Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – May 3, 2026
In the Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup: big changes could be coming to the Oilers, the Stars must decide if they’ll re-sign Jason Robertson, and the latest on the Predators.
COULD SIGNIFICANT CHANGES BE COMING FOR THE OILERS?
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Jim Matheson believes Oilers owner Daryl Katz won’t be happy about his club’s early postseason exit. He believes Katz will be asking questions, evaluating, and perhaps assessing blame somewhere.
Matheson also thinks the Oilers are on the clock as team captain Connor McDavid’s two-year contract extension starts on July 1. He wondered whether general manager Stan Bowman would attempt to trade Darnell Nurse, who carries a $9.25 million annual salary-cap hit.
Bowman must also decide which of his six pending unrestricted free-agent forwards (Jason Dickinson, Kasperi Kapanen, Jack Roslovic, Adam Henrique, Curtis Lazar, and Max Jones) he’ll keep. He faces the same decision with defenseman Connor Murphy and goaltenders Calvin Pickard and Connor Ingram.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bowman told the media on Saturday that next season’s roster won’t be the same as this season’s. Making those changes, however, won’t be easy given their salary-cap restrictions and limited trade capital.
Matheson also wondered if head coach Kris Knoblauch’s job is safe. He starts a three-year contract next season, which he earned after coaching the Oilers to back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2024 and 2025.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Knoblauch didn’t become a bad coach this season. He had to make do with the lineup provided to him by Bowman, which included shaky goaltending, a weakened blueline, and limited support depth for the top forwards. Firing him won’t improve the roster.
Kurt Leavins dismissed any trade rumors about McDavid as baseless clickbait. “But until Connor says he is leaving, I will assume that he’s all in.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McDavid made it clear that he wants to win and wants to do so in Edmonton. He declined to say whether he would finish his upcoming two-year contract extension with the Oilers, which is bound to keep the rumors flowing.
Like Auston Matthews with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brady Tkachuk with the Ottawa Senators, McDavid will be returning with the Oilers for next season. However, the Oilers’ performance in 2026-27 could determine his plans for the following season and beyond.
Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse (NHL Images).
Leavins believes the Oilers must find the right way to convince Darnell Nurse to waive his no-movement clause. “And this assessment needs to be equal parts management and player. Nurse needs to accept that the status quo is not on. And the fans need to be aware that you will not replace him for free.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Even if Nurse agrees to waive his no-movement clause, interested clubs will likely insist on the Oilers retaining part of his $9.25 million average annual value through 2029-30. Failing that, they might have to add a draft pick or prospect in the deal to convince the acquiring club to take on his full cap hit, or take back a bad contract in return.
THE ATHLETIC: Allan Mitchell wondered what plans Bowman has in store to improve the Oilers during the offseason.
He wondered if Bowman might attempt to acquire goaltender Filip Gustavsson from the Minnesota Wild, or pursue a young netminder such as Sebastian Cossa or Trey Augustine of the Detroit Red Wings. They could also target clubs carrying two goalies worthy of starting roles.
Mitchell suggested Nurse could be used in a package deal for a goalie or to acquire a veteran goal scorer to replace Roslovic.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Gustavsson is in the final year of his current contract, which has a full no-movement clause. His six-year extension also contains an NMC. He might be willing to waive it if it appears he’s lost the starter’s job to Jesper Wallstedt, but there’s no certainty that he’d want to come to Edmonton.
Mitchell finished his piece with some hard truth for Oilers fans. “What’s sad about these Oilers is that they’ve grown old without winning a damn thing. That’s a hard pill to swallow, but that’s the truth.”
WHAT WILL THE STARS DO WITH JASON ROBERTSON?
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Lia Assimakopoulos believes the biggest question facing the Stars this offseason is whether they’ll sign Jason Robertson to a contract extension.
The 26-year-old winger is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. He’s coming off a standout performance, tying Wyatt Johnston with a team-high 45 goals and sitting first among his teammates with 96 points. He was also their most consistent scorer during the Stars’ short series against the Minnesota Wild.
All signs point to the Stars re-signing Robertson. However, Assimakopoulos believes they might not get away with paying him less than the $12 million annually that they’re paying winger Mikko Rantanen.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I agree with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who believes the Stars have little choice but to re-sign Robertson to a lucrative long-term contract. Since his full rookie season in 2020-21, he’s been their leading scorer with 213 goals and 276 assists for 489 points in 453 regular-season games, along with a team-leading 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 points in 62 playoff contests.
It’s going to be an expensive signing. He has a good case to make as much as Rantanen, and will easily get that amount with another NHL club if the Stars are dumb enough to trade him away or let him depart next summer as a UFA. And yes, it would be dumb to part with a scorer who produces at Robertson’s level. The Stars would have a difficult time replacing him.
The Stars only have around $11 million in cap space for next season. Re-signing Robertson, even for less than $12 million, means having to make a cost-cutting trade or two. It will also make it difficult to re-sign fellow RFA Mavrik Bourque, who also has arbitration rights.
THE LATEST PREDATORS SPECULATION
THE TENNESSEAN: Alex Daugherty recently proposed three bold moves for whoever replaces Barry Trotz as GM of the Nashville Predators this summer.
