NHL Rumors: Latest Buzz on Mikael Granlund, Mike Hoffman, Lightning

The holding pattern continues this NHL offseason. With no official start date for the 2020-21 season, there hasn't been much action over the past month after the initial flurry of moves that came with the arrival of free agency.

No unrestricted free agent has inked a deal since Nov. 13, and there hasn't been a trade completed since Oct. 12. Perhaps the league's 31 teams are waiting to see when the season will start before finalizing their rosters and figuring out whether they have enough financial flexibility to add another standout player or two.

There are still good players available on the market who are sure to be able to make impacts once signed, so that's not the reason for this standstill.

Here's some of the latest buzz from around the NHL in the meantime.

Granlund, Hoffman Continuing to Draw Interest

Two of the top players still on the free-agent market are center Mikael Granlund and forward Mike Hoffman. Both are offensive standouts who could provide boosts to teams' attacks.

According to Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest, the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets are among the teams that have shown interest in Granlund, a 28-year-old entering his ninth NHL season. After beginning his career with the Minnesota Wild, he was traded to the Nashville Predators during the 2018-19 campaign and then also spent this past season with the team.

There appears to remain a possibility that Granlund could be heading back to Nashville. Or perhaps Hoffman will end up there instead. Strickland also reported that the Predators have interest in both Granlund and Hoffman, but they have a "much better chance" of signing Hoffman.

In October, Hoffman's agent, Robert Hooper, told The Athletic's Adam Vingan that 13 teams had expressed interest in the 31-year-old. Given that's close to half the league and the Preds' closing contention window, it's feasible that Nashville could be among those.

Hoffman has tallied at least 56 points in each of the past five seasons. In 2019-20, he had 29 goals and 30 assists in 69 games in his second season with the Florida Panthers.

While Granlund's numbers haven't been quite as impressive (his 30 points in 2019-20 were his fewest in a season in which he's played at least 63 games), he's shown what he's capable of. His best two-season stretch came from 2016-18 when he tallied 136 points (47 goals and 89 assists) over 158 games.

Although Granlund and Hoffman are still free agents in early December, it would be surprising if they are not on rosters by the time the 2020-21 season arrives.

How Will Lightning Clear Salary-Cap Space?

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

The Tampa Bay Lightning may be the Stanley Cup champions, but they are facing a financial dilemma this offseason. The salary cap for the 2020-21 season is $81.5 million, and the Lightning are at $83.4 million. So they are going to need to make some moves.

Not to mention, Tampa Bay still has two restricted free agents who aren't under contract for next season: center Anthony Cirelli and defenseman Erik Cernak. If it wants to bring back one or both of those players, it will need to clear even more space.

So what will the Lightning do? According to The Athletic's Joe Smith, they are "either shopping or listening on" trades for center Alex Killorn and defenseman Ryan McDonagh. They have also already shown interest in moving center Tyler Johnson, who cleared waivers in October.

Smith also reported that the Lightning likely don't want to trade forward Ondrej Palat, "but it might get to the point where they have to consider everything." Palat is coming off a 2019-20 season in which he had 41 points (17 goals and 24 assists) in 69 games, one of his best showings in recent years.

While Killorn, McDonagh, Johnson and Palat each has some form of no-trade clause in his contract, Smith noted that Killorn's provides more flexibility than the others.

"His no-trade clause is the only one of those four that's modified, with a list of 16 teams to where he can't be dealt," Smith wrote.

Does that mean Killorn could be the one traded before the 2020-21 season? That's unclear. However, it is apparent that the Lightning are going to have to make at least one more move this offseason.