NHL Rumors: Latest Reports on Day 2 of 2015 Draft

The action ramped up at the conclusion of the 2015 NHL draft.  

Following an easy beginning on Friday with 30 first-round picks, Saturday brought with it the final 181 picks over six rounds. Even though the draft just finished up, the trade winds continue to blow. 

Teams are constantly shifting where they pick, as well as what they want to do with assets already in place, so discussions of deals figure to take up more time on Saturday than celebrating who was actually taken. 

Not every deal will end up happening, but it's hard to fault a general manager for exploring all the options at hand. Here are the latest rumblings coming from this year's draft. 

Pittsburgh's Scoring Quest

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The Pittsburgh Penguins were quiet on Day 1 of the draft by design since they didn't have a first-round pick.

That didn't mean the front office wasn't trying to make something happen behind the scenes, as TSN's Bob McKenzie reported, the Penguins wanted to find scoring wingers:

SportsNet.ca's Damien Cox reported the Penguins were looking at Kessel and noted other teams wanted Pittsburgh's young defensemen in return. 

Kessel is going to be a problem for most teams to acquire in a deal because he's got a cap hit of $8 million through 2022. Considering the Penguins already have expensive players in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, adding another pricey piece could be problematic. 

That's why it makes sense when Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the Penguins and St. Louis Blues had discussions about T.J. Oshie:

Oshie is only signed through 2017 with a cap hit of $4.175 million each of the next two years. He also makes sense as a potential trade candidate because the Blues seem to have peaked with this current group, losing in the first round of the playoffs each of the last two seasons.  

Both the Penguins and Blues need to shake things up to get out of their recent playoff malaise. Even though nothing seems imminent, as Rutherford mentioned, negotiations can change in a hurry when desperation comes into play. 

Patrick Sharp's Limbo

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It's not a secret the Chicago Blackhawks will have to make some changes when the contracts of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews combine to account for 30 percent of the salary cap next season, per ESPN.com's Scott Powers. 

Those are two expensive investments well worth the money, but it will hinder what Chicago general manager Stan Bowman can do with the rest of his roster. 

Patrick Sharp, who has two years left on his deal with a total of $11.8 million in cap hits, could be the odd man out even though nothing has happened yet. 

According to David Pagnotta of TheFourthPeriod.com, the Blackhawks were moving close to a deal involving Sharp:

Yet nearly 24 hours after that report, nothing has come of Sharp being traded. It's either a testament to the Blackhawks not wanting to budge on their return or waiting out the market to see if something better comes along. 

Given how much success the Blackhawks have had since 2010, they deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to what they do or don't do with the roster. Sharp is a valuable asset when healthy with four All-Star appearances under his belt, but he has missed 68 total games in two of the last three seasons . 

Kris Versteeg Discussions

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Sticking with the Blackhawks, since that's where a lot of the action seems to be moving now, another name that has gone on the trade block is winger Kris Versteeg. 

According to Renaud Lavoie of the Montreal Journal, Versteeg was one of three Blackhawks being shopped leading up to the draft:

There was a later report from Steve Zipay of Newsday that Versteeg nixed a trade to the Montreal Canadiens. 

However, ESPN's Pierre LeBrun noted on Twitter that he texted Versteeg, who denied a potential trade to any team:

Since Versteeg still hasn't been traded, it's impossible to know what happened and when. The only thing that is for certain is Chicago will make a move at some point. A team doesn't put this many players out there, even if it's just reports, without something happening. 

Versteeg might be more appealing to teams in a potential trade. He's only signed for one more season with a cap hit of $2.2 million. Like Sharp, he missed time (21 games) last year but makes a lot less money. 

Eventually, the Blackhawks will make a deal because the salary-cap constraints will start to plague the franchise. Versteeg makes sense as a prime candidate because of his contract. 

Contract information via Spotrac.com.