Eric Staal has at least one desirable landing spot on his radar.
The unrestricted free agent has spoken to the Minnesota Wild, with both sides seeing potential for a fit.
"There's mutual interest and consideration that there is a fit with Minnesota," Staal's agent, Rick Curran, told Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "We've had conversation and I would also suggest Eric was extremely impressed."
The 31-year-old recently said he feels he has "a lot of miles left" but would likely be in line for a short-term, team-friendly deal with the Wild, who have limited cap space.
That his point production is in decline will also affect his ability to secure term and big dollars as a free agent.
Ladd has made it clear he wants to play for a contender, and with Kyle Okposo set to hit the market, Isles' general manger Garth Snow could be looking at a suitable replacement.
The Islanders have over $15 million in cap space to work with this offseason, and although he could be seeking a raise, Ladd carried a cap hit of $4.4 million on his last contract.
Troy Brouwer is in a good spot heading into free agency.
The 30-year-old winger is coming off a solid regular season and impressive playoff performance with the St. Louis Blues, all of which will serve him well on the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
Brouwer remains in talks with the Blues on a new contract and would be happy to remain in St. Louis, but told Pierre LeBrun of ESPN he'd welcome a new opportunity and is indeed being pursued by other clubs.
"I’ve talked to a few teams. I’ve gotten phone calls to my agent from a handful more teams, so it seems like there’s a lot of good interest," Brouwers said. "I’m encouraged, absolutely, by the phone calls I’ve gotten from the teams that have reached out, and the interest that they’ve displayed. It’s kind of a pins-and-needles situation where you’re just waiting."
One of those teams, LeBrun reports, is the Calgary Flames, whom Brouwer met with in person this week.
Nothing, however, has been decided.
"All you can do is speculate right now. The teams that have shown the most interest in me are teams that I would be excited to go be a part of."
Brouwer recorded 18 goals and 21 assists in 82 games for the Blues this past season, adding eight goals and five assists in 20 playoff games. He's coming off a three-year contract that carried a salary cap hit of $3,666,666.
Five NHL teams made potentially franchise altering moves (some good, some bad) on Wednesday afternoon, and it all happened during one chaotic hour on what was an otherwise quiet summer afternoon.
In a span of an hour on Wednesday afternoon, both teams agreed to stunning, self-destructive deals. First, the Oilers sent All-Star left wing Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for underperforming defender Adam Larsson, a trade that looked to be the NHL's most lopsided since the Boston Bruins sent Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars for Loui Eriksson and a handful of beans.
So, where to begin with one of the most dramatic half hours in NHL transaction history?
Let's just say the collective hockey heart rate is still beating in the red line, even as we begin to consider all that transpired in that magical 30 minutes.
To even call the Subban deal a blockbuster would seem like under-selling it. This was something bigger, a trade that was both impossibly simple and ridiculously complex at the same time. It involves a pair of two-time first-team all-stars, both with massive contracts, both still in their prime or at least plausibly close enough. Players like that never get traded in the NHL anymore. They certainly don't get traded for each other, straight up, without any retained salary or picks or complicated conditions.
In Edmonton, there was a lot of puzzlement and head-scratching going on.
Don’t look now, but it might be going on for a while.
Welcome to Wacky Wednesday in the National Hockey League, one of the wildest days we can remember in recent memory when it comes to the world’s fastest sport.
Hockey. There is a conservatism to this game, and there is extra pressure in this country, and that pressure never stops. Edmonton was gifted with the player of a lifetime, and now the McDavid clock is ticking, so Taylor Hall was sacrificed. The Canadiens had this roaring personality, a No. 1 defenceman with all kind of gifts, and he was too big for Montreal. People wonder why Canada doesn’t win Stanley Cups anymore. Maybe Wednesday was one example why.
In the months leading up to the 2010 NHL Draft, the big question was whether Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin would be selected first overall, with both players seen as legitimate building blocks for either of the two teams slotted to make the first two selections.
