NHL Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz Surrounding Matt Dumba, Tyler Johnson

With the biggest pieces off the board in free agency for the most part, the trade market is now the most fertile source for NHL general managers looking to strengthen their teams ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Yet even on that front, a blockbuster deal may not be in the offing.

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher told reporters last week that this is "the most different offseason that I've ever seen." He added that keeping the salary cap flat is restricting what teams can realistically do.

And that's before you consider how no-trade and no-movement clauses already make the process of executing a trade difficult. The Arizona Coyotes may have sent Oliver Ekman-Larsson elsewhere were he not able to significantly limit his potential landing spots.

Matt Dumba's modified no-trade clause doesn't kick in until 2021-22, but The Athletic's Michael Russo cast some doubt on the Minnesota Wild finding a suitor for the veteran defenseman:

"Now isn't the most opportune time to trade Dumba. We're in the middle of a pandemic, he's coming off a down year. So, we'll see. Vancouver never seemed really interested. I don't get the sense the Wild have interest in Calgary's Sean Monahan. I don't see a trade to be made with Winnipeg because the Jets don't have the centers. Ottawa wasn't interested despite the ability to add Dumba for a bunch of futures. Toronto moved on when it knew it wasn't getting Alex Pietrangelo. Vegas got Pietrangelo. St. Louis signed Torey Krug when Pietrangelo priced himself out of there."

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported the Wild spoke with the Florida Panthers about acquiring their first-round pick. The Panthers held onto the pick and selected Finnish center Anton Lundell.

Russo suggested the Wild might do well to continue monitoring Florida to see if the team is willing to make Sasha Barkov available. Minnesota would then send Dumba as part of a trade package to land Barkov and strengthen its attacking options.

Joe Smith of The Athletic similarly downplayed the likelihood of the Tampa Bay Lightning finding a new home for Tyler Johnson, citing a different reason.

TSN's Darren Dreger reported Oct. 6 that Johnson was working with the Lightning to facilitate a trade:

However, the interest may not be too strong, given Johnson's $5 million annual salary for the next four years.

According to Smith, the Lightning may have to add a draft pick or prospect to Johnson to get a team on board. One source told Smith that Johnson's market "has stalled" and teams appear ready to wait out the Lightning.

In a normal offseason, Tampa Bay wouldn't have a ton of leverage anyway because the franchise's salary-cap situation is less than ideal. The Lightning will want to shed some money, and everybody knows that. The COVID-19-related financial ramifications erode their position further.

Johnson has already cleared waivers. 

Eating a portion of his contract doesn't make sense for Tampa Bay because offloading his contract is the primary motivation in any trade. Forfeiting a valuable pick or prospect means losing what is a cost-controlled asset, something that is critical for a contender to fill out its roster amid a cap crunch.

At this point, general manager Julien BriseBois may have to determine which of those is the lesser of two evils.