NHL Rumors: Notable Trade Reports on Road to 2018 Draft

There are many elements that make the 2018 NHL draft potentially explosive. For starters, there is virtually no consensus about which prospect is going where after the first two selections.

Rasmus Dahlin is the best defenseman available since Drew Doughty in 2008 or Victor Hedman in 2009, according to one league scout, who told Gare Joyce of Sportsnet. He is presumed to be the No. 1 pick on June 22. After Dahlin is the high-end scoring forward, Andrei Svechnikov, who has drawn comparisons to Patrik Laine and Alex Ovechkin, per Steve Kournianos of the Sporting News.

They will be the first two players off the board. After that, it's anyone's guess as to who will be drafted where. This means we could see a squad frantically trying to trade up if one of their guys slips, or trading down if they think they can add more than one quality player.

As if this didn't ripen the possibility of trades enough, there are numerous skaters rumored to be available as one of the busiest days on the NHL calendar approaches. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said on Oilers Now with Bob Stauffer that he expects there to be a lot of business going down.

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Moving Marian Hossa's Contract a Priority for Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks always seem to find creative ways to get out of salary-cap hell.

This summer, they'll be looking to dump Marian Hossa's dead money onto another team, likely by sweetening the pot with a prospect or draft pick. Think deals like the one we saw the Detroit Red Wings negotiate to get rid of Pavel Datsyuk's cap hit, or how Chris Pronger's deal was handled by the Philadelphia Flyers.

Cap space is a commodity in its own right, and teams around the league could help Chicago take care of its Hossa problem.

It's not a trade that would make the league particularly happy, and we may even see dead-money deals get axed when it comes time to negotiate the next CBA. But right now, general manager Stan Bowman has the ability to dump Hossa's cap hit onto a budget team that is looking to get to the salary-cap floor without spending any actual money.

Scott Powers of The Athletic recently reported the Blackhawks would be willing to part with their No. 8 pick in the first round in the "right situation." Could the "right situation" be a trade that gets Hossa's $5.275 million cap hit off the books, freeing them up to be big-time players in free agency?

Boston Bruins 'Could be Very Active'

Chicago isn't the only franchise looking to be active this summer. The Boston Bruins have been popping up in the rumor mill frequently over the last few weeks, and for various reasons.

TSN's Darren Dreger mentioned them as one of the leading contenders to land Ilya Kovalchuk's services on Montreal's TSN 690 (h/t FRS Hockey), but general manager Don Sweeney isn't just looking to add a big-fish free agent. Various reports indicate he wants to make a handful of moves on the trade front as well.

Dreger was on Buffalo's WGR 550 recently, and spoke at length about what the mindset is for the Bruins right now (h/t to Chris Nichols of FRS Hockey for the transcription):

"I know that there are teams calling on David Krejci as well, and the Bruins would like to move Backes. I think they're a little reluctant to consider trading David Krejci, but every player has a price tag. So I think we need to look at Don Sweeney, the GM of the Bruins, as being perhaps a team and a GM who could be very active in the days ahead."

Krejci has a modified no-trade clause, so he holds almost all of the power for now, but it's odd to hear the center's name mentioned as a possible trade candidate for the Bruins.

The same can't be said for David Backes; his five-year, $30 million contract was bad the day he signed it, and after failing to crack 40 points in back-to-back years for Boston, Sweeney is going to have a hard time moving the forward.

Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe also believes the Bruins will try to pry Noah Hanifin away from the Carolina Hurricanes, which could possibly go down at the draft. The defenseman went to Boston College and was a player Sweeney coveted back at the 2015 draft.

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Florida Panthers in on Max Pacioretty?

Over the last few months, Max Pacioretty has become a staple in the rumor mill. He's ranked fifth on TSN's trade bait board, and as the Montreal Canadiens try to shake up their roster (again), it seems likely that they'll be dealing away their captain.

It's just been a matter of finding the right trade partner, and an intriguing name has emerged this past week. Teams around the league would love to add Pacioretty, and it sounds like the Alex Galchenyuk swap has galvanized those conversations.

One of the teams that has picked up some steam over the last few days has been the Florida Panthers. They were a mid-range scoring team in 2017-18, so it's not too difficult to see why they would want to add someone like Pacioretty to their roster.

Who could be going the other way, though?

Florida rosters several young players (namely centers) the Canadiens could covet. Would the Panthers be willing to trade Vincent Trocheck or Nick Bjugstad if it meant Pacioretty arriving in Florida? It's speculation on our part, but those are the kinds of names Florida would likely have to consider moving to land the wing.

It's something to keep an eye over the course of the upcoming draft weekend.