NHL Rumors: First-Round Picks, UFAs, Tampa Bay Lightning, and New York Rangers

Several teams are willing to trade their first round picks

@Account4Hockey: Frank Seravalli said on Sportsnet 960 that the No. 4 Columbus Blue Jackets are open for business, as are the No. 7 Ottawa Senators and the No. 7 New Jersey Devils. 10. The Montreal Canadiens are open to relegation. 5-11 in diameter.

Do the top pending UFAs have their next team locked up already?

Taj: Darren Dreger on the TSN First Up radio show said an official told him yesterday that he believes 75-90% of the top pending UFAs are actually already locked down.

Tampa is unlikely to trade up to the first three rounds

Eduardo A. Encina: Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois asked about the possibility of a trade in the draft since they didn’t pick until the fourth round: “It’s possible, but I don’t have anything right now that would make me believe that. it is possible. But at this time of year things change quickly.”

Other free agent options for the New York Rangers

Vince Z. Mercogliano of Lohud: The New York Rangers have approximately $12.8 million in estimated salary cap space. They need to re-sign RFAs Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider.

Sources say the Rangers are looking to free up more cap space by trading forward Kaapo Kakko and/or defenseman Jacob Trouba.

Pending UFAs that could be of interest to the Rangers include:

Seniors – Viktor Arvidsson, Tyler Bertuzzi, Jake Guentzel, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Marchessault, Steven Stamkos, and Tyler Toffoli.

Centers out of reach – Matt Duchene, Elias Lindholm, and Chandler Stephenson.

Grit under six – Max Domi, Brandon Duhaime, Steven Lorentz, Kevin Stenlund, and Yakov Trenin.

Defensemen – Brenden Dillon, Joel Edmundson, Derek Forbort, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov.