Welcome to the offseason, and welcome to the trade rumor mill. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but, with their season finished, rumors are already swirling about the Hurricanes trading one of their glut of talented NHL defensemen for a needed top-six forward.
The big name in the rumor mill, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, is Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine. Now, there’s no two ways about it: Laine is an elite goal scorer. Since coming into the league as a rookie in 2016-17, Laine has scored at least 30 goals per 82 games over four seasons.