One possibility is buying out the contract of unhappy winger Jonathan Marchessault. A trade would be ideal, but few teams will be interested in a 35-year-old winger with declining production carrying a $5.5 million AAV for the next three years. A buyout would save the Predators $1.2 million next season, $2.3 million in each of the following two seasons, followed by a manageable cap hit of $961K annually for the final three years.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Buying out Marchessault seems more likely, assuming the Predators have their new GM in place before the buyout period in late June. They could still try to trade him, perhaps by retaining a portion of his cap hit.
Daugherty also suggested attempting to acquire Philadelphia Flyers sophomore winger Matvei Michkov and trying to sign Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson to an offer sheet.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Michkov struggled in his sophomore season, which was his first under head coach Rick Tocchet. That’s sparked speculation that the Flyers could trade him, but I don’t see them giving up on the promising Michkov because of one bad season.
Signing Robertson to an offer sheet would certainly be a bold move. However, he’d first have to want to sign one, and there’s no certainty that he’d be open to doing so. The Stars could also take him to arbitration, or he could file to do so, making him ineligible to receive an offer sheet.
That Nurse contract was an anchor the moment it was signed.
9.25 for a third pairing defenceman is ridiculous.
For a team that employs Stan Bowman and has employed Craig MacTavish who actually did the things they were accused of to not to try and sign Carter Hart was mismanagement at its finest? What about Vladar? Could have tried to sign him as well. Cheap and affordable deal in Philly and a complete difference maker for the Flyers.
If EDM retains 40%, what round pick would it take? Is Nurse at least a 6mil defender still?
As with McDavid, Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, Jason Robertson – among others – the chatter and columns/posts centering around Nurse will continue all summer … or longer.
Realistically there is, I suppose, a chance – however remote – that he could be moved, but if that ever does go down Bowman should jump into the lead for next season’s GM Of The Year Award.
First of all, Nurse does have a full NMC through next season and from articles in places like The Hockey News, he is quite comfortable in Edmonton.
Then there’s that $9.25 mil cap albatross and the fact he is definitely NOT a top 2-type defender, with some doubts that he is even of bona-fide 2nd-pairing quality. That might be debatable. But even his staunchest defenders have to admit that he certainly needs an on-ice partner that can cover for his tendency towards brain-spasms. So that makes finding a trade partner all that more difficult, since no team is going to take him if they don’t have that type of on-ice partner already available. And if one does, is that a location he’d waive for?
As I say, complicated … and almost assuredly demanding that Edmonton retain anywhere from 35-50% of that cap hit or, if something significantly less in that regard, accompanied by significant prospects and/or other assets in the way of picks.
I’ve been a huge fan of that Nurse contract since day 1 because it guaranteed the Oilers would not win a Stanley Cup in this window. Excellent stuff.
Oilers’ biggest need is a number one keep that’s not going to break the bank. Tall order, because everyone knows they need one.
Ron, stating Nurse is a 3rd pair D-man simply highlights you don’t watch the Oilers, or even bother to check basic stats.
He was 2nd on the team in D ice time this year. As he was the year before in the regular season and playoffs was 3rd by a hair. You know the year the Oilers went to the cup finals. Like they did the year before.
The year before, played hurt in the playoffs so minutes less.
If you play the 2nd most minutes, and the tough minutes on a team that has been good for years, you do not suck.
He is overpaid, has had his struggles at times, fair enough, but Darnel Nurse is not a throw away. He is in fact a good player.
The D have too many LD’s making large $, only one doesn’t have a NMC and that is Ekholm. He is also the oldest.
That is who I would look to move. Nurse can play with Bouchard, they were excellent together when they did.
No one is taking Nurse. He own goaled as much as he scored.
On a smaller scale look at the contract that the Oil gave Trent Frederic!
Oilers need to face the music, this is not a cup team. I said last summer that they should retool 25-26, and be better 26-27, but no they did this instead.
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Are there ANY rumours regarding possible GMs in Nashville??
The Leafs have reportedly progressed to the point of possibly soon announcing Mats Sundin as a VP of Hockey Operations and former Arizona GM John Chayka as Treeving’s replacement, while Vancouver is supposedly down to in-person interviews with the likes of current Assistant GM Ryan Johnson, Kevyn Adams, NYI Assistant GM Ryan Bowness, and Shane Doan. Even Detroit is more in the news than is Nashville in that regard with Yzerman reportedly hanging by a thread following 10 straight seasons out of the playoffs … including 3 since he took over.
What we hear out of Nashville is a resounding silence. Maybe they should hand the reins over to Stamkos – he seems to be pretty certain that no one on the roster is going anywhere.
George,
Maybe the Predators are waiting to see if Detroit fires Yzerman.
They don’t want to wait too long … with the draft looming you’d think they’d want to have someone in place soon to familiarize himself with the total roster AND go over scouting reports/recommendations for the draft.
Unless they plan to let Stamkos do the picking 🙂
Well. Hockey has had some player-coaches. Maybe now is the time for a player-GM? (-:
Yzerman’s been GM in Detroit for 7 years. Why do folks think teams are chompin at the bit for the Yzerplan? There is no plan! He brings in 3-5 players in every year & gets nowhere. He has a few good players now.
I honestly think that GM’s are wanting to make trades, but their targets are way too expensive. And they’re all in the same boat.
Not just too expensive, Vincois ,,, although that is a prime factor working against trades – but also – and perhaps more so – those bloody NMC/NTC and MNTC.
You can’t help but wonder how many tentative deals have been worked out since those clauses came into effect, only to have one player with such protection, upon being informed that a trade was possible, took one look at the proposed destination and said “unh unh … I ain’t waiving to go THERE.”