Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rickard Rakell has been a popular name in the NHL rumor mill this off-season.
With the Penguins being in some sort of retool or rebuild, Rakell stands out as one of their top trade candidates.
There is no question Rakell’s trade value is higher right now, as he just had a career year with the Penguins. In 81 games with the Metropolitan Division club in 2024-25, he recorded new career highs with 35 goals and 70 points in 81 games. After a season like this, he will certainly generate interest from NHL teams looking for another top-six winger.
Rakell’s contract also adds to his value, as he has an affordable $5-million cap hit until the end of the 2027-28 season.
That said, the price to acquire Rakell is high. The Penguins want to return to playoff contention as soon as possible, and if they have a good start to the season, they'll likely want to keep Rakell for a while longer. So the ideal time to acquire Rakell might not be until during the season if the squad slumps out of the gate.
Let’s go over three potential NHL trade destinations for Rakell.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs stand out as a prime potential landing spot for Rakell during the season if they clear salary cap space.
While they brought in forwards Matias Maccelli, Nicolas Roy and Dakota Joshua this off-season, there is no question that they still could use a proven top-six winger to help lessen the sting of losing Mitch Marner.
Maccelli will likely get the first crack at replacing Marner’s spot on the right wing in the top six, but with 18 points in 55 games last year, there are no guarantees he will bounce back to the type of production he had with the Arizona Coyotes and hover around 50 points or more.
If the Maple Leafs acquired Rakell, he could work nicely playing on their first line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. Even if he played on the Maple Leafs’ second line with William Nylander moving to the first, Rakell would undoubtedly give their current forward group more proven goal-scoring and playmaking abilities.
The Maple Leafs have just under $2 million of cap space, so they can’t acquire him right now without clearing cap space.
The Penguins have over $13 million of cap space right now, so they could afford to take on more contracts in a potential trade with Toronto. This is especially so if it helps improve their overall return for Rakell. But Toronto can also accrue cap space during the season and make a push for Rakell around the NHL trade deadline if he’s still available – they could have about $8 million in space by then, according to PuckPedia.
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings brought in bottom six forwards Corey Perry and Joel Armia this off-season, but they could use a top-six scoring winger.
While they have a defensive-focused system that allowed the second-fewest goals in the NHL last season, they were only 14th in goals-for. Only Adrian Kempe had more points last season than Rakell, with 73, so adding Rakell should add more scoring power without ruining the team’s system.
If the Kings acquired Rakell from the Penguins, he could be a strong fit on their second line with Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala. However, due to his versatility, he could also replace Andrei Kuzmenko on L.A.’s first line at left wing. With this, the Kings would have multiple different options to consider if they acquired Rakell.
Similar to the Maple Leafs, the Kings would also need to either move money out or accrue cap space during the season to afford Rakell. They have roughly $2.6 million of cap space right now but could have more than $12 million by the trade deadline. That said, they have a surplus of bottom-six forwards, and they could part ways with at least one of them if it means landing an effective forward like Rakell.
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Winnipeg Jets
After losing star winger Nikolaj Ehlers to the Carolina Hurricanes in free agency, the Winnipeg Jets certainly could use another legitimate top-six forward. With this, it would not be surprising in the slightest if they kicked tires on Rakell.
While the Jets brought in veteran winger Gustav Nyquist this off-season, Rakell would be an upgrade over him in the Jets’ top six if acquired. The first line of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi should stay as-is, but Rakell could slot in their second-line right wing spot alongside potential linemates Cole Perfetti and Jonathan Toews. He would also give them another scorer to work with on the power play – Rakell had nine goals and 19 points on the man advantage last season.
The Jets have just under $4 million of cap space left, so it would not be too hard for them to find a way to afford Rakell. However, the one potential obstacle in a possible Rakell trade is that he has an eight-team no-trade list. With this, he would need to either not have the Jets on his no-trade list or be willing to accept a trade to Winnipeg if he does.
The Hockey News' Kelsey Surmacz also listed four trade destinations for Rakell on THN.com/Pittsburgh.
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