Fact or Fiction: Debunking NHL Trade Rumors

The 2024-2025 NHL season is officially one month old and it has been an exciting four weeks. The Winnipeg Jets are atop the standings in the first of many upsets so far.

Now that the rankings are starting to waver a bit, the trade rumors are piling up. There is talk in the NHL that there are multiple teams active on the trade market, but is there any truth to that? Let’s dive into some of the most popular rumors with a small edition of fact or fiction: trade rumors.

There is nothing to dispute here. Reports are swirling about all three of these teams and they all want to add one thing: another top line center. It’s a huge task for their front offices to accomplish, but all three teams could desperately use another top-six forward to carry their offensive loads.

The fiction isn’t that the Edmonton Oilers want defensive help. That much is abundantly clear, as the Oilers struggled to find their defensive shape in the first ten games. The fiction is that they are actively seeking this help. Edmonton has been hamstrung by salary cap restrictions, preventing them from shopping for a higher salary. That’s why they had to make a move for a player like Ronnie Attard of the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Canadiens have the assets, the draft holes and the salary cap flexibility to make a deal happen. The loss of Patrik Laine was a huge blow and once again left the team with a gap in the top six. The core trio of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky needs another running mate to truly legitimize their offense and the talk surrounding this pursuit is very real.

This falls into the same category as the Oilers and their search for another defenseman. While the Colorado Avalanche would love to add another scorer, that’s just not in the cards. The team is expecting the return of players like Valeri Nischuskin and Gabriel Landeskog, while veteran Artturi Lekhonen was just activated from injured reserve. Combine that with a small amount of available salary cap space and the Avalanche are not active on the market.