According to Scott Billeck, Florida’s Anton Lundell and Niko Mikkola might be available in a major trade, and there may be more names that will shake free before the draft.
Billeck suggested that the Panthers were a team ready to make a significant trade, with a win-now package centered on the two players.
Here are the names of them. A valuable middle-six player, Lundell is a 24-year-old forward with 44 points. With a comfortable $2.5 million price tag, Mikkola is a 30-year-old defenseman.
The setting in Florida suits a team on the move. Sergei Bobrovsky’s $10 million in goal is owned by the Panthers, who are in 25th place after signing Brady Tkachuk. This is not a standing pat; it is a club restructuring.
And these are just two of the names to keep an eye on. The next few days seem busy.
Billeck’s read points to a busy stretch ahead.
The bigger wave of names that could move this week
Start with the defenseman market. Elliotte Friedman reported serious interest in Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse from both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, with his $9.25M deal the piece the Oilers want to move.
Vancouver is a hotbed, too. Friedman said the Canucks’ new management is open to a futures return on Elias Pettersson, and David Pagnotta added that teams are poking around Brock Boeser.
There’s a goalie thread running underneath it all. Connor Hellebuyck’s situation is live, with multiple insiders saying Winnipeg is working toward a move on its $8.5M netminder.
Pagnotta also flagged a possible Alex Tuch sign-and-trade in Buffalo. The board keeps filling up.
The draft Friday is the forcing function. GMs line up deals around it, and with so many teams loaded up to win, a bidding-war climate pulls more names loose.
Here’s my read: this is shaping into one of those draft weeks where the dam breaks. Florida putting Lundell and Mikkola on the table tells you even good-roster teams are willing to deal, and when that starts, the big names tend to fall fast.
So watch the next 48 hours closely.
Lundell and Mikkola are the fresh entries, but Nurse, Pettersson, Boeser, and Tuch are all live. Which dominoes actually drop is the story heading into Friday.
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