NHL Rumors: Top Trade Reports Following 2016 Stanley Cup Final

The Edmonton Oilers endured yet another season of missing the NHL playoffs, and while he has been running the team for just one year, there is pressure on general manager Peter Chiarelli to turn the situation around soon.

The Oilers have not been able to fashion a winning team out of top draft picks in recent years. While there is no single reason for their failings, a lack of solid defensive play and leadership is clearly a big part of their problem.

Chiarelli may be willing to trade talented young players for solid veterans who can upgrade the blue line and provide leadership. Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have been the subjects of trade rumors for months, but NHL insider Darren Dreger reports that Taylor Hall may also be available in a trade.

"Eberle’s name has been out there forever," Dreger said on TSN 1260 (h/t Chris Nichols of Today's Slapshot). "Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ name has been out there. I’ll tell you what—during the Stanley Cup Final, Taylor Hall’s name became more of a name of interest than the other two, for obvious reasons."

The 24-year-old Hall is a six-year NHL veteran. He scored 26 goals and added 39 assists last year and has tallied 132 goals and 196 assists for his career. 

Count the New York Islanders as one of the teams that would like to acquire Hall, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday.

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One of the keys to making that happen would be to trade Travis Hamonic, but the defenseman has since rescinded a trade request he made earlier in the year as a result of a family illness. 

Hamonic had asked to be traded early in the 2015-16 season, but since the illness is no longer impacting his family, he doesn't need the Islanders to move him.

The Boston Bruins are among the teams that are looking for a veteran defenseman, and Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that general manager Don Sweeney may be interested in making a move for St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.

Shattenkirk has one year remaining on his contract with a cap hit $4.25 million in 2016-17. The Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes and Oilers may also be interested in Shattenkirk, according to Garrioch. The Bruins and Sabres may have the edge in completing a deal with the Blues because St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong would prefer to send Shattenkirk out of the Western Conference.

Shattenkirk scored 14 goals and notched 30 assists for the Blues this year, but he finished the season at an alarming minus-14 for a team that compiled the second-best record in the Western Conference during the regular season. Shattenkirk tallied two goals and nine assists in 20 postseason games, but he also was minus-eight in those games.