NHL Trade Bait List for 2026 Offseason – The Hockey Writers – NHL Rumors

The Stanley Cup Final is underway, which means we’re marching toward the end of the 2025-26 NHL season. The NHL Draft and free agency will be here before you know it, and with the free-agent class being what it is, there is potential for an active trade market this offseason. With that, let’s look at some possible trade candidates aggregated from sources such as The Athletic (From ‘NHL offseason trade board: Early look at summer’s top targets, from Trocheck to Knies to Robertson’ – The Athletic, 5/28/2026), Sportsnet, and Frank Seravalli.

A Quick Overview of the NHL Trade Market

If you’re a team looking for a center, heading to the trade market is likely your best bet. Boone Jenner is the top free-agent center since Evgeni Malkin and Charlie Coyle signed extensions with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Fortunately, there are some potentially intriguing names available for trade. The New York Rangers held on to Vincent Trocheck at this season’s trade deadline, hoping to extract more value in an offseason trade. He’s among the top centers available, but there’s also Mason McTavish and Robert Thomas, two centers who have been in the rumor mill plenty over the last year or so.

Even secondary options, such as Shane Wright and Ross Colton, could be good buy-low candidates for teams looking to improve their center depth. Wright and Colton took steps back this season and should not cost much for teams to acquire.

Cap dumps could also be among the popular trades this summer. Players such as Darnell Nurse, Morgan Rielly, and Jordan Binnington have popped up on pretty much every trade board and could all benefit from changes of scenery. Their pricey cap hits may make them difficult to move, but perhaps there’ll be some takers with the salary cap ceiling rising to $104 million this summer and $113 million next year.

Overall, there’s plenty of interesting names available heading into the offseason, and there could be more to come over the next few weeks. Among them is Mathew Barzal, who could be on the block, according to Bruce Garrioch. If he starts popping up on trade boards, expect him to make our list, too. Without further ado, here are our top 25 trade candidates entering the offseason.