If the Philadelphia Flyers are truly looking to swing the big trade this offseason, they need not look further than the Dallas Stars, who might have a former 100-point winger hitting the NHL trade market in short order.

According to reports, stud Stars winger Jason Robertson could be on the move this summer, heading into the last year of his current contract carrying a $7.75 million cap hit.

Jeff Marek, in his recent blog post for Daily Faceoff, knows the Stars want to get tougher. From watching the Western Conference Final, we know that the Stars need defensive depth in the worst way, and the Stars need cap space and assets to make some upgrades.

Marek, who connected Robertson to teams like the Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars, isn't the only one talking about Robertson. Vancouver Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal added Monday on "Donnie & Dhali" that he's heard the 25-year-old winger's name has come up in trade talks.

And you know what they say: when there's smoke...

So, here's where the Flyers come in.

The Flyers currently have a shade under $23 million in cap space, and only need to re-sign RFAs Cam York, Noah Cates, and potentially Jakob Pelletier. Fitting in Robertson's cap hit of $7.75 million won't be a challenge at all.

Looking forward to 2026 and beyond, the Flyers will have the retained salaries of Kevin Hayes and Scott Laughton coming off their books, as well as Cam Atkinson's buyout charge. 

Additionally, bad contracts, like Ivan Fedotov's $3.25 million cap hit, will be expiring. Ryan Ellis's contract is one year closer to being up with 2027 quickly coming up on the horizon.

Robertson's next contract is likely to have an AAV north of $10 million, but it's a worthwhile price for a Flyers team in need of stars. What's there not to like about him, aside from the lack of speed?

Robertson is a 6-foot-3, left-shot left winger, a two-time 40-goal-scorer, and a former 109-point player who is coming off back-to-back 80-point seasons.

The Flyers, as currently constructed, just don't have these types of players. Tyson Foerster and Owen Tippett are two of the team's top left wingers, and both are right-shot players. Minor roster construction issues like this should be sorted before the Flyers really get down to it coming up out of the rebuild phase.

Flyers Trade Package

We've now established that Robertson would be a unicorn for the Flyers, and the Stars need to offload him and/or other players to keep the team together.

At the time of this writing, the Stars have just $4.95 million in cap space and need to re-sign *checks notes* Mikael Granlund, Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Evgenii Dadonov, Colin Blackwell, Mavrik Bourque, Brendan Smith, Cody Ceci, and Nils Lundkvist.

Philadelphia Flyers Officially Lose Signing Rights to 3 Recently Drafted Defense ProspectsWith no new signings or contracts announced on Sunday, the Philadelphia Flyers have officially lost the signing rights to three recently drafted defense prospects, including two of Matvei Michkov's draft classmates.

Next year, the Stars will also need to re-sign Robertson, Thomas Harley, and Mason Marchment. It would be a dream, but there is no way around it: Dallas has to make some moves.

The Flyers have plenty of players and assets they can offer the Stars in return for Robertson to allow Dallas to then use elsewhere.

We can safely assume that both of the Flyers' late first-round picks in the 2025 draft are in play, and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (triceps) would represent a massive upgrade on the right side of that Dallas defense.

Perhaps the Stars can stash Ristolainen on LTIR and work on other things in the meantime.

Replacing Robertson is the greater challenge, though it would make sense for the Flyers to offer up a player like Tippett in a potential deal. Tippett still has untapped potential at 26 years old and has scored no fewer than 20 goals in each of the last three seasons.

Tippett is much faster than Robertson and, while not nearly as productive overall, can allow the Stars to do some different things with their personnel. He's also locked in at a $6.25 million cap hit through 2032, whereas Robertson is going to be commanding a significant pay raise from his $7.75 million cap hit by season's end.

And, from Philadelphia's perspective, Tippett's 10-team no-trade list kicks in on July 1, 2026, so if they're on the fence about his place in the team's future, time is ticking on finding an amicable solution to that potential roadblock.

Other Flyers players who might be of interest to the Stars in a Robertson trade include York, Bobby Brink, and Tyson Foerster.

That's a steep price to pay, to be sure, but to get, you have to give. The impact a 100-point player like Robertson would have on the Flyers is undeniable, especially with Philadelphia still having the No. 6 pick in the 2025 draft and a future star in Matvei Michkov who's only going to get better.

