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It’s that time in the offseason where all the action has wound down and there aren’t a lot of moves to be made. The signings are in the past and the next big thing that could happen, if at all, is a trade. Whether it’s a blockbuster deal or a minor move, a deal at this point in the summer would get the hockey juices flowing and everyone wondering what it means for the teams involved.
The New York Islanders can still make a trade, even after signing Anthony Duclair and re-signing Mike Reilly, but to do so, they must clear up some salary cap space. The player they can trade to help them do that is Jean-Gabriel Pageau, a middle-six center with a $5 million average annual value (AAV) contract and the Islanders ideally would find a team willing to take on that cap hit.
Now it’s easy to think that there isn’t a team out there that wants Pageau and his contract. What type of team would be willing to take on salary for a player in their 30s and on the decline? There are a few teams that fit this bill in part because they are rebuilding or retooling. They would take on the contract if it meant they got something else in the deal as well. It also helps that Pageau, while not as good as he used to be, can be a mentor on a younger roster.
Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks have to spend just to reach the cap floor and they still have a lot of room to take on a bad contract or even a few bad contracts if they want. They are in the middle of a rebuild but one that at times, appears to have no direction. The young core is promising, but instead of allowing them to develop into star players, the Ducks often add veterans to take on big roles and ice time in the process (case in point, signing a 34-year-old Alex Killorn to a four-year contract).
Adding Pageau and taking on his contract would be another one of those types of moves. In this case, they’ll be adding a skater who plays a bottom-six role. He wouldn’t help the rebuild and make the Ducks more competitive, but he could be one of the mentors for a younger team. On the ice, he would also provide an upgrade defensively to a team that allowed 3.57 goals per game last season.
Calgary Flames
This team is in an interesting spot. The Calgary Flames had their firesale at the trade deadline and they traded away all their veterans aside from Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, and MacKenzie Weegar. With youth throughout the lineup, they’re starting to build this team from the ground up. They aren’t rebuilding, but the retool is heading in the right direction and it won’t be long before they are competitive again.
They have a lot of cap space because of the roster turnover and can take on a contract. Pageau’s would only make sense if they received a prospect in the deal as well, something the Islanders don’t have a surplus of. That said, Pageau and one of the top prospects in a trade where the Flames take on the contract could work for all sides involved.
It also helps that Pageau would help the Flames in the immediate future. He would be an upgrade at the third-line center role and add depth to a roster with young emerging talent. The Flames are starting to build something promising and adding Pageau could accelerate their timeline.
Seattle Kraken
The above-mentioned teams would want to add Pageau as a mentor, while the Seattle Kraken could use him in their lineup. They need a middle-six center to help out an offense that was awful last season. The Kraken averaged only 2.61 goals per game and the inability to create offense, especially after their top-six, was a glaring weakness.
The Kraken already addressed the need for scoring this offseason with the addition of Chandler Stephenson plus the signing of two-way defenseman Brandon Montour. They also hired Dan Bylsma and a new coaching staff with the hope of improving on the offensive end of the ice. Now, they need a third-line center who can add a spark, and Pageau, even as a pass-first player on the decline, fulfills that need.
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are staring at an inevitable rebuild. They already made the coaching change and are starting to part with veterans who were key parts of the Stanley Cup-winning roster. Only four players from the 2018-19 team remain and eventually, the Blues will have to start over with a youth movement leading the way.
Adding Pageau gives them a head start, not because of the veteran acquisition but because of the draft selection that would be thrown into the deal. The Blues must add assets to both their farm system and their draft board and a Pageau trade at least gets them some of that.
Islanders Can Move Mayfield in a Similar Type of Deal
The Islanders ideally would trade Pageau to open up some cap space and the hope is that they can do the same with Scott Mayfield. The problem is that he has a tougher contract to move. Pageau’s contract has two more seasons attached to it but Mayfield’s has six more seasons plus a no-trade clause that must be lifted for a trade to happen. So, if the Islanders move him, it would come with an extra draft pick to sweeten the offer.
If this team is going to make a big move, a bad contract has to be taken off their books. It’s a tall task but if the Islanders find one team interested in doing so for draft capital, it opens the door for a big trade to happen later in the summer. It’s most likely the Islanders remain quiet but if a big trade is on the horizon, it will start with a Pageau or Mayfield trade.