Six years later, both Hall and Seguin find themselves on different teams, as both have since been traded by the Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins respectively and under the watch of general manager Peter Chiarelli.
Hall is the sixth of 2010's top six picks to be traded, leaving Skinner - who was selected seventh by the Carolina Hurricanes - left to wonder if and when he'll complete this particular group of seven.
Here's a look at the six trades in question in reverse order.
6. Brett Connolly, Tampa Bay Lightning
March 2, 2015 - Traded to the Bruins for a 2015 second-round pick and a 2016 second-round pick.
Months prior to being let go by the Bruins and desperate to add offense to a sputtering roster, Chiarelli pulled off a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning that saw Steve Yzerman give up on the player he selected with his first lottery pick as GM.
Brett Connolly scored only nine goals in 76 games for the Bruins, and new GM Don Sweeney recently decided not to sign him to a qualifying offer, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.
Unhappy with his place within the New York Islanders organization, Nino Niederreiter reportedly asked for a trade after spending the majority of the 2012-13 season in the AHL.
The Wild jumped at the opportunity, sending hard-hitting depth forward Clutterbuck the other way.
Niederreiter recorded a career-high 43 points this past season and is proving to be a reliable and capable two-way forward for the Wild.
This trade was a seemingly rare win-win deal for both clubs, with the Predators adding a long-sought after top-line center and the Columbus Blue Jackets receiving a bona fide top-pairing defenseman in return.
Incidentally, it was the first of two important trades made by GM David Poile this year.
So, within 7 months David Poile turns Seth Jones and Shea Weber into Ryan Johansen and P.K. Subban. Franchise-altering moves.
May 25, 2016 - Traded to the Vancouver Canucks along with a 2016 fifth-round pick for Jared McCann and a 2016 second-round pick and a 2016 fourth-round pick.
Canucks GM Jim Benning was looking to beef up his defense corps and sent a 2014 first-round pick (24th overall) in McCann to the Florida Panthers for the heavy-hitting, shot-blocking Erik Gudbranson.
Benning was part of Boston's brain trust in 2010 and had therefore scouted Gudbranson quite heavily in the event the Bruins weren't in line to select either Hall or Seguin.
Here's where Chiarelli's legacy begins to take shape.
Following Boston's second run to the Stanley Cup Final in three years, the Bruins decided it was prudent to trade a then 21-year-old budding star in Tyler Seguin, who had led the team in goals with 29 during his second year in the NHL but who had recorded only one goal on 70 shots during the 2013 playoffs.
The Bruins won the Presidents' Trophy in 2014 but have missed the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. And while Seguin's star only continues to rise in Dallas, the possible departure of Loui Eriksson in free agency would leave Joe Morrow as the lone player directly involved in this trade to remain on Boston's roster.
"Win now" mode in Boston has quickly turned into "what next?"
While Chiarelli had the benefit of having won a Cup as GM of the Bruins, how he goes down in the history books could be defined by the Hall trade.
Hall marked the first of four forwards selected first overall by the Oilers in the span of six years, and while Edmonton has obviously needed help on the blue line to compliment that group, few foresaw Hall being the means by which it was secured, at least not for anything less than an elite defenseman.
It's not that Larsson, who was drafted fourth overall in 2011, can't or won't turn into that kind of player for the Oilers; what makes this trade especially befuddling is that Hall is among the very best players in the league over the past four years, as evidenced by his five-on-five production.
The sense is Hall could and should have been kept or flipped for a more established defenseman at the very least.
If Larsson doesn't pan out in Edmonton, and the Oilers' perpetual rebuild only continues to stall in Hall's absence, it could spell disaster for Chiarelli.
So, Steven Stamkos won't officially hit the open market. Though he was sagacious enough to wait on signing his eight-year contract extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning until the NHL's free-agent negotiating window opened, exploring his options and getting a taste of unrestricted free agency without, well, actually reaching unrestricted free agency.
