Latest NHL Trade Rumors, Free-Agency Buzz Ahead of 2025 Regular-Season Openers

The NHL kicks off its regular season on Tuesday, October 7 with a triple header featuring the Chicago Blackhawks at the Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers, and Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings.

Ahead of those three blockbuster games, the league's trade and free agency rumor mill are running wild, with high-profile names making up some of the most eyebrow-raising insider reports in the sport.

What are those reports and how might they affect the teams and players involved?

Find out in this collection of them.

Latest on Rasmus Andersson's Calgary Future

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On the Love Hockey podcast (1:20:44), NHL insider David Pagnotta reported that Rasmus Andersson's future in Calgary is uncertain, noting that the star defenseman may not be "gung ho" about staying, or he would have signed an extension by now.

He added that the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights are "his two top teams that he would like to go to" and reiterated that there was a trade in place to send him to the Los Angeles Kings pending an extension and "he didn't want to go there."

Andersson is a free agent after this season, making it imperative that Flames management either convinces him to buy-in and sign the extension or finds a trade partner. He is unlikely to be moved before the season but a deadline deal is not out of the question in the new year.

His consistency makes him invaluable to Calgary but if he is disgruntled and does not want to be there, it would behoove the organization to find a team that is willing to take him on, and sign him to a long-term deal, and collect whatever it can in return.

The 28-year-old still has plenty of prime hockey left in him and is coming off a season in which he played all 81 games, scored 11 goals and tallied 20 assists. He was on the ice for just shy of 24 minutes each game.

Either Dallas or Vegas, in pursuit of their latest Stanley Cup, would be ecstatic to welcome a player of his stature to the team for the right price. What Calgary is ultimately willing to let him go for will likely determine whether he gets his wish to play for one of those two franchises or guts it out with the Flames before hitting free agency next year, giving his current team nothing in return for his services.

Chicago Preparing Trade to Offload Lukas Reichel

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NHL insider Frank Seravalli told B/R that the Chicago Blackhawks have been active this offseason in talking to other teams about a deal for former first-rounder Lukas Reichel, but are not expecting a huge haul for the young player.

Chicago selected Reichel with the 21st pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, but the German center has struggled in the five years since to put his game together.

He has yet to score 10 goals or 15 assists in any season, has not seen an average of 20 minutes of ice time, and his shooting percentage never exceeded his career high of 16.7 in 2022.

Inconsistency on the ice has left the Blackhawks with no choice but to try and deal him and get something in return, a severing of their relationship that should be beneficial for both sides.

Seravalli added that the deal will likely happen next week, before rosters are completed, and that the team is looking at a potential mid-to-late-round pick.

The idea of such a unsatisfactory return has to be disappointing for a player whose raw ability and skating is there, but has never come together to produce the star the team thought it was getting half a decade ago.

Marc-Andre Fleury's Phone Will Ring in January

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Marc-Andre Fleury wrapped up a brilliant career on September 27 in a cameo with the Pittsburgh Penguins, tending net one last time and saying goodbye to the fans who supported him during the team's Stanley Cup seasons.

Despite hanging up the skates, Fleury should expect to receive more than a few calls come January, per NHL insider Pierre LeBrun.

"So I will just say this: I believe teams will try to convince Fleury out of retirement in January. I don't know what he will say, but I am telling you teams will call, 100 percent," he posted on X.

Fleury's agent, Allan Walsh, quoted the post and added the wide-eyed emoji, creating buzz.

It is not difficult to see why Fleury would garner interest in the new year.

The 40-year-old goalie still played 53 minutes per game, won 14 of his 22 starts, and tallied a respectable .899 save percentage. He played for a playoff team in Minnesota and proved he could still be a contributor to their postseason run.

Any team with playoff or Stanley Cup aspirations, who believes they are a goalie away from being a legitimate contender, will call Fleury come January and it will be up to "Flower" to decide at that time if he wants to strap the pads back on and chase a fourth cup.