NHL Rumors: Latest Buzz on Possible Max Pacioretty Trade, Colton Parayko, More

Earlier this week, the Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres reminded hockey fans that there is no offseason in the NHL. Trades can break at any time, and most big swaps will go down as the heat index rises across North America.

Jeff Skinner was shipped to the Sabres in exchange for a bundle of futures on August 2, a full month after the opening day of free agency and 41 days after the first round of the NHL draft.

Do general managers ever get vacation time? It certainly doesn't seem like it.

While players hit the links and lakes for leisure, GMs are still hard at work, making sure their team is as strong as it possibly can be. Based on what we know, these are the teams and players to keep a close eye on in the coming weeks as training camp draws closer.

Montreal Canadiens Will Struggle to Obtain Market Value for Max Pacioretty

The return for Skinner wasn't great for Carolina, but that's because the player held all the cards with a no-movement clause.

Andy Strickland of Fox Sports even reported that the forward turned a handful of trades down before the Sabres swooped in and bought low:

Meanwhile, in Montreal, the Canadiens are struggling to get a solid return for Max Pacioretty, but for a different set of reasons. 

According to Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette, the Habs aren't getting strong offers for their captain because, at this point, everyone knows that general manager Marc Bergevin is determined to move on from Pacioretty:

"The problem for Bergevin is he's been trying to trade Pacioretty for months and so far it hasn't worked. So the other 30 general managers know Bergevin is desperate because it's almost unimaginable that the Habs captain will start the year with Montreal. The other GMs can offer less than market value for him, knowing full well that Bergevin doesn't have much room to maneuver.

"What I'm hearing from very reliable sources is that Canadiens management has been unhappy with Pacioretty for a while."

While we don't know just how low-ball the offers have been, we can make an educated guess based on what the Ottawa Senators received for Mike Hoffman in mid-June since they are similar forwards in terms of output.

Here's a quick glance at their counting stats over the last three seasons combined, for reference.

• Pacioretty: 227 GP, 82 goals, 168 points, 783 shots
• Hoffman: 234 GP, 77 goals, 176 points, 723 shots

Usually, a player of Hoffman's stature would have netted Ottawa a significant return. But rival general managers knew that off-ice issues would force the Senators to trade the 28-year-old before the upcoming season started.

While Pacioretty's off-ice situation is less serious comparatively, the takeaway is the same: other GMs know the Habs have no interest in re-signing him and want to trade him before September rolls around. And he hasn't been moved over the last several months, so it's safe to assume that no one else has acquiesced to Bergevin's trade demands.

Hoffman was traded for Mikkel Boedker, 2014 second-round pick Julius Bergman and a sixth-round pick in 2020. He was then traded again later that day to the Florida Panthers for a fourth- and a fifth-round pick in 2018 and a second rounder in 2019, further establishing the market for point producers that organizations simply have to trade. 

Both of those returns should make Canadiens fans nauseous, but they have no one to blame besides Bergevin. At this juncture, it seems like Montreal will be lucky to land a first-round pick from a top-15 team for Pacioretty. Let alone a bundle of high-end prospects, picks and NHL-ready youngsters.

Derek Leung/Getty Images

Toronto Maple Leafs Interested in Colton Parayko?

When the pucks are going in, keep shooting until the stick cools off.

That seems to be the approach for the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer. After wooing John Tavares away from the New York Islanders via free agency, general manager Kyle Dubas has now reportedly turned his attention to fixing up his blue line.

Not surprisingly, the wunderkind isn't going about that process in a conventional manner. While other managers may be looking to sign a veteran free agent like Luca Sbisa (yikes) or Tobias Enstrom (double yikes), Dubas is trying to pry 25-year-old Colton Parayko away from the St. Louis Blues.

This according to Howard Berger of BetweenThePosts.ca.

It's not difficult to figure out why the Maple Leafs covet Parayko. He's 6'6", has had his slap shot clocked at 104 miles per hour, and if he starts getting more pucks to the net, he could push towards the 50-point barrier during his career.

Oh, he's also signed through 2022 and has a reasonable cap hit of $5.5 million.

It's tough to imagine Doug Armstrong, one of the savviest general managers in the NHL, getting the wool pulled over his eyes by Toronto here, but it's worth noting that the two teams are chatting. And if it's about Parayko, the trade would have to be pretty significant.

Derik Hamilton/Associated Press

Artemi Panarin Could Wind Up Back in Chicago

The Columbus Blue Jackets are rapidly running out of time to figure out what to do about Artemi Panarin. In mid-July, the forward's agent confirmed that Panarin had set a September 13 deadline for contract negotiations.

At that juncture, there will be no more dialogue between Columbus and Panarin's camp, which is a major kink in Columbus' plan to attempt to convince the wing to stay over the course of the year.

As you may recall, just days ahead of the draft, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the most skilled player in Blue Jackets history had no interest in inking an extension "at this time."

So yeah, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen is between a rock and a hard place.

Does he hang on to Panarin and hope that another strong year in Ohio convinces him to remain there for the next six, seven or eight years? Should he try to get as much value via trade now, lest this devolve into a Tavares/Steven Stamkos kind of circus that follows the Blue Jackets from town to town?

Losing Panarin as a free agent next summer for nothing shouldn't even really be an option, for Columbus, but if he does make it to next summer without re-signing anywhere, expect the Chicago Blackhawks to be in on reacquiring the player they begrudgingly traded away last June.

Earlier this week, Scott Powers of The Athletic reported that Panarin would "seriously consider" returning to the Windy City as a free agent. Chicago isn't in the best shape cap-wise, but Powers whipped up a projected 2019-20 roster with Panarin carrying a $9 million cap hit and it looked solid.

The Blackhawks would need a number of young defensemen to hit the ground running, but it's plausible.