NHL Trade Rumors: Latest Updates on Milan Lucic, Artemi Panarin and More

With the opening of free agency happening this weekend, NHL trade rumors may not be at the forefront of everyone's minds.

Most eyes are focused on John Tavares and where he'll end up—Arthur Staple of The Athletic reported yesterday that if the center leaves the New York Islanders, it will likely be for the San Jose Sharks or Toronto Maple Leafs—but he's not the only player who could be swapping colors in the coming weeks.

The rumor mill is as active as ever, and while free-agent frenzy usually only lasts a day or two, shocking trades can happen at any time during the summer. Just ask P.K. Subban and Shea Weber.

Those two defensemen were swapped on this day two years ago.

As free agents sign deals, general managers will be forced to take the trade route to fill in holes on their roster. Don't be surprised if we start to see some noteworthy moves as early as the first week of July.

Columbus Blue Jackets Not Trading Artemi Panarin For Futures

By just about every measure, Artemi Panarin is one of the best forwards in the NHL. Last season, he averaged 2.2 points per 60, and Columbus' goals-for per 60 soared whenever he was out on the ice.

Players like him don't typically become available, and when they do, the entire hockey world takes notice. At this juncture, the Blue Jackets aren't in a rush to trade Panarin, however. They have months to try to convince him to stay in Ohio.

Teams are calling, but general manager Jarmo Kekalainen has no interest in swapping the wing for futures, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic earlier this week:

"If the Blue Jackets are to trade Panarin, they want it to be a 'today' trade. That is, they want at least one established player (maybe two) who can impact the roster in 2018-19, not just a combination of high-end prospects and first-round picks... So far, none of the offers from those clubs could be deemed a 'today' trade. As of Monday, Kekalainen had received a few offers with picks and promising young players who would likely benefit the Blue Jackets in 2020-21 or 2021-22."

Another key development to emerge from Portzline's column is that Panarin doesn't have a short list of teams that he'd prefer to end up with. His agent, Daniel Milstein, told The Athletic that there was "no official list," which runs contrary to Elliotte Friedman's report for Sportsnet that Panarin wants to land in Los Angeles, Florida or New York.

Montreal and St. Louis Keeping Close Tabs on Ryan O'Reilly

This situation has been overshadowed by a handful of others, but the Ryan O'Reilly trade chatter only gets more interesting as time goes on.

Because of Eric Engels' Sportsnet report from earlier this week, we know that he was almost traded at the draft and was close to becoming a member of the Montreal Canadiens. It fell through when the early stages of the first round didn't unfold as expected, but that doesn't mean the Habs have given up on the idea of landing the center.

The team's biggest offseason need was to acquire a legit top-six pivot, and O'Reilly would certainly fit that bill. Adding him would allow Jonathan Drouin to slide down to the second line—a role he's much more suited for—and would solidify the top unit for years to come.

The trade won't be a cheap one (a fact some aren't particularly worried about, to be fair), however, and the Sabres aren't in a rush to ship O'Reilly out of town either.

Edmonton Oilers May Have Milan Lucic Trade in Place

When rumblings that the Edmonton Oilers would try to trade Milan Lucic this summer surfaced several weeks back, it didn't seem particularly plausible. His contract is just plain awful, hitting the cap for $6 million until 2023, and he's coming off of a brutal season.

It's not exactly the ideal scenario when trying to trade a player. It sounds like the Oilers may have actually found a taker, however.

If Lucic does end up getting moved, it will be intriguing to see exactly what the return is. Tons of teams have cap space right now, but why pay a 30-year-old who is coming off of his worse statistical season in eight years?

Based on everything we know about aging curves, Lucic won't improve in 2018-19. Or the year after that. Maybe he scores 11 or 12 goals instead of 10, but that still isn't worth what he hits the cap for.

To move him, it seems likely that the Oilers would either need to retain some salary or throw in a pretty enticing sweetener. Maybe they'd need to do both. He's a player worth keeping an eye on once Edmonton pays him his bonus, if for no other reason than it will be another entry into the lengthy "spot the sucker GM" registry.