Nonetheless, Stamkos is off the board, so what does a team with oodles of cap space once reserved for a certain South Floridian sniper do with a little extra dough?
Here are five bold predictions for free agency:
Red Wings take two from Long Island
Unpleasant as it might have been, Detroit had to get out from underneath Pavel Datsyuk's contract. This is a proud organization that grabbed fewer wins than the ninth-place Bruins last year, yet scraped into the postseason for a 25th consecutive season.
Simply gaining cap flexibility isn't enough to see Detroit deviate from its downward trajectory. This money must be spent shrewdly.
With the PowerPoint presentation for Stamkos no longer needed, Detroit shifts its attention to one franchise, signing the second- and third-highest scorers for the Islanders over the last half-decade in Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen.
Oilers double down
Peter Chiarelli moved on from the margins, dealing Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils to acquire a right-shot defender with No. 1 potential in Adam Larsson. But if he's serious about changing the identity of the Oilers, he'll double down on July 1.
Instead of reaching into free-agent waters - though they may have already baited Milan Lucic - the Oilers again tap into the top six to acquire more help on the back end, trading a skilled forward to the St. Louis Blues for Kevin Shattenkirk.
Burns signs richest contract
San Jose Sharks rover Brent Burns will officially be a pending unrestricted free agent when the calendar rolls over to July, but don't bank on using that title for too long.
With Tomas Hertl's contract done and signed at a team-friendly rate, the Norris Trophy-nominated Burns will be rewarded for his 75-point season with a lucrative long-term contract extension that will dwarf the open-market deals signed after July 1.
Another Stamkos hopeful, Toronto takes a different approach than the Red Wings, falling back into the idle stance that's helped the franchise get back on track.
Toronto took in quite a few inaccurately valued short-term deals in order to dissemble over the last 12 months, so despite its influx of young talent, the Maple Leafs don't really have the room - or the need - to make lasting investments beyond goaltender Frederik Andersen.
They'll step back and save their bullets for another calendar rotation, setting themselves up nicely for the next potential game-breaking unrestricted free agent - and local kid - John Tavares.
Demers breaks bank
The interest in transition-savvy defenders Keith Yandle and Alex Goligoski was so strong this offseason that the two didn't even make it to the open market. So, on July 1, expect next-of-kin to cash in.
With Brian Campbell likely headed to a title contender at a discount rate, Jason Demers, a steady presence, capable puck mover, and possession darling, could be the most sought-after player on the open market.
Defenders have never been in greater demand, and more and more teams are peeling off the layers to uncover the details that would lend itself to a major pay day. Demers signs one of the richest free-agent contracts July 1.
A slew of injuries and stagnant contract negotiations aren't going to keep Vancouver Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis from wanting to produce at the NHL level.
The 33-year-old appears to be on his way out of Vancouver and is ready to step into the role he's accustomed to: a top blue-liner on a competitive team.
"I believe I have many good years of hockey left," Hamhuis told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. "I played in the Olympics two years ago. Last year, there were two major injuries and in the last 10 weeks I played my best hockey in a long time. I've got lots of 'top-4 D' hockey left in me, and my goal in summer traininig is to be the best defenseman on my new team. I will find a team that values what I do."
Hamhuis noted he was hopeful an extension would come from the Canucks up until early June, but realized the team may be moving in a different direction.
Despite the potential departure from his hometown team, Hamhuis was adamant he's not bitter with the way things played out.
"No, no. I don't want people to think that. I believe all their talk was genuine," he said. "This is a fluid business. You're not sure what the cap is going to be, what trades are out there. Ownership treated us unbelievably well here."
Friedman mentioned Hamhuis has spoken to three teams and the rearguard would prefer playing for a contender in the latter stages of his career.
"I'm still very competitive," Hamhuis said. "It's more fun winning."
