NHL Rumor Mill – June 13, 2026
What could it cost the Penguins or Flyers to acquire Darnell Nurse? Could Brendan Gallagher land with the Canucks? Will the Panthers shop for a new starting goalie? Find out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
THE LATEST DARNELL NURSE SPECULATION
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Dan Kingerski noted that there is an unverified report claiming the Penguins are among Darnell Nurse’s list of preferred trade destinations.
Nurse submitted a trade request earlier this week. The 31-year-old Edmonton Oilers defenseman has four years left on his contract with an average annual value of $9.25 million and a full no-movement clause.
Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse (NHL Images).
Kingerski noted that Nurse and Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas know each other from their days with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. Despite Nurse’s struggles in Edmonton, he could bring speed, puck movement, and physicality to the left side of the Penguins blueline.
However, Kingerski believes the Oilers could ask the Penguins for more than the latter would be willing to give. Nurse’s hefty contract would mean the Oilers would have to sweeten the pot, but they have few expendable assets. The Penguins could also want the Oilers to take little-used defenseman Ryan Graves off their hands.
PHILLY HOCKEY NOW: William James looked at whether Nurse would be a fit with the Flyers.
James pointed out that the Flyers already have depth on the left side of their blueline. While they would have the cap space ($37 million) to take on Nurse’s full cap hit, they would probably prefer the Oilers retain up to half of his AAV.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Flyers were also suggested as a possible destination for Nurse. Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that he’ll land with them or the Penguins. He’s not really a good fit for either club at this stage, and the Oilers could be unwilling to retain half of his cap hit to facilitate a trade.
WILL THE CANUCKS ACQUIRE BRENDAN GALLAGHER?
SPORTSNET: Iain MacIntyre recently weighed in on the speculation suggesting the Vancouver Canucks could acquire winger Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadiens.
Gallagher, 34, recently told the Montreal media that he’s played his final game for the Canadiens. He mentioned that he’d be open to being traded to the Canucks, and Canadiens management has allowed his agent, Gerry Johansson, to speak with other teams about a trade.
Johansson confirmed he’s spoken with the Canucks, and that they’re interested in Gallagher. Nevertheless, MacIntyre believes it’s not guaranteed that a deal will go through.
MacIntyre believes the Canadiens will likely wait and see if they can get a draft pick for Gallagher, rather than including a pick to entice a team to take him. He also doesn’t see the Canucks trading a positive asset for Gallagher. MacIntyre wondered if the Habs would be interested in acquiring winger Jake DeBrusk and his $5.5 million AAV for the next five seasons.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: MacIntyre pointed out that Canucks GM Ryan Johnson has bigger priorities to deal with than the option of acquiring Gallagher at a discount for his leadership and experience.
Johnson could take care of some of his more pressing issues first before deciding if he’ll take on a veteran player such as Gallagher.
The Canadiens’ pressing need is a reliable second-line center, but the pickings are slim in the trade market and nonexistent in free agency. They could opt to add another scoring winger, but could prefer a more consistent scorer than the streaky DeBrusk.
WILL THE PANTHER SHOP FOR A STARTING GOALTENDER?
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: Alan Greenberg recently looked at the starting goalie options for the Panthers if Sergei Bobrovsky departs via free agency on July 1.
Stuart Skinner, Connor Ingram, and Cam Talbot could be the best UFA options, but they’re not what the Panthers will be looking for.
Greenberg claimed that Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck “apparently wants out of Winnipeg”, suggesting the three-time Vezina Trophy winner could be the Panthers’ next starter if GM Bill Zito can swing a blockbuster deal.
Jordan Binnington could be another option. The St. Louis Blues netminder has a year left on his contract, and would be more affordable to obtain than Hellebuyck.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hellebuyck has not stated that he wants a trade. He expressed his unhappiness over the Jets’ direction during his end-of-season press conference, but that seemed to be based on his frustration over his club missing the playoffs after winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season.
Hellebuyck’s comments had some observers in Winnipeg uneasy, but there’s been nothing more about it for two months now. That doesn’t mean he can’t or won’t be traded, but as Greenberg admitted, he would be expensive to acquire in both return and contract, which could put him out of the Panthers’ price range.
I’d rather the Habs keep Gallagher than give him away tor a late pick or add a sweetener.
If Hughes can’t get Victor Mancini for Gallagher, keep him for his off ice intangibles.
