Scott Billeck says Florida's Anton Lundell and Niko Mikkola could be available in a big trade, and more names may shake loose before the draft.
Billeck floated the Panthers as a team willing to put real players in a significant deal, with a win-now package built around the two of them.
Here's who they are. Lundell is a 24-year-old forward with 44 points, a useful middle-six piece. Mikkola is a 30-year-old defenseman at a tidy $2.5M.
The Florida backdrop fits a team in motion. The Panthers sit 25th, just added Brady Tkachuk, and carry Sergei Bobrovsky's $10M in net. This is a club reshaping, not standing pat.
And these two aren't the only names worth tracking. The next few days look loaded.
Billeck's read points to a busy stretch ahead.
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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.
Will this draft week deliver a flurry of big-name trades?
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Elliotte Friedman confirms a two team battle for Darnell Nurse and the return could be big
