King’s Ransom for McCann, Updates on Extensions & More NHL Rumours

McCann has been an integral part of the Kraken since their expansion draft. He is a leader on and off the ice, has scored over 100 goals over the past three seasons, and has lots of value around the league.

Simpson said that it would take a king’s ransom to pry McCann away from the Kraken, and after noting the Devils as an interested team, mentioned that Jim Biringer of RG.org stated a first-round pick would need to be in the package, as well as some candidates, including the likes of Dawson Mercer, Seamus Casey, Simon Nemec, and another top prospect.

NHL Moving Forward With 2028 World Cup Without IIHF

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) oversees pretty much all of the international hockey, with the World Championship, World Junior Championship, and the Olympics being the biggest tournaments. The IIHF did not have any involvement with the uber-successful 4 Nations Face-Off, and with Gary Bettman and the NHL promising the World Cup of Hockey to return, it was reported by Darren Dreger that the NHL is planning to move forward without the IIHF’s involvement.

Dreger also stated that the NHL is going to work directly with each Hockey Federation when putting together the tournament. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly was on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts and spoke about the upcoming plans.

The World Cup is going to be a mid-season tournament in February of 2028. It will consist of eight separate countries with no hybrid teams (Team North America), and there will be a European host city as well as one in North America. There are still some things to figure out, but Daly states that there should be an official announcement by the end of the current season.

Updates on RFA and Pending UFA Extensions

Also on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman did some quick notes on the upcoming free agents for 2026 and the extensions that some of them are expected to get.

On Marco Rossi, Friedman stated that it just made sense for both sides to want to get this done before it ended up with Rossi missing training camp or even game action. He said that while he can’t be sure if Rossi stays for the three-year duration of the contract, when both the team and player look back on the deal, it was the right one to do.

As for Mason McTavish, Friedman said that he saw some comments on how McTavish and his camp can’t like the Rossi deal, but he thinks that they are two very different situations. He stated that the Ducks really want to keep him around, but they just can’t come to terms on a good deal. Friedman refers to Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek, Jeff Soloman, who handles negotiations for the Ducks, and McTavish’s agent Pat Morris as “grinders”, and that it isn’t a surprise it is taking a bit longer.

On Connor Zary, he believes that the team and player want to get things figured out, but they are at a difference of opinion on what the contract should look like.

With the upcoming unrestricted free agents for 2026, Friedman mentions that now that players are starting to get back to their cities, there will be more opportunity to sit face-to-face with the clubs and get an extension done. He mentioned Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild, Jack Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights, Kyle Connor and the Winnipeg Jets, Alex Tuch and the Buffalo Sabres, and, of course, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. They will also all be waiting to see which domino falls first and have the market set for this new wave of free agents with the rising salary cap.