NHL Trade Rumors December 28

The Kings, Devils, Islanders, Sabres, Panthers, Blue Jackets, and Predators are possible trade partners for Max Pacioretty.

The Vegas Golden Knights are still trying to clear up cap space by trading Max Pacioretty to teams that could use a top six sniper. Vegas currently has no cap space and needs money to make last adjustments to their roster. Hoffman just signed a PTO with the Blues and will likely sign a deal with Blues once they clear up cap space. All of these teams that missed out on Hoffman could look at Pacioretty for an alternative option.

The Hurricanes could target a veteran goalie at the trade deadline, such as Marc-Andre Fleury & Antti Raanta

The only piece the Hurricanes are missing from becoming a true Stanley Cup Contender is a star goalie. As of now they are rolling with Petr Mrazek and James Reimer but the Hurricanes could use an upgrade in net. Fleury and Raanta are all expendable to their teams and could be traded to clear cap space and gain assets. A could of other teams that could look towards these veterans as goalie options are the Oilers, Sabres, Avalanche.

Another disappointing playoff performance could push Flames to shake things up.

The Calgary Flames have been a very good regular season team, always finishing high in the standings during the regular season. However, this success has not translated to the playoffs, often being knocked out early in the postseason with poor performances from star players. The Flames have made some great moves this offseason, signing Jacob Markstorm and Chris Tanev but if the Flames end up being eliminated early, stars such as Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and Noah Hanifian could be on their way out.

The Flames and Canucks are both in on Travis Hamonic. Whoever can clear enough cap space could sign him to a one-year deal.

It seems like Hamonic is interested in signing in Western Canada, and whichever team between the Canucks and Flames will most like sign him. The Flames have just over $200k in cap space while the Canucks have $0. Both teams are interested in improving their defense before the start of the season, to give them a slight edge in the very competitive North division.