NHL Rumour Roundup: Stars, Islanders among teams to watch

Holiday shopping season is in full swing… just maybe not in the NHL quite yet, where wish lists are growing long, but actual deals have yet to come to fruition.

With so little separation between the contenders and the sellers, the messy middle extending to much of the league while injuries hamper plans, it’s hard to figure out which teams are in position to buy and who’s going to start selling.

We’ll start there.

Stars, Islanders among teams to watch as big injuries hit

The Florida Panthers have been an obvious target of trade chatter as they’ve been decimated by injuries to major stars early on, but they’re far from alone when it comes to questions about how health setbacks might fuel a big move on the trade market.

The Dallas Stars join that conversation following Tuesday’s ACL injury to Tyler Seguin. It’s clear he’ll be out for a while, but it remains to be seen whether his recovery timeline will extend beyond the regular season. That has a big impact not only on the obvious loss of his talents in the Stars’ lineup, but also when it comes to what kind of LTIR cap relief Dallas might see. If he is in fact ruled out for the rest of 2025-26, which means the remainder of the regular season and playoffs, he can be placed on season-ending LTIR and the Stars will have a sudden influx of cap flexibility (Seguin’s full cap hit, which is $9.85 million). If there’s any possibility he could return at any point, though, the cap relief would be less than half of that.

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While the Islanders aren’t as obvious a contender at this point in the season, they are in a similar position with Kyle Palmieri, who suffered an ACL tear last weekend and has been placed on injured reserve with a recovery timeline of six to eight months. With so many teams in the messy middle of the standings, it’ll be interesting to see how they proceed with any cap space they have.

Adam Fox’s injury has Rangers looking for help

While the New York Rangers don’t face the same long-term questions when it comes to defenceman Adam Fox, who’s dealing with a shoulder injury, his absence does leave New York in a tough spot. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman believes they’re looking for a little help, particularly when it comes to trying to fill the void left on the power play.

“I do think they are looking for somebody out there, and one of the names I’ve kind of heard thrown around was Erik Gustafsson, which would make some sense,” Friedman said on Friday’s Edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. There’s some familiarity there. Gustafsson, who is currently with the Detroit Red Wings’ AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids, played for the Rangers in 2023-24 and registered 25 assists with the club.

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“I don’t think there’s anything done there by any stretch of the imagination, but I know they’re looking around to see if there’s someone they can find while Fox is out,” Friedman said.

Flyers trying to calm the chatter around Tippett

There’s been chatter around the status of Philadelphia Flyers forward Owen Tippett and whether or not he might be available via trade. As Friedman explained on Friday’s podcast, there may be too much chatter.

“I think the Flyers are trying to do everything they can to calm the noise around him,” Friedman said. “I think it’s bothered him a little bit. I think he’s definitely heard it. I think the Flyers are trying to say, ‘Look, this is not our doing.’”

Friedman said he believes the Vancouver Canucks have been among the teams inquiring, but said, “I don’t think that’s gonna be happening.”

Said Friedman: “I think (the Flyers are) trying to calm down the noise, simply because this is not created by them. Sometimes names are out there because teams are looking to move guys — this is not the case with Tippett. So, we’ll see where that goes.”

Are the Sabres shopping Luukkonen?

All eyes will be on the goalie market as the season goes on, considering how many teams currently have questions at the position due to both health and performance. That could make the Buffalo Sabres an interesting team to watch when it comes to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period believes “there’s an appetite to seriously look at moving him.” Whether that means an in-season trade or if it’s something that heats up closer to the draft in June, is unclear.

Luukkonen is 4-3-1 on the season so far and has a 2.51 goals-against average and .899 save percentage. The 26-year-old’s contract is interesting — his $4.75-millin cap hit, with three more years of team control beyond this season, would appeal to plenty of clubs, and the fact that he has a modified no-trade clause that kicks in on July 1 puts a bit of a timeline on any potential deals, too.