NHL Rumor Mill – July 1, 2026
Zach Werenski rejects a trade to the Stars, the latest UFA speculation, and updates on Connor Hellebuyck, Dylan Larkin, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexander Nikishin in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
ZACH WERENSKI REJECTS A TRADE TO THE STARS
TSN: Chris Johnston and Darren Dreger reported that Zach Werenski was presented with an opportunity to be traded to the Dallas Stars. However, the 28-year-old Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman was unwilling to waive his no-movement clause to facilitate the deal.
Earlier in the day, Pierre LeBrun speculated that the Stars could be among the teams interested in Werenski. He speculated that defenseman Thomas Harley could be heading to Columbus in the deal.
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (NHL Images)
According to Dreger, Werenski would prefer to be traded to an Eastern Conference club. LeBrun had previously mentioned the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs as potential destinations. However, he wasn’t sure if those clubs could meet the Blue Jackets’ asking price.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Lia Assimakopoulos cited Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who said the Stars and Blue Jackets had a verbal agreement in place that would’ve seen Harley go to the Blue Jackets as the centerpiece of a return that might’ve included other players and draft picks.
The deal was reached on Monday night, but the Stars had no idea that Werenski would veto the move hours before it was to be finalized on Wednesday morning.
Werenski has two years remaining on his contract with an average annual value of over $9.5 million.
This is the second trade within a week involving the Stars to be vetoed by a player. Their attempt to send winger Jason Robertson to the Seattle Kraken was nixed because the 26-year-old winger wouldn’t agree to sign a contract extension with the Kraken.
THE ATHLETIC: Chris Johnston and Aaron Portzline report Werenski hasn’t formally requested a trade, but he’s had multiple discussions with management since April about his uncertain future beyond the expiration of his contract.
The Blue Jackets seek a return built around a player or players who can help them immediately.
SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reports a rumor making the rounds is that the Werenski camp is so upset over recent developments that all trade possibilities will be rejected. He believes that’s what happened with the Stars. However, Friedman thinks that might be “short-term hot-headiness, as opposed to realistic long-term outcome.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Stars’ offer of Harley in a package deal would’ve helped to address Werenski’s absence from the Blue Jackets’ defense corps. However, that deal won’t be revisited if the Norris Trophy winner prefers to remain in the East.
Werenski’s rumored unhappiness over what’s transpired could be the result of someone telling the press about his reluctance to sign an extension. If it came from the Blue Jackets’ side, it could irreparably damage his relationship with management and grease the skids for his departure.
The Maple Leafs could offer up Matthew Knies as part of a package offer for Werenski. He won’t fill that gaping hole on Columbus’ blueline, but he would replace Kirill Marchenko if his rumored unwillingness to sign an extension forces the Blue Jackets to part with him. In that scenario, Marchenko could be used as trade bait for a top-four defenseman.
LeBrun also mentioned that the Philadelphia Flyers were among the teams that badly wanted to get into the bidding for Werenski. However, they would probably be more interested in offering up draft picks and prospects, which wouldn’t address the Blue Jackets’ immediate need.
LATEST UFA SPECULATION BEFORE THE FREE AGENT MARKET OPENS
TSN: Chris Johnston believes the Maple Leafs could be among the suitors for Sergei Bobrovsky when the free-agent market opens today at noon EDT. The 37-year-old goaltender was unable to agree to a contract extension with the Florida Panthers, who acquired Jacob Markstrom from the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun shared Johnston’s belief that the Maple Leafs could attempt to sign Bobrovsky. We’ll find out soon enough if they’ll take the risk.
Johnston also believes the Vegas Golden Knights are on track to re-sign defenseman Rasmus Andersson after some recent cost-cutting moves. Since Friday, they’ve traded away Pavel Dorofeyev, Akira Schmid and Kaeden Korczek, freeing up cap room to retain the 28-year-old Andersson.
Regarding John Carlson, Johnston believed negotiations with the Carolina Hurricanes were trending toward re-signing him. He’d like a chance to win the Stanley Cup again, and the newly crowned Cup champions can give him that opportunity.
Johnston believes Jacob Trouba shouldn’t have much trouble finding a new club when the market opens today. The 32-year-old right-shot defenseman could be enticing to clubs that were hoping to sign Carlson, such as the Tampa Bay Lightning, Flyers, and Boston Bruins.
As for Patrick Kane, Johnston noted that he was interested in returning with the Detroit Red Wings. However, he wondered if the 38-year-old winger might take a look to see if other clubs might be interested, such as his hometown club, the Buffalo Sabres.
