NHL Rumor Mill – May 1, 2026
What’s next for the Oilers and Stars following their postseason eliminations? What’s the latest on the Red Wings? Find out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE OILERS?
THE ATHLETIC: Sean Gentille and Chris Johnston looked at what’s next for the Edmonton Oilers after their first-round elimination by the Anaheim Ducks. They don’t have much time to rebuild back into perennial Stanley Cup contender status. Team captain Connor McDavid will be starting his new two-year contract next season.
League sources claim McDavid remains determined to bring the Oilers to the promised land despite this season’s setback. However, he’ll expect management to deliver on specific roster adjustments this summer.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid (NHL Images)
Finding a suitable starting goaltender remains a prime issue for the Oilers. Tristan Jarry has two years remaining on his contract, and didn’t imbue any confidence that he can handle the starter’s job. Connor Ingram is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
The pickings are slim in this summer’s UFA market. Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues and Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights could be trade candidates, though it’s hard to imagine the latter helping out a division rival.
Forwards Adam Henrique, Jason Dickinson, Jack Roslovic, Kasperi Kapanen, Curtis Lazar, and defenseman Connor Murphy are also UFA-eligible.
The biggest decision could be what to do with Darnell Nurse. He has four years remaining on his contract with an average annual value of $9.25 million and a full no-movement clause. If the Oilers can find a way to trade him, it would free up cap space to address other needs.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Oilers general manager Stan Bowman faces what could arguably be the biggest challenge of his management career this summer. This club is at a crossroads, and trying to rebuild around the core on the cheap likely won’t work any better than it did this season.
Puckpedia indicates the Oilers have over $16.4 million in projected cap space for 2026-27, with 15 active roster players under contract.
Finding a suitable goaltender will be difficult given the limited talent in the trade and free-agent markets. It’s easy to suggest trading for Binnington or Hill, but they both have 10-team no-trade lists, and there’s no certainty they’ll accept a trade to the Oilers.
Nurse’s contract makes moving him a daunting challenge. Even if he agreed to waive his clause, few teams will be willing to take on his full cap hit. The Oilers would have to retain some of it to facilitate a deal.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Ryan O’Hara believes the Oilers’ collapse raises questions about McDavid’s future and head coach Kris Knoblauch’s job.
If the trade whispers about McDavid were to become reality, O’Hara believes the Los Angeles Kings would make sense.
While the Kings also made an early postseason exit, O’Hara believes their defensive structure and reliable goaltending are things that McDavid hasn’t had in Edmonton, and could make them an enticing destination.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I put no stock into those “whispers” that McDavid wants out. Assuming he did, I don’t see the Kings as a destination.
Like the Oilers, the Kings are at a crossroads, with Anze Kopitar retiring and long-time defenseman Drew Doughty in the twilight of his career. Yes, they play better defense and have better goaltending, but that hasn’t been enough to get them past the first round over the past five years. They also lack the assets to meet what will be a significant asking price for McDavid.
ESPN.COM: Ryan S. Clark believes the only concern for the Oilers is how to build up a better roster around superstar Connor McDavid. He acknowledged there are other needs to be addressed, but improving the supporting cast around McDavid is the main concern.
The Oilers will have to accomplish that by finding help at team-friendly prices. One way they could resolve that is move one of their higher-paid players not named McDavid or Leon Draisaitl.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: If they can’t move Nurse (and I doubt that they can without adding a significant sweetener to the deal), trading away any of their other high-salaried guys (Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) would do more harm than good. They could attempt to trade defenseman Jake Walman ($7 million AAV starting next season), but he has a full NMC.
The easier player to move that would free up considerable cap space is Evan Bouchard. He earns an AAV of $10.5 million, lacks no-trade protection, and he would fetch a better return than the aforementioned players. However, moving him would take away their top puck-moving defenseman, leaving them scrambling to find a suitable replacement. Trading Bouchard could also send the wrong signal to McDavid, making the prospect of his early departure more likely.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE STARS?
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Lia Assimakopoulos reports that losing in the first round of the playoffs was never an acceptable outcome for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations like the Stars. They will start again and try to get back to the level they were a year ago.
The roster might have a slightly different look next season. They still have to re-sign winger Jason Robertson, who is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. They could also have a new team captain if Jamie Benn retires.
ESPN.COM: Ryan S. Clark believes the cost of re-signing Robertson will be expensive, pointing to the expensive deals signed by wingers Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild and Mitch Marner of the Vegas Golden Knights.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Adam Proteau wondered if Robertson’s play could price him out of Dallas. The 26-year-old winger had 45 goals and a team-leading 96 points this season, and was second among his teammates in this postseason with eight points in six games.
The Stars have $11.1 million in projected cap space next season. Robertson is coming off a four-year contract with an AAV of $7.75 million, and his next deal will exceed $10 million annually. That could force general manager Jim Nill to make a cost-cutting move or two to free up space to re-sign him.
THE ATHLETIC: Mark Lazerus wondered if Nill will re-sign Robertson or dangle him in the trade market for a return that replenishes their depleted prospect and draft-pick pools.
Like Proteau, Lazerus believes Nill would have to make a salary-dumping deal to re-sign Robertson. He wondered if veteran center Matt Duchene or the oft-injured (but still highly respected) Roope Hintz would become a trade candidate.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Marner is earning an AAV of $12 million on an eight-year contract, while Kapizov will earn $17 million annually when his new contract kicks in next season. Robertson won’t get Kaprizov money, but he could end up in the same neighborhood as Marner.
