NHL Rumor Mill – October 16, 2026
Check out the latest on Jets holdout goalie Connor Hellebuyck, Red Wings center Dylan Larkin, and Canadiens winger Josh Anderson in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
THE LATEST ON CONNOR HELLEBUYCK
TSN: Darren Dreger reports the recent talk suggesting Connor Hellebuyck could return to the Winnipeg Jets is speculation. Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff remains focused on getting the 33-year-old goaltender traded for a fair return.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (NHL Images).
Dreger understands why there’s chatter that Hellebuyck might return. The three-time Vezina Trophy winner is hemorrhaging thousands of dollars by staging a holdout, and he’s starting to feel the stress. Nevertheless, he doesn’t expect to see Hellebuyck back in a Jets jersey.
DAILY FACEOFF: Matt Larkin believes the Jets’ surprisingly strong start to this season should encourage Jets management to move Hellebuyck quickly.
That start could take pressure off Cheveldayoff, enabling him to wait patiently for the right return. That might have been easier to justify if the Jets started badly. However, Larkin pointed out that the Jets are built to win now, and waiting too long to move Hellebuyck could hurt his efforts to bring in immediate help.
SPORTSNET: Frank Seravalli reports the Los Angeles Kings are among the clubs that “kicked tires” on Hellebuyck.
Poor goaltending from Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg is partly to blame for the Kings’ poor start. Seravalli claimed they’ve “received affirmation” that Hellebuyck would accept a trade to Los Angeles.
The Kings are internally discussing their direction. If they fail to improve, it could make it hard to justify parting with a first-round pick in 2027 or 2028 (even with lottery protection) as part of the return for Hellebuyck.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: As of this writing, Hellebuyck has forfeited nearly $670,000 of his $7.5 million cap hit for this season.
Cheveldayoff said the door was open for Hellebuyck to return. However, the Jets’ better-than-expected start suggests it might not be open as wide as it once was.
It’s doubtful Cheveldayoff will take Larkin’s advice and try to move Hellebuyck quickly. He has a well-earned reputation for patiently waiting for the right return for players who want to move on. Unless a team steps up and meets his asking price, he’ll keep waiting until someone does.
The Jets reportedly seek a return that helps them now and in the future, not aging players with expensive contracts. They want at least a second-line forward (preferably a center) or a top-four, right-shot defenseman, along with a combination of futures that includes a first-round pick and a top prospect.
Whether the Kings can meet that price is another story. They have the draft picks, but The Athletic ranked their prospect pipeline 21st overall. They have two young centers (Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere), but parting with one of them hurts their depth at that position. The same goes for their right-side blueline depth if they offered up Brandt Clarke.
RED WINGS SET A HIGH PRICE FOR DYLAN LARKIN
TSN: Darren Dreger reports the Detroit Red Wings seek “three or four pieces” for Dylan Larkin. The 30-year-old centre requested a trade in June and has expanded his list of trade destinations from three to 10 teams. None of them include Canadian NHL clubs.
Dreger said the Wings seek “two ‘A’ quality prospects,” as well as “a top-nine forward who can play with the Red Wings in the NHL right now”, and “a first-round draft pick.”
It’s believed some teams wouldn’t have any problem meeting that price. However, none of them are on Larkin’s trade list.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Some pundits keep dreaming up trade scenarios that would bring Larkin to the Montreal Canadiens. It’s a pointless exercise unless he eventually decides to add the Canadiens to his list. So far, there’s no indication he will.
CANADIENS HOPE TO RE-SIGN JOSH ANDERSON
TSN: Darren Dreger reports the Montreal Canadiens intend to sign Josh Anderson to a contract extension. The 32-year-old power forward is eligible for unrestricted free-agent status next July. His current contract is worth an average annual value of $5.5 million.
Anderson’s agent, Darren Ferris, tends to take his coveted free agents up to July 1 to determine their market value. However, Anderson and his family love the idea of staying in Montreal, and the Canadiens want to keep him. GM Kent Hughes has spoken with Anderson, informing him that they will get to negotiations once they’ve dealt with other business, such as making a trade to bolster the roster.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canadiens have a projected $28.8 million of salary-cap space for 2027-28. Hughes will want to know how much cap space he’ll have available after acquiring the second-line forward that he’s been pursuing since March. Once that’s determined, he should have enough to re-sign Anderson.
Over the years the vast majority of players who missed training camp and part of the season wound up having poor results when they did get back into action, but there were the odd exceptions – all involving skaters.
Over the 1998-99 season Alexei Yashin of the Senators put up 94 points, following which he demanded a raise or a trade, eventually going “on strike” to the point where he missed the entire 1999-2000 season. When his case went before an arbitrator the ruling handed down was that he owed Ottawa the final year of his contract, forcing him back for the 2000–01 season. But after missing a total of 18 months and all of training camp, he not only played all 82 games, but scored 40 goals and 48 assists to lead Ottawa to the then Northeast title.
Another Russian – The Russian Rocket Pavel Bure – missed all of training camp and the entire first half of 1998–99 after demanding a trade out of Vancouver. His refusal to play led to his being dealt to – ironically in light of the Brady Tkachuk case – the Panthers. Then, in 11 games played, he potted 13g 3a 16 pts before suffering an ACL injury which ended that season for him. Even so, over the next two seasons he won back-to-back Rocket Richard Trophies as the league’s leading scorer.
Then there’s Matthew Tkachuk of Calgary who missed all of the 2019 training camp as an unsigned RFA. Shortly before opening night he was signed to a bridge contract and for the first few months went on a point-per-game tear and when that season was cut short by Covid he had registered 61 points in 60gp.
Where goalies are concerned, however, it has seldom ,,, if ever … worked out well. So that raises a HUGE question where Hellebuyck is concerned if and when some team relinquishes top assets for someone who turns 34 in May. The most recent example involving a goalie missing training camp was Jeremy Swayman who missed all of the 2024-25 training camp before eventually signing a huge deal just before opening night. What followed, however, wasn’t pretty, and his struggles, combined with many of the skaters cratering, led to the Bruins experiencing a dismal season and missing the playoffs. And he was just 26 at the time.