Examining Newest NHL Rumors on Dylan Larkin, More Trade Targets in 2026 Free Agency

The NHL offseason has been defined by the number of trades that have sent players from one team to another as front offices look to acquire the talent that will bring them one step closer to that elusive Stanley Cup championship.

Three of the biggest trade chips in the game, though, have yet to move.

What is the latest on Detroit's Dylan Larkin, Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck, and Dallas' Jason Robertson?

Find out in this collection of rumors from the game's most trusted insiders.

Penguins, Jason Robertson Update

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Josh Yohe of The Athletic reported, "The Penguins are still very much open to acquiring Robertson, whom they believe could be a short- and long-term building block for president/GM Kyle Dubas' vision."

He added:

"Sources within the Penguins organization, who, as with all of the sources in this story, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private information, believe Dallas is holding out hope of signing Robertson, a restricted free agent, to a long-term deal. I sense that the Penguins wanted to engage the Stars on Robertson, but Stars GM Jim Nill never let talks get serious. Not yet, anyway."

Robertson is eligible for arbitration and could sign a one-year deal before hitting unrestricted free agency next offseason. There are questions about whether or not he actually wants to leave Dallas, having turned down a highly publicized trade to Seattle that would have paid him an AAV of $15 million.

Robertson appeared in all 82 regular-season games for the Stars last season, scoring 45 goals and tallying 51 assists, so it is not particularly surprising that teams would be interested in acquiring a durable scorer entering his prime at age 26.

Especially the Penguins, who are desperate to get younger as stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin continue the back end of their Hall of Fame careers.

A Surprise Trade Partner for Connor Hellebuyck

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Former Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck has been at the center of trade buzz since the start of the offseason. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported on his 32 Thoughts podcast that a surprise team in the West could be interested in acquiring one of the game's elite goaltenders.

"By the way, I had a couple of teams say to me they wondered if Colorado took a shot at Connor Hellebuyck," he said.

Friedman continued, "I don't know how that could work, I don't know what they would offer, and I'm not sure that Winnipeg would want to see that. But there were a couple of teams that were like, they kind of suspected that the Avalanche considered it," (h/t Aarif Deen on Colorado Hockey Now for the transcription).

One would be hard-pressed to find a team in the West that would want to see Hellebuyck join the conference juggernaut Avalanche.

Though the team once again fell short of Stanley Cup aspirations, Colorado was the President's Trophy winner for the best regular season record and has the pieces necessary to contend year in and year out.

As Friedman noted, it is highly unlikely that a contending team like Winnipeg would gleefully hand over Hellebuyck to Colorado, unless the Avalanche were to offer up superstars Nathan MacKinnon or Cale Makar.

That is unlikely to happen, as is Hellebuyck heading to Colorado.

Dylan Larkin Adds Another Team to His Trade List

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Detroit Red Wings star center Dylan Larkin has been at the center of one of the most buzzworthy trade scenarios this offseason. That does not appear to be ending soon, according to Ansar Khan's report for MLive.com.

Khan wrote that Larkin recently added another team to his trade list. "Larkin recently added the Dallas Stars to his original list that included only Florida, Minnesota and Vegas."

He added that Detroit and Dallas had discussions:

"The Red Wings had talks with the Stars and according to a league source asked for young center Wyatt Johnston in return. It doesn't hurt to ask, but there was no chance of that happening. Johnston is seven years younger than Larkin, coming off a 45-goal, 86-point season, and hasn't missed a game in four NHL seasons (incidentally, the Stars selected Johnston 23rd overall in 2021, after trading down from No. 15 with the Red Wings, who took Sebastian Cossa)."

Larkin is a superb two-way player who is an elite scorer and also capable of defending the net. He is the Red Wings captain, beloved by his teammates and the city, and has a team-friendly contract worth $8.7 million.

He also has a full no-trade clause, which means he cannot be dealt to another team without his approval first, hence the list of teams he is willing to go to to continue his pursuit of a Stanley Cup title.

It is no surprise that all four of the teams on his list are contenders.