the Rangers or request that they retain some of his cap hit to make it happen. The Kings, Red Wings, and Hurricanes have more than enough to take him on.
The Panthers have over $2.562 million in cap space, which might not be enough to absorb the remainder of Panarin’s contract without the Rangers retaining salary in the deal.
Complicating things is the possibility of team captain Aleksander Barkov returning to the lineup before the end of the regular season or in the first round of the playoffs. He was supposed to be out for the season with a knee injury, but has been skating recently with his other sidelined teammates. If it appears that Barkov might return later this season, the Panthers might not be able to pull this off.
INJURY TO ROBERT THOMAS MIGHT SLOW TRADE TALKS
SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman noted that St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas underwent a minor procedure on one of his legs and will be sidelined until after the Olympic break.
That might slow down any trade conversations involving the 26-year-old center. Friedman said there are “a bunch of teams” that believe there aren’t many clubs that could meet what the Blues want to do here.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Thomas is the Blues’ top center. Given the lack of depth of quality centers in this year’s trade market, they’re going to set a high asking price. His contract is also an issue. He carries an average annual value of $8.125 million through 2030-31, and has a full no-trade clause through 2029-30.
THE LATEST ON THE MAPLE LEAFS
SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reports the Toronto Maple Leafs management had a conversation with Auston Matthews’ camp regarding his future. He reiterated that nothing has changed, that the Maple Leafs captain remains committed to the club despite its struggles this season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Matthews has two years left on his contract, which understandably has some Maple Leafs followers concerned about whether he’ll remain part of their long-term plans. There’s no certainty as to whether he’ll still be with the Leafs by the time his current deal expires in 2028, but if the club rebounds from this disappointing performance, the odds improve that he could stay.
Friedman reports the Maple Leafs have started conversations around the league to gauge what other teams think of their roster and what they might be interested in. So far, there’s nothing that Friedman could consider “earth-shattering” being discussed.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: In other words, the Leafs aren’t shopping their core players such as Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, or Matthews Knies. Players most likely to be discussed include UFA-eligible players such as Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton, Calle Jarnkrok, and Troy Stecher, and players due to become restricted free agents like Matias Maccelli and Nick Robertson.
COULD A DEAL BE BREWING BETWEEN THE JETS AND RED WINGS?
THE HOCKEY NEWS: On Friday, Jake Tye noted that Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman made mention of a possible trade between the Winnipeg Jets and Detroit Red Wings.
During Friday’s episode of “32 Thoughts: The Podcast,” Friedman said a source informed him that the Jets and Red Wings could have a match when it comes to a potential trade. He said that he didn’t know what the framework of the deal would be, but it could involve a Jets defenseman such as Luke Schenn or Logan Stanley.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Jets are eight points out of a playoff berth in the Western Conference and struggling to gain ground. They could start selling pending UFA players such as Schenn or Stanley if they’re no longer part of the club’s plans beyond this season.
Tye observed that the Red Wings have lots of cap space and can draw on their significant draft capital and deep prospect pool for trade bait. A lot could depend on whether they get seriously into the bidding for New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin.
I don’t see why the Sharks would give up young assets and futures for an aging and expensive Panarin. Like the Habs they’re a good young team on the rise but not there yet. That kind of situation would not be good for the team or Panarin.
Sharks would need a contract extention in place for Panarin before they trade any prospects for him
Stanley might be some help for the Wings, pass on Schenn.
Would Thomas be a fit for the Bruins?
Mittelstadt plus going the other way
Better fit for Boston yes?
Blues will want a lot more than Mittlestadt, on his 3rd team with average results. start with Lohrei, a first and go from there
Bruins need a top 4 right D they are not messing with this contract. Over 8 and they only have 400k in space. Middlestadt cap hit isn’t nearly enough to make it work
The solidly-built C Robert Thomas has compiled 82-game averages so far in his career (508 gp) of 19g 50a 69 pts, and that‘s what is making his acquisition enticing for those teams needing to strengthen their C position. But as the link below shows, he is also seemingly one of those guys who’s frequently unavailable for stretches due to a myriad of unrelated reasons.
Out now until at least after the Olympic break, over the course of his career he will have missed 72 games (or 13% of his games) – almost a full season over 8. At $8,125,000 per off the cap to 2029-30, that’s a heck of a gamble, and makes you wonder if that’s the underlying reason he’s rumoured to be available.
https://sportsforecaster.com/nhl/p/26558/Robert_Thomas/transactions
Re the Leafs rumours – given that Matthews, Nylander. Knies and Tavares are long shots to be dealt (all but Knies have NMC to boot) – at least in the foreseeable future – and hardly looked at by team management as among the reasons for their struggles anyway – Treleving is also hampered to some considerable degree by the NMC held by Rielly and Tanev plus the various no-go trade lists held by Domi, Joshua, Jarnkrok, McCabe (a flat-out NO TRADE agreement), Ekman-Larsson, Carlo and Stolarz.
And you have to think that some that latter group ARE seen as at the root cause of their struggles, which makes peddling them all that much more difficult, as the rest of the league undoubtedly sees them in the same light.
Treleving has some difficult times ahead.
George, looking at Thomas, Suzuki, Hischier, Necas, M. Tkachuk, have all missed a similar percentage of games over the course of their career……….are you suggesting that “Buyer beware” on all of them or just Thomas?
Suzuki? He hasn’t missed any games thus far in his NHL career.
Lyle, my bad, forgot Suzuki spent extra time in Junior’s.
i really don’t know why the Jets would move Stanley…he is having a great year and as a 4, 5 defencemen you can’t ask for better
The Jets were patient with him, very patient so why give him up
Trading him (or anyone for that matter) isn’t always indicative of giving up on him (them) if the return is more beneficial than keeping him for both the player and the team. Just sayin…
Thomas is an intriguing player for Boston. They have not found a replacement for Bergeron or Krecji for that matter. Both Lindholm and Zacha are a cut below. I Don t want them to get rid of to many high draft picks,but I would include one for a player of Thomas caliber. How about Zacha or Middlestadt,Lohrei,and one of their no. 1 picks. Maybe Poitras has a good showing and they can use him as part of a package to make a trade.
At the beginning of the season Fla were 3.5 mill over the cap. They did nothing to fix that issue because they had players on LTIR. Everyone is back but Barkov. Unless they move out a bigger contract there’s no chance especially if Barkov is back before the end of the season. All teams must be cap compliant in the playoffs
Well, not quite all back. Seth Jones and Jonah Gadjovich are still on IR, while Marchand and Lundell are listed as day-to-day. None appeared in their game yesterday.
Jones and Barkov are both on ltir. If both come back Florida need to trade salary just to fit them both. Panarin at 50% retention is still a good chunk of cap space as well. Just can’t see it. Always felt with Bob there it was most likely landing spot but, looking back they were together in Columbus and went separate ways in free agency.
To Pittsburgh:
Panarin and Vaakanainen
To NYR:
McGroarty, Pickering, 2026 1st, and 2027 2nd (Rangers)
Yeah … I missed that announcement a few weeks back that Jones had been shifted from IR to LTIR.
I think Jones was moved to ltir to allow them to activate Tkachuk.
Question for anyone. Jones still listed on USA Olympics roster. Does he need to come off ltir to play in Milan or will this be another controversial way of Florida skirting rules?
Hey Slick, LaCombe replaces Jones on the Olympic roster.
Question- Has Warren Foegle been a healthy scratch? I don’t think he’s injured. I’m guessing the Kings might unload him?