Rumor mill: the 6th pick in the next draft is up for grabs

As we all know, the next NHL draft is sure to be full of surprises. Aside from the first pick, the rest is still a long way off.

It’s going to be quite a spectacle… and it could force teams to make some daring decisions.

We know there are a few first-round picks on the table. Of these, the Senators (7th), Devils (10th) and Sabres (11th) are all obviously on the market…

And now a new one has been added.

According to David Pagnotta, Utah’s 6th overall pick is also available at the right price.

As we discussed, Utah is willing to trade the 6th overall pick in this month’s NHL Draft. https://t.co/tVpUDIPuMI

– David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) June 17, 2024

Interesting, considering that this is the pick immediately after the Tricolore’s, and that Utah isn’t the only team thinking of trading its pick after the top-5.

The top-5 picks, on the other hand, don’t seem to be available.

So we’ll see if any team steps forward to draft after Kent Hughes. It would be quite a coup for the team’s debut in Salt Lake City.

Leon Draisaitl, the NHL’s highest-paid player?

Even if Leon Draisaitl doesn’t have a grand final, he’s still one of the best hockey players in the world. A real bargain at $8.5 million a year, Draisaitl’s contract will expire at the end of next season, and he’ll have the opportunity to break the bank.

In Edmonton, hearing that talks are already underway with the player is a good sign.

The question now is, what will his next contract look like?

And if Mark Spector, who covers Oilers activities, is to be believed, it could be a monstrous one.

In fact, Spector says he expects Draisaitl to sign a four-year deal in Edmonton… that will make him the NHL’s highest-paid player a year from now.

The reported contract extension talks between Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers are exactly what Edmonton fans wanted to hear. @SportsnetSpec provides some thoughts on Draisaitl’s future, Edmonton’s belief going into Game 5, and more. https://t.co/gjdchKQIWG

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 17, 2024

That would mean more money than Connor McDavid, his own teammate. That said, Spector notes that he sees McDavid becoming the league’s highest-paid player a year later.

We’ll see how the Oilers handle the matter, but a four-year pact would allow him to break the bank again at the age of 32. Unless he prefers to sign an eight-year deal, perhaps in Boston…

Linus Ullmark could cost the Senators dearly

The Ottawa Senators will be looking to shake things up this summer, and it’s safe to assume that this will involve the acquisition of a goaltender.

The situation in front of the net in Ottawa has been pretty dire for the past few years.

We can therefore expect them to be linked with goaltenders like Jacob Markstrom and Juuse Saros, as well as Linus Ullmark.

And as Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen recently reported(and picked up by our colleagues at HabsolumentFan), an unnamed NHL executive is reporting that the Sens may have to give up Jakob Chychrun, a first-round pick and another draft pick to get Ullmark.

And that’s assuming the Senators aren’t on his list of 15 teams he’d refuse to be traded to.

The Ottawa Senators have studied Jacob Markstrom as an option for troubled goaltending https://t.co/EudddE7zz4 via @ottawacitizen #Sens

– Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) June 10, 2024

If Chychrun has no future in Ottawa, he wouldn’t necessarily be a great loss… but the last time the Senators paid a first-round pick to go after a big name, it was Alex DeBrincat who came to town.

And I have a feeling we wouldn’t do that again in Ottawa…

We’ll have to keep an eye on it, but obviously, the Bruins don’t want to give Ullmark away on the cheap, let alone to a division rival. And that’s understandable.

Two defenders in Maple Leafs’ sights

The Maple Leafs will probably want to reshuffle their lineup over the next few weeks, and as usual, they’d like to extend Mitch Marner’s pact pick up some defensive players.

And according to Nick Kypreos, there are two names to keep an eye on in Toronto this summer: Brandon Montour and Chris Tanev.

Le Journal de Montréal was talking about them late last night.

Clearly, Toronto doesn’t want third-pair defensemen. We’re looking for big names, and these two are probably among the best available.

We also know that Brad Treliving, Toronto’s GM, once had Tanev in his line-up in Calgary.

Two names to keep an eye on, then, and we’ll have to see how the Leafs raise the money to pay for these defensemen. Because clearly, they’re not the only ones who’d like to sign them.