With the situation around Marco Rossi now less clear than it was a few days ago, this is another way the Flyers can infuse the roster with star power.

The NHL will hold the first – and possibly only – decentralized draft at the end of June, which is similar in structure to the annual NFL Drafts where each team’s management remains in their respective towns and calls in their picks to a central location, which this year will be in Los Angeles, CA. For this occasion, the Buffalo Sabres will be using the draft room facilities of their NFL counterpart, the Buffalo Bills, for the Draft on June 27th and 28th at Highmark Stadium. 

“The synergies between the Sabres and Bills are genuine and we are well positioned for the new NHL draft process by utilizing the space and experience at One Bills Drive for our Sabres draft this season,” Sabres and Bills Chief Operating Officer Pete Guelli said in a press release. “There’s a strong relationship between both staffs which has made the process seamless and we are grateful to be able to take advantage of an environment that’s been tested and proven on a large scale. Utilizing the Bills' draft room will also allow us to see what works best and what we can implement to enhance our capabilities even more for future drafts.”

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The Sabres are expected to have all of their managerial and scouting staff in Orchard Park, including general manager Kevyn Adams, newly hired senior advisor Jarmo Kekalainen, the Sabres and Rochester Americans coaching staffs, and members of the analytics, scouting, and development departments. 

It is very possible that this decentralized draft may be a one shot deal. There are indicators that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is not a fan of the new setup based on statements made to the media, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier this year that the league may return to a centralized draft as part of a setup similar to Majorr League Baseball’s Winter Meetings, with the NHL Awards, the Draft and the beginning of free agency will all be held in the same location. 

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It appears that Mike Sullivan - who departed as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Apr. 28 and subsequently joined the New York Rangers as their new bench boss - isn't the only former Penguins' coach to land a new gig for the 2025-26 season.

On Monday, longtime Penguins' assistant coach Mike Vellucci joined the Chicago Blackhawks as an assistant coach, officially ending his tenure with Pittsburgh.

Vellucci initially joined the Penguins' organization as head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins - Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate - prior to the 2019-20 season. He was then brought on as an assistant for the NHL club the following season, and he remained in that post from 2020-25. 

A former player who appeared in two NHL games with the Hartford Whalers, Vellucci began coaching - with a general management stint sandwiched in the middle - in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Plymouth Whalers from 2001-14.

He then joined the Carolina Hurricanes as assistant general manager and director of player development for the next three seasons before coaching the Charlotte Checkers - then Carolina's AHL affiliate but now affiliated with the Florida Panthers - from 2017-19. 

He won a Calder Cup with the Checkers in 2019 before joining the Penguins' organization the following season. As an assistant with Pittsburgh, Vellucci was responsible for coaching the penalty killing and forward units.

He will occupy that same role with the Blackhawks. 

Insider Provides New Updates On Penguins' Coaching SearchThe Pittsburgh Penguins are still searching for their new head coach after moving from longtime bench boss Mike Sullivan following the completion of the 2024-25 season. 

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab  to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!       

NHL clubs had until 5 pm on Sunday to sign prospects drafted from the OHL, WHL, or QMJHL at the 2023 NHL Draft or players selected from European leagues (other than the KHL) in 2021 or they would lose their exclusive rights to them. The Buffalo Sabres had three players that met that criteria and failed to sign forwards Ethan Miedema, Viljami Marjala, and William Von Barnekow.  

Miedema was selected 109th overall at the NHL Draft in Nashville. The 20-year-old scored 41 points in 2024 with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenac, and this season averaged nearly a point per game (23 goals, 34 assists in 66 games). The 6’4”, 212 lb. winger might have a chance at getting redrafted, since the league is shifting towards bigger players if they can keep up with the pace of the NHL. 

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Marjala was selected in the fifth round in 2021 after playing for the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. After another season in Quebec, he returned to his native Finland and scored 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 60 games in 2023-24 for TPS Turku. The 22-year-old had another good offensive year in Liiga and tied for his club’s scoring lead with 52 points (8 goals, 44 assists) in 54 games, but there was clearly not a great deal of interest from the Sabres or from Marjala in him coming to North America. 

Von Barnekow came out of the SHL’s Malmö Redhawks junior system and averaged over a point per game in his draft year and the following year at the junior level, but the 6’3”, 190 lb. center has not generated any significant offensive production in three SHL seasons (14 goals, 14 assists in 137 games).

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