NHL Rumors: Buzz on Maple Leafs, Potential Trades and More

With a weak free-agent class looming, the trade market has already been vibrant and will likely continue to be so, with some intriguing names bouncing around the rumor mill.

Below, we'll break down several of the players who could be moved in the coming days, highlighted by the Toronto Maple Leafs and the many moves the team would like to make (but just hasn't been able to pull off quite yet).

Toronto Maple Leafs

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The Maple Leafs may have had big plans for this offseason, but to this point, well, the roster overhaul some expected hasn't exactly materialized, as Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun wrote:

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The market for Phil Kessel was thin and only marginally active.

The market for Tyler Bozak, Kessel’s centre of choice, was non-existent. The Leafs did not receive a single phone call inquiring about Bozak’s availability.

The two players that Brendan Shanahan would most like to move remain with his club and now a strategy revision of sorts is likely underway.

The Leafs would like to move Kessel, who apparently wants to stay. And they want to keep captain Dion Phaneuf, who apparently wants to leave. And since Shanahan talked avidly about changing the culture and the leadership group of the club, not one player of consequence has been moved out yet.

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Kessel, at least, seems likely to be traded, though the Maple Leafs aren't going to just give away a player who has scored 20 or more goals in seven straight seasons and 30 or more goals in five of those seasons.

Just 27, Kessel is an absolute sniper, and playoff contenders looking for a player to pair with a talented center—perhaps one on a second line, such as Evgeni Malkin on the Pittsburgh Penguins—have to be giving him a long, hard look.

In a weak crop of free agents, trading for Kessel is perhaps even more appealing than it might have been in summers past. That means the market for Kessel will almost assuredly heat up, though given Toronto's inability to turn the squad over during the draft, the Leafs may instead approach the season seeing if they can build around the current core.

Or, that's what they'll say to generate a market around the players they are looking to move. It should be an interesting summer in Toronto—that much is for certain.

Slava Voynov

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Apparently teams were interested in bringing aboard Slava Voynov. And apparently, the Los Angeles Kings were having none of it.

Per Simmons, "The Los Angeles Kings took some calls on the suspended defenceman Slava Voynov, but have no intentions of moving him."

The NHL suspended Voynov indefinitely with pay after he was arrested on charges of domestic abuse. His trial is scheduled to start on July 6. The team suspended him separately after he suffered an off-ice injury.

It's a bit curious that teams were interested in potentially acquiring Voynov before his trial concludes, though the Kings have little to lose by keeping him since his team suspension won't affect the salary cap for next season.

In other words, the Kings can play the wait-and-see game with Voynov's legal woes.

Kevin Bieksa

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The Vancouver Canucks nearly dealt Kevin Bieksa to the San Jose Sharks during the draft, but San Jose's unwillingness to include a second-round pick this year rather than next year led to the deal falling apart, per Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com.

Vancouver's general manager Jim Benning spoke with LeBrun in more detail about the deal that didn't materialize:

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"Going in, the market place dictates that Johnny Boychuk went for two second-round picks," Benning said, citing last fall’s deal between the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders. "Kevin is a little bit older. That’s what our asking price was [a second-round pick this year]. I don’t think it’s too much, I think it’s fair. That’s what we were trying to get if we were going to move Kevin."

But for now, Bieksa remains a Canuck, although sources suggest Vancouver is talking to other teams.

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The Canucks likely would prefer to get assets they could incorporate this season rather than next since they are perennial playoff contenders, so their unwillingness to make the deal with San Jose makes sense. And certainly, teams approaching the Canucks now will have a pretty good idea of the general value they place upon the player, so there shouldn't be too many surprises in future negotiations.

Just don't expect a second-round pick next season to get the deal done.