NHL Trade Season is Here Before Draft, Free Agency

With the NHL holding the 2025 Draft this weekend in Los Angeles and free agency a week away, it is now officially trade season.

Monday, the Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks made a trade with Trevor Zegras going east in an attempt to get his game rolling again.

Zegras, 24, had 12 goals and 32 points in 57 games last season and missed close to two months with a knee injury. The ninth-overall pick in 2019, Zegras has a year left on his current contract and is RFA after this season.

The Flyers sent Ryan Poehling as well as a second and a fourth-round draft pick to the Ducks in the deal.

“You start imagining lines and how you want certain players to complement each other,” Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek said. “We started looking at that scenario, so ultimately we made the decision to move Trevor because of that.”

This, of course, was not the first trade made going into the draft. Anaheim previously acquired Chris Kreider from the Rangers; Mason Marchment was sent from Dallas to Seattle in a cap-cutting move.

And, there are reports that the New York Islanders may be testing the market for RFA defenseman Noah Dobson.

There will be more, and perhaps Florida GM Bill Zito gets involved at the draft with the Panthers looking at $19 million of cap space which does not seem near enough for what he wants to do this offseason.

We’ll see.

This year’s draft is going to be different from past years in that there will not be the trade chatter on the floor.

Any deals will be made over the phone, Zoom, or text. Perhaps a fax.

Yes, the draft is being held in Los Angeles, but teams will be working out of their respective cities as we saw in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid.

This decentralized draft may just be a one-year deal.

The NHL has said if teams want to go back to the central model of years past next summer, all they have to do is ask.

They’ll be back to a normal draft next year.

FLORIDA PANTHERS / FHN

• This hockey season is officially over: The Charlotte Checkers lost to the Abbotsford Canucks in Game 6 of the Calder Cup Final on Monday night.
• Turns out, Nate Schmidt was a perfect fit for the Panthers. He wants to come back, the Panthers would like to bring him back, but again, we’ll see.
• The Panthers brought the party to the people on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale with an estimated 400,000 showing out for a sweaty day on the beach.
• My NHL.com coverage of the parade from the little slice of shade I found.
• The best of the Panthers parade.
• Here is our pre-parade piece on how much the Panthers were looking forward to partying with everyone on Sunday.
• Aaron Ekblad says South Florida is his home and he intends for that to continue. The pending free agent says he is ‘happy’ he got drafted by the Panthers. You know what? We’ll see what happens.
• Matthew Tkachuk says it’s 50-50 he will need surgery later this summer.
• The Summer of Brad Marchand is here and it is glorious. Certainly feels like he is sticking around right? Yeah, he is.
• Don’t forget to subscribe to the FHN YouTube channel to watch interviews with the Florida Panthers throughout the offseason. Plenty up now, more coming as we slog through the summer.

NHL LINKS / NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

• Needs of the Metropolitan Division teams going into the 2025 Draft.
• Could the New Jersey Devils swoop in and get J.J. Peterka from the Sabres?
• It’s the calm before the storm for the New York Islanders.
• Trading up in the draft makes sense for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
• The Boston Bruins sign Mason Lohrei to a two-year deal.
• There were plans had Jonathan Toews signed with the Colorado Avalanche.
• Steve Yzerman says the Detroit Red Wings are a destination franchise.

2025 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS

FLORIDA PANTHERS

UP NEXT

• 2025 NHL Draft: Friday-Saturday, Los Angeles (Panthers have six picks in Rounds 4-7)
• Start of NHL Free Agency: July 1
• Panthers Development Camp, Fort Lauderdale IcePlex: Early July
• Panthers Rookie Camp, Fort Lauderdale IcePlex: Early September
• Prospect Showcase hosted by Tampa Bay Lightning: Early September
• Training Camp: Mid-September
• Exhibition Games: Late September
• Opening Night: Oct 7-9 (opponent, time, date TBA)