Hintz would be more valuable than Duchene in the trade market, but both players have full no-movement clauses. Thomas Harley ($10.5 million starting next season) and Wyatt Johnston ($8.4 million) would each fetch significant returns and lack no-trade protection, but Nill isn’t going to move those core players.
THE LATEST ON THE RED WINGS
THE ATHLETIC: Max Bultman looked at some potential offseason free agents and trade targets for the Detroit Red Wings to boost their chances of ending their long playoff drought.
Alex Tuch of the Buffalo Sabres, Mason Marchment of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Anders Lee of the New York Islanders top his list of potential free-agent candidates.
Trade targets could include Buffalo Sabres forwards Josh Norris and Jack Quinn, and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson.
Bultman also looked at which players on the current Red Wings roster are likely to stay and which ones are likely to move. Players with term remaining on their contracts (J.T. Compher, Michael Rasmussen, and Mason Appleton) are potential trade candidates. Pending UFAs James van Riemsdyk, David Perron, and Cam Talbot could move on.
The two biggest concerns right now for the Oilers is goaltending (still) and coaching.
Goaltending is obvious. Ingram did well enough and I have time for him as 1b/back up at the right price.
Jarry despite my hopes at the time of the trade, was horrible (you called it Ray Bark).
I add coaching because knoblauch seems to have lost the room. frederic I think started it when he mentioned he was unsure of his role (which should be obvious) then Leon called everyone out. Then Connor gushed on Cooper. Then Mngt got coffey back behind the bench. I dont see a path back for Knoblauch.
The oilers were disjointed all season, and while you cannot win the cup in October the values and habits…or lack of, that are built will carry over to the playoffs.
The issue is the roster 1Oilerfan. Knoblauch got them to the Cup finals two years in a row, and now he isn’t a good coach?
LJ, as I point out in the other thread, the Oilers are in much the same boat as is Tampa in terms of an aging roster and practically nothing in their prospect pool (where they rank second-last of 32 teams). Repeated here:
The Oilers … have 14 of their own moving up in their 30s. And even though several are UFAs who probably won’t be brought back (e.g. Lazar and Henrique), they still have to find adequate (and younger) replacements which obviously won’t come from their prospect pool.
Turning
30 – Roslovic and Kapanen;
31 – Draisaitl, Dickinson, Walman;
32 – Lazar, Jarry, Nurse;
34 – Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins, Janmark, Murphy;
36 – Ekholm;
37 – Henrique
Knoblauch can’t do much about that.
LJ – I didnt say he was not a good coach …though ..I wouldn’t phrase it as ” knoblauch got this team to the cup finals…”
Lets remember that he also had very strong and experienced asst coachs in the cup runs. He hired his own staff this season and coincidently the team did not look the same did it?
And mngt added Coffey back…from all accounts that was not knoblauchs choice.
And based on my earlier points, rightly or wrongly I suspect we see a change…maybe its keeping knoblauch coffey and replacing an assistant or two…personally I don’t see how he sticks.
Oilers could have signed Vladar for next to nothing or added Carter Hart for minimal cap hit both of whom were total upgrade in goal but they chose to go with Skinner/Jarry and Ingram.
Someone needs to be fired for that gaffe.
I am not an Oilers fan but I watch a number of their games because Sportsnet still dictates which games we can watch where I live. In my opinion, one of the main issues with the Oilers is that they have 20% of their cap tied up in 2 defensemen, Bouchard and Nurse, who are not very good at defending. Bouchard has fantastic offensive skills which may offset his poor defensive play but Nurse is awful in both ends of the ice. He should be moved but who wants a Dman with a low hockey IQ making $9.5 million/yr?
Oilers much like the Penguins and Stars found out and that Vegas is about to learn that having superstar players with lots of playoff experience can be overwhelmed by youth, speed and desire.
Ducks, Flyers,Wild & Mammoth too young to fast to keep up with.
Too bad buying out Nurse is not an option (well…it is, but saves them basically nothing) because he is such a weak link in the team.
I would trade him for anything/nothing just to get him off the books, but who will take him? Oilers will definitely have to retain.
Nurse and Jarry gone and a decent goalie brought in could make all the difference.
I also feel like the Oilers missed that character type guy they had with Corey Perry in past playoffs. I hope they can right this ship and get Connor his Cup.
The Nurse contract was a boat anchor the second it was signed.
9 million for what’s at best a 3rd pairing defenceman.
That deal is not ageing well at all.
Yeah, theSaint, while a buyout of Nurse remains and option, his contract structure, which included high signing-bonuses, works against achieving any cap relief of significance. The resulting penalty is simply way too severe and would end up saving minimal cap space compared to the massive dead cap that would go on affecting them for almost a decade!
Their best bet moving forward would be to try and obtain a solid, quasi-veteran stay-at-home type RD to play alongside him and cover for his gaffes. And that won’t be easy.
Nor would dealing him provide any real gains over the 4 seasons remaining on his $9,250,000 per contract, not even with the retention of, say, $4.25 mil per, since anything they receive in return would hardly be of any immediate significance – if any.
And at this stage of career and age he is certainly not going to get any better.
Chicago should consider offer sheeting Robertson. They have 40m in cap space next season with a roster of 21. Can give Bedard and Robo 15m each and still have 10m left over. Still have Ellis contract too. 4 first round picks over 5 seasons starting 2027. They’re picking top 4 this year and they have 3 firsts next draft so giving up their own will be no big deal. Go get his brother from Toronto to lure him.
If they give Bedard 15 per, they may as well just give up now and let Robertson go somewhere else.
Calling Hintze “oft-injured” isn’t accurate. He missed nearly 30 games this year but had played 73, 76, 80 and 80 in the previous 4 years. He’d be a good pick up. Habs might be interested.