More Interest in Kadri<\/p>\n
As I mentioned in my most recent piece,\u00a03 Biggest NHL Stories Heading Into the Olympic Break,<\/a> the trade market is expected to open up now that Artemi Panarin<\/a> has been dealt. For a while, it felt like there was a bit of a logjam, with teams waiting to see where Panarin landed before making any real moves. Now that he\u2019s off the market, the focus has shifted to the next group of big names. That includes Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman<\/a>, Elias Pettersson<\/a>, and others.<\/p>\n In Kadri\u2019s case, interest appears to be picking up. He\u2019s shaping up to be one of the more intriguing targets at the deadline. He\u2019s a centre who can move to the wing and can play in a top-six role. In addition, he still has term left on his deal. At some point, there\u2019s going to be a team willing to pay the price to get him.<\/p>\n Right now, it sounds like the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal Canadiens, and Utah Mammoth have all checked in. Elliotte Friedman mentioned on\u00a032 Thoughts the Podcast <\/a>that he expects the Kadri sweepstakes to really start moving once the roster freeze is lifted.<\/p>\n Canadiens\u2019 Trade Deadline Plans<\/p>\n In a recent Sportsnet article<\/a>, Eric Engels spoke with Canadiens president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton about the team\u2019s deadline plans. It was an interesting read, mainly because it confirmed what a lot of people suspected: Montreal feels like it\u2019s out of the rebuild. Furthermore, they are open to being aggressive if the situation calls for it.<\/p>\n From a league perspective, that\u2019s a good thing. The NHL is better when teams like the Canadiens, Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers are in the playoff mix. Seeing Montreal in a position where they\u2019re willing to add makes things more interesting. Gorton explained <\/a>where he and general manager Kent Hughes are at right now:<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d like to be aggressive, and we will be, if need be. I\u2019ve worked for a few people in hockey who always felt that if you just get in, you have a chance, and that was their philosophy. And I understand that thought process. When you have a team that you feel like is pretty good and you add a piece or two, you know what it could mean.\u201d <\/p>\n He added: <\/p>\n \u201cBut Kent and I spend a lot of time analyzing that next thing, and we\u2019re in a phase where whatever we do next is really important to get right. When you ask how we balance our long-term vision with not wasting the opportunity in front of us, it\u2019s hard to answer. You don\u2019t really know until something is presented to you. Kent\u2019s really good at being on top of what\u2019s out there and talking to managers. Our job is to be ready for whatever comes.\u201d<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, the Canadiens are one of the teams that have shown interest in Kadri. It\u2019s also come out over the last week that they could be willing to move on from Patrik Laine<\/a> as they look to add with the long term in mind. The next few weeks in Montreal should be interesting. However, one thing feels clear. If the right deal is there, they won\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n Rielly\u2019s Future with the Maple Leafs<\/p>\n Over the last few months, there\u2019s been a lot of noise about what the future might look like for Morgan Rielly in Toronto. Over the last few weeks, that chatter has only picked up. Now, it feels like the direction is becoming clearer.<\/p>\n The Maple Leafs are at least exploring the idea of moving on from him. That won\u2019t be easy given his contract and clause, but it\u2019s not impossible. Especially if Rielly eventually agrees to waive and allow both sides a fresh start. The past two seasons in Toronto haven\u2019t been kind to him. His play has slipped, and the fan base has made its frustration known.<\/p>\n Earlier today, HockeyBuzz published a report<\/a> that hasn\u2019t been confirmed by another reliable source. It suggested the San Jose Sharks could have interest in Rielly. That followed a tweet from Sportsnet\u2019s Michael Amato<\/a>, who pointed out that San Jose could make sense given they only have two defencemen signed beyond this season.<\/p>\n The HockeyBuzz report suggested the role in San Jose could be a good fit for Rielly. Moving his contract would be a win for the Maple Leafs. As of now, there hasn\u2019t been another source to back that up. After reaching out to people close to the Sharks, we were told they haven\u2019t heard the same thing. Still, even without confirmation, the idea that San Jose is interested makes sense.<\/p>\n![\"Jeff](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Jeff-Gorton-Montreal-Canadiens.jpg\")
Jeff Gorton Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/NHLTradeTalkweblogo4.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now that we\u2019re into the Olympic break, there hasn\u2019t been a ton of news circulating around the NHL.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,3550,885,2054,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-451101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-jeff-gorton","10":"tag-morgan-rielly","11":"tag-nazem-kadri","12":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116034098332775323","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}