Ahead of tonight's NHL Draft, TSN.ca keeps you up to date with all the latest news and rumours from around the league.

Hurricanes trade Bean to Blue Jackets

The Carolina Hurricanes have traded defenceman Jake Bean to the Columbus Blue Jackets for the 44th overall pick in Friday's NHL Draft, according to TSN Hokey Insider Pierre LeBrun. 

Bean, 23, was drafted 13th overall by the Hurricanes in the 2016 NHL Draft. In 44 game last season, Bean scored one goal and added 11 assists.

The Blue Jackets acquired the No.44 pick from the Chicago Blackhawks as part of the return for defenceman Seth Jones.

Blackhawks acquire Jones from Blue Jackets

The Chicago Blackhawks have filled the hole Duncan Keith has left on their blue line, acquiring defenceman Seth Jones from the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun. The Blackhawks will receive Jones, the No.32 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and a sixth-round pick in 2022. The Blue Jackets will receive forward Adam Boqvist, first and second round picks (No. 12 and No. 44) in the 2021 NHL Draft and a first-round pick in 2022. 

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that Jones' extension with the Blackhawks is believed to be eight years with a $9.5 million AAV.

Leafs, Oilers working on Hyman compensation

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers appear to be closing in on a deal for Zach Hyman, as the teams towards an agreement on trade compensation, according to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger. 

Dreger does not believe the Oilers are willing to give up more than a late-round draft pick in order to acquire the pending UFA.  Edmonton appears willing to sign the winger to a seven or eight-year contract.

Mrazek hitting the market?

The Carolina Hurricanes have had discussions with goaltenders Jonathan Bernier and Petr Mrazek, attempting to get both UFA's signed. Although he has not shut the door on a return to Carolina, it appears that Mrazek will be hitting the open market, according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun. 

Mrazek, 29, played in 12 games with the Hurricanes last season, posting a 6-2-3 record with a 2.06 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.

Canucks land Ekman-Larsson blockbuster with Coyotes

The Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes are closing in on a deal that would send the ninth overall pick, Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle to Arizona for Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland.

Ekman-Larsson, 30, has six years remaining on an eight-year, $66 million contract he signed with the Coyotes in 2018. He carries an $8.25 million cap hit through the 2026-27 season. The Coyotes captain has 24 points in 46 games last season. 

Garland, 25, had 12 goals and 27 assists in 49 games with the Coyotes last season. He is a restricted free agent. 

Eriksson, 36, played just seven games with the Canucks last season, registering one assist. He has one year left on his contract with a $6 million cap hit.

Beagle, 35, played 35 games with the Canucks last season, scoring one goal and adding four assists.

Roussel, 31, tallied one goal and three assists in 35 games with Vancouver last season.

As part of the trade, the Coyotes will retain 12 per cent of Ekman-Larsson's salary.

Bruins re-sign Hall to four-year contract

The Boston Bruins have officially re-signed forward Taylor Hall to a four-year contract with a $6 million annual cap hit.

The Bruins acquired Hall from the Buffalo Sabres last season. Hall scored two goals and tallied 17 assists in 37 games with Buffalo before being dealt to the Bruins at the trade deadline. In 16 regular season games with Boston, he tallied eight goals and 14 points. He also had three goals and five points in 11 playoff games.

Rangers send Buchnevich to Blues for Blais, second

The St. Louis Blues have acquired winger Pavel Buchnevich, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports.

Coming back to the Blueshirts is winger Sammy Blais and a second-round pick.

The 26-year-old Buchnevich is coming off of a season where he scored 20 goals and added 28 assists in 54 games.

Heading into his sixth NHL season, Buchenevich is an impending restricted free agent.

In 301 career games, he has 79 goals and 116 assists.

Blais, 25, appeared in 36 games last season, his fourth in the NHL. The native of Montmagny, Que. had eight goals and seven assists.

Blais has one year left on a two-year, $3 million deal signed before last season and will be a restricted free agent next summer.

Habs in on Eichel?

Should the Buffalo Sabres stay busy ahead of the draft and move on from the second overall pick of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, there will be no shortage of suitors for Jack Eichel and could the Montreal Canadiens be among them?

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports there are rumblings on Friday that the Habs could be among the teams set to make a play for the 24-year-old Sabres captain.

Whether or not the Sabres want to make a significant intradivisional trade is another matter entirely.

The New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks have all been previously attached to Eichel

Flyers land Ristolainen

The first trade of the day is here.

Buffalo Sabres are trading defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers for a package that includes defenceman Robert Hagg and a first-round pick.

The Flyers own the 14th overall pick in tonight's draft, which is moved up to No. 13 with the Arizona Coyotes forfeiting their selection.