UPDATE ON CONNOR HELLEBUYCK
THE WINNIPEG SUN: Massimo De Luca-Taronno reports the Buffalo Sabres remain in the running to acquire Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets.
The two clubs were working on a deal that would’ve sent the 33-year-old goaltender to Buffalo, but it fell through hours before the opening day of the draft on Friday.
Interest in the three-time Vezina Trophy winner and Olympic gold medalist from the Carolina Hurricanes has reportedly cooled down. Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers are out of the sweepstakes following their acquisitions of Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid earlier this week. The New Jersey Devils need a starter after trading Markstrom to Florida.
If Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff intends to trade Hellebuyck, it must be for a return that helps them get faster and younger. If he keeps Hellebuyck, he must make moves to address the club’s need for a second-line center, a bottom-six winger, and a suitable defense partner for Josh Morrissey.
SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman doesn’t buy into the “Hellebuyck to New Jersey” hype. He believes that’s not a contract that fits the profile of Devils GM Sunny Mehta. Meanwhile, Friedman said Hellebuyck would waive his no-movement clause to go to Buffalo, but a couple of sources said a trade to the Sabres last week wasn’t as close as originally believed, with some of the rumored returns from the Sabres having no-trade protection.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Cheveldayoff was trying to find a suitable trade partner for Hellebucyk with that attempted move to Buffalo. While a lot of clubs would love to land the Jets’ starter, finding a return that meets Cheveldayoff’s asking price won’t be easy, especially if players won’t waive their no-trade clauses.
THE LATEST ON DYLAN LARKIN AND VINCENT TROCHECK
TSN: Darren Dreger reports Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin has been unwilling to expand his three-team trade list, which puts the Wings in a bind. They know they must move on from the 29-year-old center and can’t afford to take a backward step.
Dreger thinks that Larkin’s limited trade list has some teams revisiting their interest in New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck, whose 12-team no-trade list became a 10-team NTC as of July 1.
RANGERS ATTEMPTING TO ACQUIRE ALEXANDER NIKISHIN
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Cited Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reporting that he’d heard that the New York Rangers offered up draft picks, including a first-rounder, for Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin.
Friedman indicated that the Hurricanes want a player in return. He thinks the Rangers will try again.
By way of what is going on GM’s ( and owners )will stop including NMC in contacts. You can’t run a business this way.
Leafs can definitely make a decent offer for Werenski . But you just signed Raddysh
Reilly would need to part of the return . A first a part of the return . At least 4 assets. Not including Knies. CLB have enough good young forwards .
And who gives them those NMCs and NTCs? Why, it’s the very GMs and owners you believe will want to put a stop to this.
Funny thing about that no-trade protection, they are part of the negotiations between the player, his agent, and the team’s management. Ultimately, it’s up to the latter if they want them included in the contract or not. Yes, the player’s camp can push for those clauses, but the team has the final say over whether they’ll be included, and what form they’ll take, be it a full no-movement, a full no-trade, or a partial list.
Don’t disagree but Larkin has 5 or 4 year contract in place so he can’t be mad that Detroit doesn’t want to trade him. He should honour his contract just like he can block a trade.
I don’t blame the guys saying they are going to play out the last couple of years of the contract and sign somewhere else. That is a different scenario.
I was curious if there was a dollar value placed on an NHL NTC, so I googled it: $250k-$1m per contract year. So if gm’s were handing out NTCs, it would inflate actual salaries significantly. It would also make it a lot more difficult to entice free agents.
***were to Stop**”. My apologies for the typo.
Trouba’s play would be welcome in the Bruins.
I’m curious why there has been no talk around an offer sheet for Leo Carlsson?
I’m know most will say Anaheim has the space to match. But any offer north of 16-17 million will make it near impossible to re-sign Gauthier, Mintyukov and still replace 2-3 dmen and 4 forwards.
He is exactly the type of player I’d break the bank on .
Perhaps he wants to stay. If the player isn’t interested in an offer sheet, other teams can’t go that route. The Ducks are heading in a great direction and it isn’t always the highest bidder that wins.
NMC are going to kill this league. Players demanding trades still under contract giving 3 possible teams is ridiculous. Well over 200 NCM in the NHL. Not even 50 total of all the other major sports.
Wrong, Shane. There are 245 players who have some form of trade protection in their contracts. They include no-movement clauses, no-trade clauses, or modified NTCs where a player must submit a list of teams he would prefer to be traded to, or a list of teams that he doesn’t want to be traded to.
Still not a favorable outlook. That needs to be fixed for some teams to survive.
It only matters if the team losing the star or marquee player gets embarrassed by the eventual transaction because their hands were tied and negotiating from a position of weakness, because of a leak.