Mancini -6’3 230 RD bouncing between Abbotsford and Vancouver
The article says the Canucks won’t part with a positive asset for Gallagher. If the Canadiens want any team to take on a cap hit of $6.5 million for a player in serious decline I imagine they would have to add a sweetener.
I too see the decline in Gallagher’s play, Gored1970, and can’t see a role for him with the Habs. But the fact that the Canucks are mulling his acquisition over means that they would part with something rather than the Habs having to add a sweetener. What is meant by a positive asset, I don’t know.
HF30, I m not sure you would rather have a veteran sitting around and being embarrassed as a scratch.Off ice tangibles change quickly, at that point make him an assistant coach!
Sr: Yes to not wanting Gallagher embarrassed by being a constant scratch, and eating up cap space for no return.
But make him into an assistant coach? When has a player with an existing contract ever turned into an assistant coach, formal or informal? Think it through.
Exactly, LJ … in fact, it’s against specific league rules which stipulate that a player still under an active player contract cannot serve simultaneously as a coach or assistant coach.
A way back that was not the case, with Lester Patrick being coach/player of the Rangers in 1928, and in 1961, after being dealt to the Rangers, Hall Of Famer D Doug Harvey also became their coach while still playing. The last time that occurred was in 1969 when Charlie Burns both played and coached the Minnesota North Stars, and after that ended was when the new rule was put in place.
6.5 million for intangibles. That’s not great assets management. That kind of money is what you’d pay for a decent third line center or winger. Not an aging player who is sitting in the press box most nights.
No one knows for certain what teams constitute Nurse’s speculative “3 to 5 “ preferred destinations … or even if it’s 3, 4 or 5. But that hasn’t stopped a number of so-called “insiders” from guessing, and these 5 appear to be the main focus of their speculation:
Los Angeles – the majority seem to have them first and foremost, citing their significant pending cap space and the fact their GM, Holland, signed Nurse to his massive cap hit when Oilers GM;
Pittsburgh – here some keep referring to his connection to Dubas who was GM of his OHL Major Junior team in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario;
Philadelphia – here they figure there may be mutual interest and the fact the Flyers also have the cap to take on a large contract plus their lack of D depth;
San Jose – the re-building team closest in the eyes of many to becoming a legitimate contender again, led by Celebrini, who also have a huge cap reserve enabling them to absorb a large cap hit;
Toronto – again a “desired” location simply because of the “home” or “close-to-home” crapola (he hails from Hamilton), and there have even been suggestions of a Rielly-Nurse swap given their close enough cap hits.
But Toronto as a guess really gets to me, since one of the alleged reasons why Nurse has demanded a trade is the constant and intense local media and fan criticism of a perceived decline in his defensive metrics and his not being worth such a hefty cap hit, and the consequent pressure it has put on his family.
And he supposedly thinks playing back close to home in Toronto is going to be better in that regard??? If so, add “naivety” to any deficiencies he may possess!
George,
Toronto media is far from hard on athletes playing for local teams.
When’s the last time anyone wrote a negative article about Austin Matthews? Or Vladimir Guerrero Jr?
Very rarely, if ever.
Mitch Marner says hi!
Heh. Give it time, Ron. Meanwhile, ask these sports personalities what they think of the media/fan intensity there:
Phil Kessel, Mitch Marner, Andrea Bargnani, Hedo Turkoglu, Jermaine O’Neal, Larry Murphy.
Or were you being facetious? … lol
Not certain why anyone would have to give Edmonton anything for nurse. Future Considerations should be enough to take the horrible contract off their hands.
“No salary retained” would be the best compensation the Oilers could hope for.
At this rate with players looking to go to greener pastures is the league shifting towards having 3-5 super teams vying for the cup and everyone else being on the sidelines?
Nurse to the Flyers?
No thanks.
Pittsburgh makes a lot of sense. They’re still around 10m from cap floor. Not sure Oilers would have any use for Graves but it would offset some cap hit. Pens have 5 dmen heading into last year of their contracts. EK and Gerard a combined 15m cap hit coming off books unless they get extended. Letang has 2 seasons left. They have a few prospects that could get opportunities but looking at roster, Nurse should be a top pair guy for them. Should try to get Howard for a sweetener. Low risk kid who played for Muse on USNTDP.