The calendar has flipped to September, and not a moment too soon for NHL fans enduring a mostly quiet summer in the trade market.
Following a flurry of activity involving NHL players from June 16 to July 2, only five trades have occurred since, all involving minor leaguers.
That means that our NHL Trade Targets Big Board for this month contains many of the players featured in our August 2026 rankings.
That includes such notable stars as Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin, and Vancouver Canucks winger Brock Boeser. They continued to feature prominently in media trade speculation throughout August.
Some new names join this month’s list. They include Anaheim Ducks winger Chris Kreider and Calgary Flames defenseman Zach Whitecloud.
Several players from our previous list have dropped to an honorable mention listing. That doesn’t mean they won’t be trade candidates, only that things were so quiet throughout August that they weren’t mentioned in most media trade chatter. We believe they’re still worth monitoring as trade chips.
Follow along to see where these players end up in our September Trade Targets Big Board. As always, we based it on the player’s skill, experience, contract, and most importantly, the possibility of being traded.