While Wednesday's moves directly involved five clubs, their impact stretches far beyond that. Here are the winners and losers of the wheeling and dealing:
Winners
Steve Yzerman
Heading into the July 1 deadline, not many general managers felt the pressure quite like Yzerman, with the possibility of Stamkos taking his talents elsewhere with nothing more than a wave goodbye. But Yzerman wouldn't have it.
When he finally locks up the third-highest scorer in team history, Yzerman may also save his job in the process. That's not to say his job was on the line, but proving he can get such an important deal done is definitely a win on his resume.
Yzerman - while it might not have looked like it - knew what he was doing and in the end got his man.
Nashville Predators
It's rare a team can trade its captain and it's deemed a win for the franchise.
However, this was certainly the case when the Predators sent Weber to the Montreal Canadiens for Subban. In Subban, the Predators get more speed and a much younger option on the back end. Weber - almost four years older than Subban - remains under contract until the end of the 2025-26 season, while Subban's contract runs through 2021.
Factor in the supporting cast Subban now has with Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm, the Predators can let Subban do his thing - something he never quite had the opportunity to do under Michel Therrien.
Get ready Nashville.
New Jersey Devils
Quietly coming out like bandits Wednesday were the Devils.
The team flipped a defenseman who's never scored more than three goals in a season for a forward who managed the 12-best points per 60 minutes (of players with at least 200 minutes played) in 2015-16, with a solid 2.31 mark.
In Hall, the Devils address their desperate need for scoring - after finishing 30th in the NHL with 2.22 goals per game. Hall also gives the club a much heavier left side that also boasts Michael Cammalleri.
Losers
Maple Leafs/Sabres/Red Wings/etc.
With Stamkos electing to stay in Tampa Bay, it's safe to say the teams who have been doing their best to wow the 26-year-old all came out losers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs believed they could lure Stamkos back home, the Detroit Red Wings were hopeful that with Pavel Datsyuk's contract off the books they could afford Stamkos, and the Buffalo Sabres were crossing their fingers that their rebuild would be kicked into overdrive.
Rumblings at the draft suggested Bishop was in play, and that seems ever more likely with a reported $8.5 million added to the salary cap. Bishop's days in Tampa appear numbered.
Edmonton Oilers
It happened. The Oilers finally dealt a member of their top six for a right-shot defenseman.
However, the right-shot defenseman is Adam Larsson and the forward going back was Hall. While Larsson plays a heavier game and is a decent all-around defender, the fact is the Oilers dealt the player who led the team in scoring in three of the past four seasons to get him.
Larsson's career high in goals and points sit at three and 24, respectively, while in 2013-14 Hall finished seventh in league scoring.
One would think Shattenkirk would've been the preferred acquisition over Larsson.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens added more size to their blue line Wednesday, but the price was their franchise defenseman.
While Weber is no push over, to acquire him the Canadiens dealt one of the league's best defenseman who is entering his prime for one who is exiting his.
Weber remains under contract until the 2026 season and will make $12 million the next two seasons. He has a smaller cap hit than Subban, but with his deal set to expire when he's 40 years old, the Canadiens appear to be getting themselves into a bind.
With the team and city alike losing a player who was beloved by fans, sold jerseys, was a media darling, and an outspoken humanitarian in the Montreal area, it's hard to see where exactly Marc Bergevin was going with the trade.
Exiting the Montreal Canadiens with class likely wasn't difficult for the ever-perceptive P.K. Subban, but in choosing his words after being run out of town in a deal that involved Shea Weber, honesty served as a parting shot.
Though he didn't delve into specific discord between himself and the club, Subban's candor hinted at the underlying issues that were widely suspected.
"I'm just happy to be in a situation where I can excel and feel good about myself coming to the rink every day," Subban said in a conference call.
He added that he feels "a whole lot closer" to winning a Stanley Cup as a member of the Nashville Predators.
We may never know the full extent of the turmoil Subban's now detached from, but his trying relationship with head coach Michel Therrien has been well documented, while some others believe he has had a less-than-chummy relationship Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty.