Ristolainen, 26, had four goals and 18 points in 64 games with the Sabres last season. 

Ristolainen was drafted in the first round (8th overall) in 2013 NHL by the Sabres. He has one year remaining on a six-year, $32.4 million contract with an AAV of $5.4 million.

In 542 career NHL games, Ristolainen has 46 goals and 245 points.

The 26-year-old Hagg appeared in 34 games for Philly last season, scoring two goals and adding three assists. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Flyers after being selected in the second round (No. 41 overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft.

He has one season remaining on a two-year, $3.2 million contract he signed with the Flyers last September and will be an unrestricted free agent at the completion of the deal.


 

Canes In The Crease

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports the Carolina Hurricanes are in discussions with both Petr Mrazek and newly acquired goaltender Jonathan Bernier ahead of both players reaching unrestricted free agency.

LeBrun added the Hurricanes are expected to let James Reimer reach the open market on Wednesday, when he believes the veteran goalie will have suitors waiting for him.

The Hurricanes acquired the rights to Bernier and a third-round pick on Thursday when they traded Alex Nedeljkovic to the Detroit Red Wings.

 

DeAngelo, Bergmann on Buyout Waivers

As reported earlier, the New York Rangers placed defenceman Tony DeAngelo on unconditional waivers for purposes of a buyout at Noon. 

DeAngelo was joined by Lean Bergmann, who the San Jose Sharks are buying out with one year left on his contract. Bergmann, 23, is signed through next season at a cap hit of $836,667. He did not record a point in his lone game with the Sharks this season and posted two goals and seven points in 32 AHL games with the San Jose Barracuda.
 

Staal Brothers Sticking Around

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports that both Eric Staal and Marc Staal want to continue their careers as they approach unrestricted free agency.

LeBrun notes the door is not closed on Eric returning to the Canadiens, or Marc returning to the Detroit Red Wings.

 

Eichel 'Training Hard,' Skating

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports it's still too early to say what direction the Buffalo Sabres are going with Jack Eichel.

With that said, though, teams with interest are encouraged by the fact Eichel is training hard and skating after missing a large portion of last season with a neck injury.

 

Canucks' Pick in Play

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger told WGR 550 Friday that the Vancouver Canucks are open to trading the No. 9 overall pick in Friday's draft.

Dreger noted that the Buffalo Sabres are believed to be one of the teams looking to add additional draft picks today.

 

Latest in Buffalo

Speaking to WGR 550 this morning, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger said Rasmus Ristolainen could be the first Buffalo Sabres player on the move of their trio of players surrounded by trade rumours.

Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Ristolainen have all been rumoured to be on their way out of Buffalo this summer, with Ristolainen drawing interest from the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens, among others.

Dreger cites a source stating there's a slim chance the New York Rangers will be acquiring Eichel, while there's nothing new regarding trade talks with the Minnesota Wild.

He adds the Anaheim Ducks are still believed to be in the mix for the star centre and states there's a still a surprise Eastern Conference team in the bidding process.

 

Blues Re-Sign Stevens

The St. Louis Blues signed forward Nolan Stevens to a one-year, two-way contract on Friday.

Stevens, 25, posted six goals and 18 points in 27 games with the AHL's Utica Comets this season.

 

Ask for Eichel

According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the Buffalo Sabres ask on a return for star centre Jack Eichel "remain fantastical" as of early Friday morning.

Speculation has followed Eichel for months after he openly discussed a "disconnect" with the Sabres over how to handle his neck injury.  He has been linked to the New York Rangers, but  Brooks reported Thursday the Rangers had not received access to the centre's medical records.

Brooks adds the the Rangers' 15th overall pick is in play, but no deal is close.

The 24-year-old Eichel has five years remaining in the eight-year, $80 million contract he signed with the Sabres in 2017.

Eichel is ranked atop the TSN Trade Bait Board.

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Bolts Re-Sign Smith

The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed pending unrestricted free agent forward Gemel Smith to two-year deal on Friday morning.

Smith, 27, had three assist in five games with the Lightning this season. He also had three goals and six points in six games with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch.

 

Rights Available

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois ent out a text to his fellow GMs last Thursday saying if they were interested in acquiring the rights to Barclay Goodrow, Blake Coleman and David Savard to let him know.

After trading Goodrow to the Rangers, who signed him to a six-year deal on Thursday, LeBrun reports the offer still stands if teams want access to Coleman and Savard before they hit the market on July 28.

 

Bolts Looking to Move Johnson

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reiterates that there's "a real focus" by the Tampa Bay Lightning to move forward Tyler Johnson.

