Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov expected to remain in NHL despite KHL rumors

Quick hits on the Canadiens, Hurricanes, Devils, hot seats, Lightning, NHL expansion, and the oldest Hutson

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: There are some who believe that two trades at the 2024 were scratched after Ivan Demidov fell to the Montreal Canadiens at number five.

• The Chicago Blackhawks sending an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for the fourth overall in 2025. The Blue Jackets turned it down and selected Cayden Lindstrom.
• The second was the Canadiens talking to the Anaheim Ducks about Trevor Zegras. Haven’t received clarity on why it fell through, but guessing that Canadiens changed their minds when Demidov was available to them. The Canadiens weren’t offering the fifth overall pick for Zegras.

The Carolina Hurricanes are talking with Alexander Nikishin’s agents daily. The New Jersey Devils are trying to sign Arseny Gritsyuk to a one-year deal. (More on the Gritsyuk situation can be read at TheDevilsNation.com)

Talk about potential front office and coaching changes will start to pick up soon.

Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2022 first-round pick Isaac Howard will be returning to Michigan State next season and would be set to become a UFA on August 15th of 2026, if not signed to his ELC before. The decision was a bit of a surprise, but there was some talk that the Lightning and Howard weren’t on the same page as to where everything stood at this time.

Guessing that Houston will be the next NHL expansion team with a price at around $2 billion, with 2028-29 the desired year. Believe that they will do one team first and then add another a few years later as there is some concern about doing two teams at once and diluting the talent.

There had been some reports of Carolina Hurricanes pending UFA defenceman Dmitry Orlov heading back to the KHL next season, but has been told that he wants to remain in the NHL.

Undrafted Quinn Hutson, older brother of Lane and Cole, is getting some serious interest from Western Conference teams.