Free Agent Frenzy is just under one month away and TSN.ca keeps you up to date with all the latest news and rumours as the NHL off-season heats up.
Maple Leafs eyeing Trocheck?
Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports the Toronto Maple Leafs have reached out to the New York Rangers to inquire on veteran centre Vincent Trocheck.
Walker reports the Maple Leafs reached out in the wake of ruling forward Max Domi out indefinitely as the team looks for a second-line centre. She points to a high draft pick, forward Nick Robertson and prospect Ben Danford as a possible package required to complete the deal. While Matthew Knies is “on the Rangers radar,” Walker isn’t convinced the Maple Leafs are ready to part with the promising winger.
Trocheck was heavily involved in trade rumours ahead of the trade deadline in March, with the Minnesota Wild and Detroit Red Wings leading the list of suitors. According to Walker, neither the Red Wings or Wild, or the Montreal Canadiens or Ottawa Senators - who have also been linked to Trocheck - have reached out to the Rangers yet this off-season.
The 5-foot-11 centre is entering the fifth season of a seven-year, $39.375 million contract that carries an annual cap hit of $5.625 million. He has a 12-team no-trade list that will shift down to 10 teams on July 1.
Trocheck, who will turn 33 in July, had 16 goals and 53 points in 67 games with the Rangers last season. He also represented the United States at the Olympics, recording three assists en route to winning a gold medal alongside Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews.
Widely expected to keep the first overall pick and select Gavin McKenna later this month, the Maple Leafs have already traded away their first-round picks in 2027 and 2028. The team does own the Colorado Avalanche’s first-rounder (top-10 protected) in 2027 as well as two second-round picks next year.
Toronto enters the off-season with plenty of cap space, holding $22.3 million, per PuckPedia, with 20 players already under contract for next season. Robertson, Matias Maccelli and Jacob Quillan are slated for restricted free agency, while Calle Jarnkrok and Troy Stecher are pending unrestricted free agents.
Making a deal for Trocheck would be an aggressive first move for general manager John Chayka, who was fired into the role last month last month after Brad Treliving was fired in-season. The Maple Leafs missed the playoffs this year for the first time since 2016, when the club selected Matthews first overall.
Latest on Gallagher
Montreal Canadiens veteran forward Brendan Gallagher made it clear this week that his time with the club is at an end.
Gallagher posted seven goals and 23 points in 77 games during the regular season, but appeared in just three playoff games, posting one goal. The 34-year-old winger was the oldest player on Montreal’s roster this season and saw a career-low 12:21 of ice time.
He remains signed through next season at a cap hit of $6.5 million in the last of a six-year, $39 million contract.
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger updated Gallagher’s situation Wednesday on Insider Trading.
“Well, he wants to play. I think he made that abundantly clear earlier this week, but there’s going to have to be some work done by general manager Kent Hughes and the agent who represents Brendan Gallagher, and that’s Gerry Johansson," Dreger said. “I believe that Johansson, if he doesn’t have it already, ultimately will get permission to speak with other clubs.
“But Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens want to do right by Brendan Gallagher. So that means finding not only the right team, a team that’s willing to take him going into the final year of his current NHL contract, but where Gallagher is a useful day-by-day fit within that roster.
“Maybe for some clubs that gets a little bit more complicated. I mean, you can look at teams that are either entering a rebuild, or in the process of a rebuild, who would love to add the character and the playability of Brendan Gallagher at this point in his career.
“So there’s some work that needs to be done, but none of this blindsided the organization. I don’t think they were talking about it during the postseason, but definitely Kent Hughes, the GM, did have some conversation with Gallagher going into the playoffs and then at varying points over the course of the regular season, most definitely touch base with the agent, Gerry Johansson.”
Gallagher spent the four seasons before making the leap with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants and said Monday he has thought about returning to the city.
“That’s an opportunity that’s there,” he said. “I’ll sit down with my wife and figure out what’s best for our family and you go forward.”
“But certainly, Vancouver, it would be a great place,” he added.
Gallagher has spent his entire 14-year NHL career with the Canadiens, having been selected by the team in the fifth round of the 2010 draft.
Lee headed for the market?
New York Islanders captain Anders Lee is preparing to hit free agency.
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reported on Wednesday that Lee’s agent Neil Sheehy met with Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche and both sides are far apart in contract talks.
LeBrun adds that while the Islanders intend to keep trying to re-sign their captain, the pending unrestricted free agent “appears most likely headed to market at the moment.”
Lee, 35, had 19 goals and 42 points in 82 games with the Islanders this season.
The 6-foot-3 winger - ranked 14th in TSN’s list of available UFAs - is coming off a seven-year, $49 million contract that carried a cap hit of $7 million.
Drafted 152nd overall by the Islanders in 2009, Lee has 308 goals and 549 points in 923 career games and was named captain of the Islanders in October of 2018.
Lee helped lead the Islanders to the Eastern Conference Final in 2020 and 2021, losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning both times.
