Each day through the NHL Draft on June 22 and up until free agency on July 1, TSN.ca breaks down the latest news and rumours around the NHL.

Going All-In?

The Golden Knights have exceeded all expectations this season and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger believes the team is in position make a major splash this off-season.

Dreger told TSN Radio 1040 on Vancouver Tuesday that the Golden Knights have been linked to league's top free agent and could circle back on a trade for a premier defenceman.

Dreger: On Vegas and Tavares; on Canucks and Hanifin

Darren Dreger says that if Noah Hanifin is available, the Canucks likely would be in a large group with interest. Darren also suggests that Vegas is worth watching in the market this summer, and could have interest in a Tavares or a Karlsson trade

"I keep hearing more and more, if John Tavares truly enters the market, why wouldn't Vegas be on John Tavares' short list?" Dreger said. "It makes so much sense and look, it doesn't matter to me what the Ottawa Senators say and have said since the trade deadline, I know that Vegas and the Senators were in deep on an Erik Karlsson trade negotiation, pretty much right up to the wire. Unless there's too much negativity or bad blood from that experience, why wouldn't the Vegas Golden Knights re-visit that possibility.

"With more to spend [with the salary cap rising], that's good news for a lot of teams but I'm intrigued to see the Vegas Golden Knights future in the next several months here as I am any team in the league."

The Golden Knights are projected to enter the off-season with $24 million in cap space, though the team has five pending unrestricted free agents - including James Neal and David Perron - and four restricted free agents to sign.

Dreger told TSN 1040 he's heard "rumblings" Neal could ask for a contract in the range of seven-years and $42 million.


Standing Pat?

Talking to Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com on Tuesday, Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin says he does not expect to trade the team's third-overall selection in next month's NHL Draft unless they are 'blown away by a trade offer.'

"You pay a hefty price to get that pick," Bergevin told NHL.com in Buffalo ahead of this weekend's draft combine. "Obviously having the season we had, that's what gave us the right to pick that high. It's certainly not the goal when your season starts.

"But after all the pain and suffering, people will say, 'Will you ever trade that pick?' You know what? I learned from a comment (then-Blackhawks GM) Dale Tallon made when I was in Chicago. He said: 'You know what, Berg? You know how much we suffered to get that pick?' And I believe at the time it was third overall and it was Jonathan Toews. And the next year, it was Patrick Kane (with the No. 1 pick). So it's not a fun time for our fans to suffer the way they did this year, but we're going to get rewarded in Dallas with a pick we feel will make our team better in the long haul. That's the price to pay."


Open Ears

Two reports surfaced last week that the Pittsburgh Penguins would look to trade forward Phil Kessel this off-season due to his soured relationship with Mike Sullivan.

Josh Yohe of The Athletic is the latest to report dissension between the 30-goal scorer and his head coach and believes the team will need see if the relationship is beyond repair.

Yohe writes, however, that Kessel is not on the trade block just yet, but the Penguins will pick up any phone calls that come in.

“From what I’ve been told, the Penguins aren’t actively seeking a trade involving Kessel, but they’re willing to listen if anyone makes an offer,” Yohe wrote Tuesday.

Kessel, 30, is coming off a career-year in which he posted 34 goals and 92 points, though his production slowed in the playoffs as had just one goal and nine points in 12 games.

Mark Madden of 105.9 FM Pittsburgh said last week that Kessel’s displeasure with Sullivan stems from the fact he hasn’t consistently played on a line with Evgeni Malkin, and instead has bounced up and down the Penguins lineup.

Kessel won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in each of his first two years with the team after being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in July 2016 and fell just shy of a point-per-game pace in his first two postseasons with the club - 25 points in 49 games.

With $1.2 million of his salary retained by the Maple Leafs, Kessel carries a $6.8 million cap hit for each of the next four seasons. He also owns a modified no-trade list, in which he can submit eight approved destinations.

 

What Could've Been

The Vegas Golden Knights had plenty to say about Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson after his blindside hit on Jonathan Marchessault in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final and the bad blood is expected to carry over into Game 2.

Yet, Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post reports general manager George McPhee made a play to acquire Wilson for the Golden Knights prior to the expansion draft a year ago.

According to Svrluga, Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan asked McPhee to propose a two-player trade that would keep the Golden Knights from taking defenceman Nate Schmidt. The counter from McPhee was reportedly goaltender Philipp Grubauer and Wilson. 

The Capitals balked and elected to expose Schmidt in the expansion draft, knowing the Golden Knights had zeroed in on him.

“We overreached on the ask,” McPhee told the Post of their counter to taking Schmidt.

While Wilson has been stirring up controversy in the playoffs, Schmidt has emerged as a key piece for the Golden Knights in their Stanley Cup run. He leads the team in average ice time at 24:39 per game and ranks third on the team with a plus-7 rating through 16 games.