Now with Werenski, as stated above, he let his team know he was going to move on once he completed his contract back in April which was 3 months ago. How and where did this leak? How helpful was this to both parties and its market? Maybe it’s another team that leaked this info and insiders rat it out? This works for the insiders though and fans love it even though it’s usually under false pretenses…aka greedy players.
Hate the game, not the players.
If players with NMC contracts demand a trade, teams should be allowed to flat out terminate the contract, but retain their rights. Almost like an rfa, but not as harsh of a structure for the team that signs the player. Situations like the Larkin one, with no budging on the demand, could easily be resolved. Cool, you’re free to go get a deal yourself. Hasta la vista.
Larkin has the right to ask for a trade, he is not a slave just because he signed a contract. He gave 11 years to the Wings, his hometown heroes! He was not going to die for them and their ineptness to even make the playoffs.
Yeah, and cutting that cord let’s him live his dream. With whoever is willing to sign him to a new contract and lose a few assets. At least thats what I suggested above. He signed a contract and no longer wants to abide by it. Cool. Go have at it. No pay for you until.you do.
He does, but Yzerman also has the right to say no to a trade. If Larkin really wants to leave, he can expand his list of teams.
Johnny Z
So let me get this straight,
Larkin signs a long term contract to play in Detroit, couple years in, he wants out, isn’t that breaking a contract? So if he’s breaking the contract why can’t Detroit ? trade him where they get the best deal? Oh yeah, he has a no movement clause. So why can’t Detroit break that contract again?
It’s a two way street, once Larkin breaks the contract
Detroit, should be able to do the same .
Larkin wants the money and dictate where he wants to plays with 5 years left on his contract. I think Yzerman’s press conference hinted to the Larkin camp that is not happening and he needs to be more flexible.
Shows you what type of character these new players have. They took the big bucks when available and now want to pick there team of their choice.
It’s a complete joke.
I think too many people are putting the cart before the horse here and villianizing Larkin. I think players can ask to be traded , its business after all. Now, if Larkin no shows to camp or is sandbagging throughout the season then thats a major issue. But simply asking to be traded but still showing up and contributing to your team should not be such a huge issues as it has been made to be. Lets wait to cast judgement to se what Larkins behavior is once camp starts.
Well, these teams intentionally leak this inside information to get people like you to villianize the “disgruntled millionaire player” and not the “victimized” team owning billionaire.
Same thing with Werenski. He let it be known privately that he would not resign in 2028 back at the end of April and DID NOT ask for a trade. And look what happened!!!
I was curious if there was a dollar value placed on an NHL NTC, so I googled it: $250k-$1m per contract year. So if GMs were to stop handing out NTCs, it would inflate actual salaries significantly. It would also make it a lot more difficult to entice free agents.
As a Jets fan, NTC/NMC need to die out in the next CBA even if it takes a lock out.
Yeah, and cutting that cord let’s him live his dream. With whoever is willing to sign him to a new contract and lose a few assets. At least thats what I suggested above. He signed a contract and no longer wants to abide by it. Cool. Go have at it. No pay for you until.you do.
On the angst over players and their NT clauses:
Sure a few players want out and hamstring a team with a small # of places they would go to. But:
1) The GM involved doesn’t have to agree. Yzerman is playing hard ball too. Waddell can do the same: Ok, player, you don’t accept a trade, report in October and walk into the dressing room.
2) People seem to have forgotten Drury’s treatment of Trouba, who had a NMC. So it can cut both ways.
How did Drury mistreat Trouba? Trouba had partial NTC and adjusted the list when he got wind of a trade to Detroit. Bad timing and leak control by Drury, but no mistreatment of the player. Trouba, on the other hand, came into camp with an attitude problem that infected the clubhouse.
An AI summary, Robert:
“The Waiver Threat: Following the trade, Trouba publicly claimed that Drury forced him to waive his clause by issuing an ultimatum: accept the trade to the Ducks or be placed on waivers. Trouba ultimately agreed to the trade, though he later expressed deep frustration over how the situation was handled.”
I didn’t say he was mistreated, by the way. Trouba certainly did. My point was that GMs can play hardball with regard to NT or NM clauses just like players can.
What can TB even offer Columbus for werenski? They have no enticing young D. Would they be willing to part with one of Hague, Guzental, or Point? I’m sure they all have NMC and would block the trade.
I would keep werenski and hopefully have a long playoff run next year.
And what can the Leafs offer Columbus, except perhaps Knies (who is supposedly not going to be moved), except draft picks which won’t help Columbus ice a competitive line up.
Reilly won’t do it, except perhaps with another team supplementing the deal.