Top NHL Trade Rumors and Free-Agency Buzz Before 2025 Draft

The Florida Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions this season, but is a third run at the most prestigious prize in professional hockey realistic if they cannot restrain the services of Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand?

The latest on the center and right wing headlines the latest trade rumors and free agency buzz, also including updates on Toronto's Mitch Marner and John Tavares, ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft, which kicks off Friday from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

Latest on the Leafs, John Tavares Contract Talks

Mathew Tsang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Toronto Maple Leafs and alternate captain John Tavares hope to get a deal done that keeps the hometown hero with his favorite childhood team moving forward, but they remain far apart in early negotiations.

Kristen Shilton of ESPN reported as much, as did The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

The latter added:

"You’ve got a 34-year-old player who doesn’t want to leave his home and a team that can ill-afford to lose a second-line center who just scored 38 goals and 74 points. Deadlines spur decisions. It’s probably still going to get done, but it’s a fascinating one to be sure."

There is no indication that Tavares wants to play anywhere but Toronto, even after the team stripped away his captain status and gave it to Auston Matthews. He played in 75 games for the Leafs this past season, scored 38 goals and tallied 38 assists for a total of 74 points, making him a considerable contributor to the team.

His contributions on the ice and leadership in the locker room is likely something the Leafs wish to retain amid an off-season that will likely see them lose Mitch Marner to the highest bidder.

Considering Tavares is fresh off one of the best seasons of his career even at age 34, and there is a distinct lack of options beyond him in free agency, expect Toronto to do what is best for the team by bringing him back, even if it means being stubborn negotiators along the way.

Which Team Is Favored to Land Marner?

R.J. Johnston/Getty Images

Speaking of Marner, the Leafs are likely to watch him walk away without getting anything in return, a staggering mismanagement of a young star. While Toronto will have to live with its decision not to extend him when the opportunity presented itself, another team is likely to benefit from the 28-year-old winger.

According to Elliott Friedman of the 32 Thoughts podcast, that team could be the Vegas Golden Knights.

Friedman reported that Vegas has emerged as the team to beat in the Marner sweepstakes.

It is not difficult to see why Vegas and any other team in the league would want to acquire a player of Marner's stature. He scored 102 points on 27 goals and 75 assists in 2025, the most of his career. He averaged ice time of 21:19 per game and enjoyed a shooting percent of 15.6.

He was the best player on the Leafs this season and someone who appears to be hitting his prime years. Acquiring a player of his talent, at such a crucial time in his career, is an opportunity that does not come along often.

Vegas is coming off a season in which it advanced to the Western Semifinals before falling to the conference champion Edmonton Oilers. Adding a potent winger, whom the offense can run through and can find the net on his own, would be an enormous "get" for the organization and catapult them into the conversation for the Western Conference's best.

If they can get the deal done, the Golden Knights would be a team that could conceivably (and realistically) compete against the Florida Panthers for a Stanley Cup, something that cannot be said about others int he same conference.

Latest on Panthers' Efforts to Re-Sign Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand

Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

The one-two punch of Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand was instrumental in the Florida Panthers repeating as Stanley Cup champions so it makes sense that the team would be focused on finding a way to retain both stars.

They may get their wish.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported, "there is a heightened sense that Bennett will be returning. The two sides discussed an eight-year agreement going into the playoffs and recently resumed negotiations."

He added that the deal will "hover around $8 million per season."

As for Marchand, there is optimism that the team can hold onto him, too.

"While there is much more negotiating to be done on Marchand’s next deal, there is a growing belief that he may stay on a multi-year deal worth somewhere in the $5 million to $6 million AAV range."

Pagnotta does caution, though, that if talks fall apart, the 37-year-old will have his pick of Stanley Cup contenders to choose from, with Toronto emerging as a favorite, as well as Los Angeles, Washington, Carolina, and Vegas.

If the Panthers do come through and get both deals done, even with a tight salary cap, there is no reason to believe Florida cannot make a legitimate run at a three-peat. A great team full of playoff-tested talent, they are the class of the Eastern Conference, at the very least, and a team few Western Conference squads can actually compete with.