NHL Rumor Mill – April 20, 2026
Should the Blackhawks make a major move for a scoring winger? What areas could the Rangers look to improve this summer? Find out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
COULD THE BLACKHAWKS PURSUE MATTHEW KNIES OR JASON ROBERTSON?
VICTORY+: NHL insider Frank Seravalli was asked if the Chicago Blackhawks would make a bold move this offseason by attempting to trade for more than one superstar this summer. For example, would they go after Toronto Maple Leafs winger Matthew Knies and Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson, or only one of them?
Toronto Maple Leafs winger Matthews Knies (NHL Images).
Seravalli thinks going after Knies or Robertson would be a great start for the Blackhawks. He reminded us that he reported several weeks ago that they were among the teams interested in Knies before last month’s trade deadline. He doesn’t think the Maple Leafs were actually planning to move Knies, but were looking for one of those deals where you can accomplish a rebuild in one single trade, which is really hard to do.
The Blackhawks’ interest in Knies indicates what type of player they could be looking for this summer. John Buccigross believes the Blackhawks can afford to be bullish and try to acquire a Matthew Knies or a Jason Robertson.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Maple Leafs ownership made it clear that they intend to retool instead of rebuilding, which suggests they’ll be hanging onto Knies unless someone makes them a mind-blowing offer.
Meanwhile, Stars general manager Jim Nill downplayed the trade rumors that dogged Robertson last summer and maintains his intention to re-sign Robertson this summer. He’s a restricted free agent with arbitration rights who is also a year away from unrestricted free-agent eligibility.
Of the two, Robertson seems the more likely to be available if he seeks more money than the Stars are willing to pay. He lacks no-trade protection, but the Blackhawks might insist on attempting a sign-and-trade deal before committing assets to acquire him.
THE LATEST ON THE RANGERS
THE ATHLETIC: Peter Baugh and Vincent Z. Mercogliano reported last week that New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan pointed out that there are two areas of concern that he’d like to see addressed in the offseason.
Sullivan would like to add some puck-moving ability to the Rangers’ blueline. He would also like to improve the bottom-six forwards by adding players who can play certain roles that would lessen the burden on some of their top-six forwards.
GM Chris Drury acknowledged Sullivan’s suggestions. He also left the door open for the addition of a top-six forward.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Those needs could be addressed by whatever they might get by trading center Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Braden Schneider this summer. Both were frequently mentioned as trade candidates this season. It’s believed Drury will remain open to offers for both players.
I would think that if Minny embarrasses Dallas in the 1st round, that there will indeed be a lot of movement in Dallas! Roberson or Knies to the Hawks is exactly what the Hawks need to get a Bedard long-term contract done and a chance at the playoffs. Hoo-boy! Another competitor in the Central!
Question: Both would cost a boatload of prospects/draft capital, do Chicago have that to spare? Im not that into Chicago but it doesnt seem as if they have a boatload of prospects that are interested to a team like Toronto or Dallas, but I could be wrong
I agree with Lyle’s take that, since the Leafs have made it abundantly clear that they will NOT be embarking upon a re-build, but rather a re-tool, it wouldn’t make any sense to deal a young power-F like Knies …. unless someone blows them out of the park with a an offer they can’t refuse.
Seravalli has to know this as well. So, is he suggesting Chicago – a team in the midst of a painfully-slow re-build – should put together a package of some of the best prospects from their highly-ranked prospect pool and one or more of their better roster players in order to obtain a very good up-and-coming power F who would then be joining a roster that, over 82 games just played, didn’t put up all that different a final result than the team Knies was a part of?
Drury and Sullivan’s comments are mind blowing. More bottom 6? REALLY???
They are littered with bottom sixers now: Kartye, Sheary, Raddysh, Laba, Edstrom, Rempe, Chmelar, Sykora, and Brodzinski.
Heck, even Cuylle should be a LW3 but he’s forced to play up because NYR don’t have a true LW2 or RW2.
They need to fill both of those 2nd line wing spots via the draft or free agency (or if Greentree shows he is ready to jump to the NHL).
Greentree has the NHL body, but his only body of work was in junior, where he dominated. Reminds me of Micheal Rasmussen, but lets hope Liam does better. He should be an interesting watch.
Not sure it’s in the Leafs best interest to trade Knies.
They’re thin on LW already and it doesn’t seem that the coaching staff will give Robertson a legit look at the 2LW spot.
Unless they’re getting back NHL players, not just prospects, it makes zero sense to trade Knies.
The Leafs have plenty of needs up front and on D. They have limited prospects to trade, and limited draft picks that can make a difference