More must-reads:
- Martin Necas' big extension with Avalanche another blow to 2026 NHL free agency
- Three NHL coaches in danger of a midseason firing
- The 'World Series single-game K leaders' quiz
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TODAY'S BEST
Canadiens Can Weaponize Salary Cap to Become Cup Contender
The Montreal Canadiens entered the 2025-26 season with expectations to contend for the playoffs. After an 8-3-0 start, they sit at the top of the Atlantic Division. While that may not be sustainable, it does point to a team that should make the playoffs. The bottom line, are the Canadiens Stanley Cup contenders already? The easy answer, no. While they aren’t favourites for the silver chalice, they are close, so what is missing, and why is the salary cap management by general manager (GM) Kent Hughes the biggest reason why they will become contenders? Canadiens Seek Contender Status Outside of a handful of players, the Canadiens lack the playoff experience teams rely on. As a young team, they still have a lot to prove in the postseason. As the cliché goes, they may need to learn to lose in the playoffs before they can win. Next up is the pace they are winning. After 11 games, they have a .727 points percentage (P%), which is a massive leap from their .555 P% from the 2024-25 season, where they earned a playoff berth. The pace they are on now might be unsustainable, but banking points early in the season will help them when they do hit a slump later in the season. It should keep them in the playoff picture without needing the desperate push they needed last season to qualify. But the early-season excitement, including dramatic overtime victories, will help fuel the young roster over the longer term. There are also depth challenges. Injuries, like the ones to Kaiden Guhle and Patrik Laine, are already challenging the club and forcing head coach Martin St. Louis to make adjustments. Thankfully, Jayden Struble has been able to play the right side on a pairing with Lane Hutson, which has allowed the 2025 Calder Trophy winner to continue playing his offensive game. Forward Ivan Demidov has been finding his stride offensively with nine points, leading all NHL rookies in points and is still the Calder Trophy favourite. Yet, any more injuries, especially to key players, will stretch the team thin as the remaining American Hockey League (AHL) call-ups are still not fully NHL-ready. It’s not likely they can keep up the pace they’re currently on, which would see them finish the season with 119 points. It’s one thing to perform in October, yet once the early-season jitters and excitement wear off, that’s where experience can take over from raw skill or enthusiasm. With the injuries, but most of all, without a clear-cut second-line centre, Montreal will have trouble staying at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Montreal is the youngest team in the NHL, and because of that, and their early performances, they are considered a promising young team, but are not yet viewed as a top-tier Stanley Cup contender. That need for a second-line centre could be solved internally, as they have a possible solution with University of Michigan star Michael Hage, who is at an almost two points per game pace early in the season. However, he is going to take several seasons before reaching his potential and filling that role. Instead, the need for a centre will have to be addressed via trade. Their potential to become true contenders is not only based on the expectation for continued development of their young core players but also because of the depth of prospects, draft picks and most of all, salary cap flexibility. Canadiens’ Cap Situation The Canadiens have just over $4 million in cap space early in the 2025-26 season, which is going to grow to over $18 million at the trade deadline. But with the new rules that state NHL teams must dress lineups within the salary cap during the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting this season, they will, in reality, have just under $9 million available for use on their roster. But moving forward, the salary cap is expected to skyrocket. The NHL’s projections expect to see a rise from $95.5 million in 2025-26 to $104 million in 2026-27. That is just the beginning, as it is expected to make a significant leap again in 2027-29 to over $113.5 million, where the Canadiens project to have over $65 million in space to fill their roster. They have several young core players like Nick Suzuki, Hutson, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky locked up long-term and all for under market value. However, they do still have the space to address future contracts for players like Demidov. Weaponizing Cap Space This is why Hughes’ focus on cap management is going to be a major reason as to why Montreal is poised to be a contender. Sergey Pryakhin of RG.org analyzed the payroll structures of the last 12 Stanley Cup champions, identified key patterns behind their success, and spending against the cap was an obvious factor. Using 93.4% of total cap space spent as a benchmark, we can look at the Canadiens. The Canadiens are currently at 95.8%, but spending isn’t the only factor; roster construction is one as well. Where that money is spent matters. For Hughes, he will have more room to maneuver, as the cap is rising, but also as there are veteran contracts expiring. There are still some high cap hits for players in depth roles, particularly Brendan Gallagher ($6.5 million) and Josh Anderson ($5.5 million), who will come off the books following the 2026-27 season, freeing up $12 million, which is a substantial amount of cap space. With the salaries of players skyrocketing well past $10 million, that amount of cap space gained would be enough to afford a point-per-game player like Martin Necas, who signed with the Colorado Avalanche for $11.5 million. Why this matters for Montreal is that they have the space and the known need for a centre. More importantly, they are going to be dealing with far more sellers than were available last season, as teams that are on the playoff bubble by the American Thanksgiving weekend will be more willing to sell assets because of two words, Gavin McKenna. Because of this, the market for centres is starting to heat up with names like Nazem Kadri causing a stir, and Alexander Wennberg flying under the radar, but still being mentioned as potential trade bait. For Hughes, these players do have some appeal. But finding the right second-line centre, one with an affordable, yet shorter-term contract, will be pivotal for their immediate and mid-term success. Either way, it should be an exciting season for Montreal fans with lots of rumours and maybe even a deal or two.
