NHL Trade Rumors: Examining Latest 2018 Offseason Reports

Unless your favorite team is in the market for what amounts to damaged goods, the NHL trade route is the road to take toward marked improvement. There isn't a team in the league that is one Dan Hamhuis away from the Stanley Cup, for example.

The veteran defenseman could fit in—and possibly even thrive—given the right set of circumstances, but the batch of free agents that remains is barebones, to say the least.

That leaves making a swap as the only real way to go about a roster shakeup for general managers and teams around the league. The trade rumor mill never slumbers for long, and all it takes is one unforeseen move to send shock waves through the NHL.

That's what makes mid-July and August such an interesting time to be a fan. There isn't always a lot to keep up with, but the rumblings that are out there tend to be important. As opposed to the regular season, when fans endlessly poke and prod at coaches for who they are utilizing as their No. 6 defenseman.

Let's take a look at some of the latest rumors around the NHL.

Max Pacioretty Remains a Hot Commodity

We know a handful of things about the Max Pacioretty situation in Montreal.

We know he was almost traded to the Los Angeles Kings during the 2018 draft. Bob McKenzie of TSN shed some light on what went down and why Montreal's captain didn't end up in California. 

But the gist of it is: Pacioretty switched agents just ahead of the first round, meaning an extension with Los Angeles couldn't be finalized once the trade was agreed upon. The terms were contingent on the 29-year-old signing an extension that would keep him in L.A. beyond this year.

During that period of time, the Kings were able to come to terms with free agent Ilya Kovalchuk, lessening their need to give up assets for a scoring wing.

All the moving parts caused this deal to fall through, which lead some pundits, such as Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette, to opine that the time was right to re-up Pacioretty:

"At a time when free agents avoid Montreal as if it were ground zero for the plague—hello, John Tavares and bonjour, Paul Stastny—why would the Canadiens think about trading a player who wants to play here, one who has embraced the city and the pressure that accompanies playing hockey here?

"Why would the Canadiens think about trading a player who has invested his time and money in making this city a better place to live through his involvement with the city's hospitals and other charities?"

Fair questions, and based on what we know about general manager Marc Bergevin, it probably has something to do with culture.

Just a few days after the Gazette published that op-ed, Marc Antoine Godin of The Athletic reported the Canadiens had let Pacioretty know they wouldn't be trying to work out an extension for his contract.

Which makes sense, right? What with Jonathan Drouin getting a six-year deal from the club in 2017 and Andrew Shaw sticking around for six after inking an extension in 2016. Hey, maybe Max Domi will pan out and he can ink a contract for a half-decade or more too.

But keeping Pacioretty around and paying him what he's worth? Nah. Apparently.

Not surprisingly, quality organizations such as the Chicago Blackhawks have shown an interest, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period:

Erik Karlsson Wheels Continue to Turn

It seems like one-third of the teams in the NHL have been connected to Erik Karlsson. They all seem to have more than a desire to add the All-World defenseman in common as well.

That's because no one has been willing to pay the Ottawa Senators' (ridiculous) asking price for the blueliner.

Back in February, TSN sportscaster Darren Dreger (h/t FRS Sports Network) outlined what a possible Karlsson trade could look like, noting "multiple first-round picks and top-end prospects" were what general manager Pierre Dorion wanted.

On top of that, the Senators also want to offload Bobby Ryan's monster contract alongside Karlsson, likely meaning it would take getting a third team involved to make something work.

If an organization is trading a bundle of first-round picks and prospects for the Swede, it's because they think he will help them win a Stanley Cup in the next three or four years.

And if said team has their championship window open, they don't have an extra $7.5 million in cap space just lying around until 2022. At least not for the shell of Bobby Ryan.

Chris Stevenson of The Athletic recently weighed in on the situation: "I don't think Dorion is going to blink here. If he doesn't get what he thinks is fair value for Karlsson (start with Miro Heiskanen from the Dallas Stars and Brayden Point or Mikhail Sergachev from the Tampa Bay Lightning), I think he's ready to start the season with Karlsson, as uncomfortable as that might be for all the parties concerned."

The Stars and Lightning have been considered the front-runners for Karlsson this summer, but neither club seems interested in giving Dorion what he wants.

The reality is that if the 28-year-old isn't traded sometime this season, he will be a free agent on July 1. At that juncture, no one will have to give up five-plus high-end assets to land him.

They will just have to pay him what he's worth. Which is what this whole spat with the Senators started over.

Dallas and Tampa's refusal to move their top prospects has bogged down a potential deal, though, opening the door for sleepers such as the San Jose Sharks to sneak into the conversation, per Pagnotta:

Detroit Red Wings Could Still Trade Andreas Athanasiou

The Detroit Red Wings entered the offseason with a handful of important restricted free agents to sign.

On July 5, Andreas Athanasiou inked a two-year deal worth a total of $6 million, meaning his role as a member of the team's core was safe for at least another two seasons. Right?

Not so fast, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: "It would not be surprising to see the Wings trade Athanasiou. If they get a good offer—at least a second-round pick or a good prospect, preferably a defenseman—he could be flipped to help the rebuild."

The relationship between Athanasiou and the Red Wings has always been perplexing. Despite getting third-line minutes, he produces offense like a decent first-line forward would be expected to. Over the past two seasons, no one on Detroit's roster has scored more five-on-five goals than AA.

Not Dylan Larkin, not Anthony Mantha and not Gustav Nyquist. No one.

Yet Athanasiou is perceived as being expendable because he does not appear as electric as he should for a player with his speed. It would be quite fair to point out the 23-year-old routinely gets caved in defensively, but that's a team-wide issue.

It's not like he's hitting the ice with Patrice Bergeron and putting up negative Corsi differentials. Only three Red Wings forwards finished on the right side of 50 percent in terms of their Corsi for percentage, according to Corsica.Hockey, and only Mantha finished with a number that wasn't just a hair over 50.

He scores goals—albeit inconsistently—skates like the wind and put up possession numbers similar to Henrik Zetterberg's in 2017-18. And he can be had for a second-round draft pick apparently.

If that's the case, don't expect Athanasiou to finish out the year in Detroit.