NHL Rumors: St. Louis Blues, Seattle Kraken, Anaheim Ducks, and the Detroit Red Wings

The trade asks are high

Max Miller: San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier said the asking price for trades is pretty high.

The St. Louis Blues don’t need to use LTIR space yet

Matthew DeFranks: The St. Louis Blues are about $750,000 under the cap ceiling. They don’t need to use Torey Krug‘s $6.5 million LTIR space yet.

The Seattle Kraken are happy with what they’ve done to their roster

Mike Benton: Seattle Kraken GM Jason Botterill if there is more moves coming this offseason:

“You always want to do more business, right? You always want to continue. But no – we’re happy with what we’ve done with the roster.”

The Anaheim Ducks way to combat the no-tax states

Derek Lee: Anaheim Ducks GM Pat Verbeek said that no-tax states can certainly make a difference for free agents and when making trades.

Verbeek said they’ve found a way, like with Frank Vatrano‘s extension, to combat it.

“It’s just a matter of (if) players are open to our way to combat it.”

(Deferred salary for Vatrano – $3 million per year is deferred salary to be paid out at 900K per year for 10 years beginning in 2035 – Puck Pedia)

Potential free agent and trade targets for the Detroit Red Wings

Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now: The Detroit Red Wings aren’t in the list of teams that are believed to be finalists for Nikolaj Ehlers. They improved their goaltending with the addition of John Gibson, but they could still use an upgrade in scoring and on the blue line.

UFA defensemen that are still available include Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov. UFA forwards include Jack Roslovic, Anthony Beauvillier, Victor Olofsson, Gus Nyquist and Max Pacioretty.

The trade market could have Jason Robertson if the Dallas Stars don’t think they can re-sign him. The reported asking price is two first-round picks and other assets. Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman would likely be okay with the picks and prospects.

Other potential players that could be available include Rasmus Andersson (Flames), Bowen Byram (Sabres), Marco Rossi (Wild), Bryan Rust (Penguins), and Rickard Rakell (Penguins).