Brian Schottenheimer vows to put 'elephant in his garage' if Cowboys beat Cardinals
Brian Schottenheimer has endured some unexpected developments during his first season as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. While speaking with reporters on Friday, Schottenheimer indicated he could grow a little superstitious if 3-4-1 Dallas notches a home win over the Arizona Cardinals (2-5) on Monday night. How far will Brian Schottenheimer go to help the Cowboys win? "S---, I'll put an elephant in my frickin' garage," Schottenheimer revealed, per ESPN's Todd Archer. "I'll do that next. If that's what it takes to win, I'll do it." Schottenheimer was referring to the odd encounters his family has had with wildlife since September. As Archer noted in a previous piece, two of Schottenheimer's dogs were bitten by snakes ahead of Dallas' Week 2 game versus the New York Giants. Additionally, Schottenheimer's 82-year-old mother suffered a broken arm when she fell at the airport before she could fly to Dallas for that matchup. The Cowboys ultimately handed Schottenheimer the first win of his coaching career after Dallas' Brandon Aubrey made a game-tying 64-yard field goal as time expired. Aubrey later kicked a game-winner in the closing seconds of the overtime period. The Schottenheimer family versus an owl More recently, an owl flew into the Schottenheimer family home on Thursday. "I'm in game plan meetings last night, doing some red zone stuff, and I leave the meeting about 10 o'clock, and I go back to my phone, and I literally had 72 text messages on my phone. Seventy-two," Schottenheimer explained. "...It literally started with a text from my son to his mother saying, 'Umm, there's a big hawk-sized bird in here,' and I began to look down and there was an owl." It turns out that Schottenheimer's son accidentally left the sliding doors open before the owl was discovered. Schottenheimer added that animal control safely removed the owl from the house and "returned to its safe domain." "I might have to look at that as another job," Schottenheimer joked. "Just kinda become an animal control guy. I'm so experienced now with wildlife in and around Dallas. Can't make it up." Shortly after Schottenheimer concluded his remarks, ESPN BET had the Cowboys as 2.5-point favorites over the Cardinals. It sounds like some insiders think Schottenheimer might soon need to explore what it would take to keep an elephant in a garage for at least a few months.
Charles Barkley knows the real problem with LeBron James
LeBron James may be out due to sciatica, but Charles Barkley is not buying it. He thinks he knows what is really going on with the Los Angeles Lakers star. Barkley was goofing around during “Inside the NBA” on ESPN Wednesday and talked about the Lakers, who had several players out for their game at the Minnesota Timberwolves. James was listed as out due to sciatica, which is a nerve issue. Barkley thinks the sciatica injury is a cover for something else. “First of all, LeBron doesn’t have a sciatica. They just put ‘old.’ O-L-D, with an extra ‘D,’ too,” Barkley joked. An update on James’ condition came out this week, saying that the Lakers forward could return in a few weeks. The Lakers have seemed to suggest that there is no urgency to rush James into action. However, Luka Doncic also getting hurt recently may have changed things for the team. For now, the Lakers are 3-2 and have been relying on Austin Reaves to do plenty of scoring. He is averaging 34.2 points per game this season. James is 40 years old and entering his 23rd NBA season. He’s allowed to have “old” or sciatica as an injury issue. As Barkley knows and often says, Father Time is undefeated.
Three teams that should pursue a trade for Titans WR Calvin Ridley
As the Tennessee Titans are free falling towards another season as one of the NFL's worst teams, they will likely sell off some of their higher priced players before the NFL's Nov. 4 trade deadline. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley tops the list of available players on the trade block even as he deals with a hamstring injury. Ridley's big play ability makes him an attractive option for teams looking to add another wide receiver. Even though he's been experiencing an up and down season so far - Ridley has only 16 receptions for 290 yards, he surpassed 1,000 yards in each of the past two seasons following sitting out 2022 due to being suspended for betting. So assuming Ridley is healthy enough to remain a trade target, here are the teams that should take a chance on the controversial wide out. Pittsburgh Steelers Aaron Rodgers may have stabilized the Steelers' quarterback position, but that doesn't mean the offense is as consistent as it needs to be for Pittsburgh to truly contend in the AFC. Pittsburgh has only exceeded 30 points twice through seven games. Desperate to increase their offensive output, especially with the defense struggling, the Steelers could use more receiver depth behind DK Metcalf. Acquiring Ridley would provide Rodgers another weapon and make the decision to place double coverage on Metcalf more of a risk for opponents. If Ridley can get back to form, he would unlock an extra dimension for a Steelers team that still holds a comfortable lead in the AFC North. New England Patriots One of the surprising results of the season so far, the Patriots are 6-2 and in first place in the AFC East. But if New England truly hopes to make a playoff push, second-year quarterback Drake Maye may need more at his disposal. To this point, Maye has been forced to work without a true deep threat. And while he's been able to methodically move the ball, Ridley would make his life much easier and stretch the field even more. Seattle Seahawks Another first place team who could use another playmaker, the Seattle Seahawks' offense has started to show signs of weakness in recent weeks. Much like the Steelers, the Seahawks have a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for October. He's been brilliant with three-straight 100 plus-yard games. However, Seattle has only scored 30 points once in its last four games. Pairing Smith-Njigba with Ridley would make the Seahawks more potent as they approach a stretch of the schedule with pivotal divisional matchups coming up.
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