NHL Trade Rumors: Top 6 trade candidates following NHL draft

Now that the 2019 NHL Entry Draft has passed, let’s explore the top six players who could be moved over the course of the weeks ahead.

In just three days, the overarching landscape of the professional hockey world will be altered, as free agent frenzy shall be officially set into motion on July 1st. Until then, the rumor mill promises to operate in full swing.

Our last overview of the current trade class zeroed in on 15 candidates. Of those players, four — Patrick Marleau, J.T. Miller, P.K. Subban and Jacob Trouba — have been dealt to new markets. For the other eleven, the matter of being shipped out looms larger than ever.

In a year underlined by a diverse network of dynamic-altering possibilities — the very real threat of offer sheets, a free agent class rich with forwards while offering seemingly few defenders, as well as a particularly deep NHL draft — the July 1st deadline should not disappoint. The moment has the capacity to act as a watershed in which dreams of title contention become a thing of reality…or a telling reminder of the danger that informs short-sighted aspirations.

With that in mind, let’s explore six players who will be key trade candidates in the days ahead.

6. Jared Spurgeon

Age: 29
Position: D
Team: Minnesota Wild

One of the finest blue liners in the NHL, Jared Spurgeon’s future with the Minnesota Wild has often been called into question during the past season. At 29, the defenseman offers one of the sport’s more complete two-way games, which in turn promises to ensure that he lies at the helm of trade speculation until a level of clarity is ushered forth with regard to his long-term aspirations.

Represented by Eustace King — the agent of fellow teammate Jason Zucker, who is currently at the forefront of increasingly heated trade speculation — Spurgeon is known to have enjoyed his tenure as a member of the Wild thus far. The organization has long claimed that its intention is to extend the talented defender, but the current climate surrounding the franchise suggests that any and all possibilities are on the table. If Minnesota opts to test the market on what a return for Spurgeon would look like, there will surely be no shortage of options at the club’s disposal.

Indeed, Spurgeon remains one of the more intriguing names to occupy this offseason’s list of potential trade candidates. You can bet that most of the league’s teams will express some measure of desire to explore the defender’s availability going forward.