Johnson, who carries a $5 million cap hit through 2023-24, has 22 approved teams on his modified no-move clause.

The 30-year-old had eight goals and 22 points in 55 games this season, adding four goals and seven points in 23 playoff games.

He passed through waivers unclaimed last off-season as the Lightning were looking to shed his cap hit.

 

DeAngelo to Be Bought Out

The New York Rangers are finally parting ways with Tony DeAngelo.

The Rangers are expected to place the defenceman on unconditional waivers for purposes of a buyout on Friday after he last played for the team in January.

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported in April that the 25-year-old defenceman rejected the Rangers offer to mutually terminate his contract, instead electing to be bought out this summer. 

Earlier this season, Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton said DeAngelo had played his last game for the team after he went unclaimed on waivers following a reported physical altercation with goaltender Alexandar Georgiev on Jan. 30, according to the New York Post's Larry Brooks.

DeAngelo had one assist over six games this season with the Rangers.

Over 206 career games with the Arizona Coyotes and Rangers, DeAngelo has 24 goals and 82 assists. 

With DeAngelo signed through next season at a cap hit of $4.8 million, the buyout will save the Rangers $4.2 million next season, while adding a cap charge of $883,334 in 2022-23.

 

Tough to Predict

TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie writes that it’s likely pandemic induced, but the seeming volatility and unpredictability of how different teams view the same prospects appears quite high.

McKenzie lists prospect Wyatt Johnston as one example. Johnston was ranked No. 40 in the final TSN Hockey Draft Rankings, but one team has him in their top 15 and another in the top 25.

Ilya Fedotov and Kirill Kirsanov are two other examples, with both players receiving a top 32 vote, and some votes in the early 30s, but largely the two are viewed as players who will be taken in the late third round.

McKenzie adds that Artem Grushnikov, ranked 60th in TSN Hockey's ranking, go significantly higher than that slot.

 

Trades to Come?

The trade market could remain hot today as team's look to move their players and get 2021 draft picks in return.

Among those atop the rumour mill are pending unrestricted free agent Zach Hyman, Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Seth Jones and Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel.

Hyman is believed to be closing on a long-term extension with the Edmonton Oilers, which could be an eight-year deal if Edmonton can work out a sign-and-trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger said Thursday the Oilers are only looking to part with a sixth- or a seventh-round pick to complete that deal.

"Yeah, ongoing discussions primarily with the Edmonton Oilers although there are some who believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t officially out," Dreger said on Insider Trading. "But look, if the Oilers are going to have access to that eighth year, then it has to be a sign and trade and Kyle Dubas and Ken Holland are going to have to communicate on what the compensation is going to be. The Oilers aren’t going to feel comfortable paying a third- or a fourth-round pick, they look at a sixth- or a seventh-round pick as compensation. Otherwise, they’ll wait until the 28th. We know that Zach Hyman spent at least a good part of Wednesday in Edmonton meeting with the brass and touring the city. So you might want to put a little bit of money on the Oilers. "

Jones, who's entering the final year of his contract carrying a $5.4 million cap hit, previously told the Blue Jackets he was not interest in re-signing ahead of free agency next year. Dreger reports that teams interested in Jones will likely shift their focus to Dougie Hamilton on the free agent market if they cannot work out a deal with Columbus this weekend.

"Yeah you know what guys, we haven’t forgotten about Dougie Hamilton," Dreger said. "We’ve talked a lot about Seth Jones, it feels like Dougie Hamilton has been out there forever. The expectation is that if there is a trade fit, perhaps that interest elevates over the course of the weekend after the draft. Everybody now is focused on yes on making deals, but also making first-round selections on Friday and then completing the draft on Saturday.

"So it’s not a back-burner per say but there is expected to be more interest in Dougie Hamilton from those teams maybe that don’t land the piece, like a Seth Jones in Chicago. Philadelphia would like to do something but the Flyers don’t have a ton of cap space but (general manager) Chuck Fletcher can be creative so wouldn’t count him out of this as well."

Finally, speculation has followed Eichel for months after he openly discussed a "disconnect" with the Sabres over how to handle his neck injury.  The star centre has been linked to the New York Rangers, but Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported Thursday the Rangers had not received access to the centre's medical records.

The 24-year-old has five years remaining in the eight-year, $80 million contract he signed with the Sabres in 2017.

Eichel and Jones are ranked atop the TSN Trade Bait Board.

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Mock Draft

Looking to catch up on who will be coming off the board Friday night?

TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button posted his full first-round mock draft earlier this week, with the Buffalo Sabres selecting Owen Power first overall.

For more prospects who will be selected this weekend, check out TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie's Draft Rankings, with 100 players listed.