With mere weeks left until training camps commence for the 2025-26 season, it's been a much quieter summer than most predicted around the National Hockey League. There were no offer sheets and minimal trades or signings after the initial free agent frenzy period at the beginning of July.
But as RG's James Murphy reported, talks are starting to heat up after general managers and coaches met in Detroit earlier this week — especially the trade market for second-line centers. And there are three teams that are most actively looking to upgrade at 2C ahead of the new campaign, all of them north of the border.
“As for the teams that have been searching for and continue to be on the hunt for that highly coveted 2C slot in their roster, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, and Montreal Canadiens remain the most active,” Murphy wrote on Wednesday.
Some of the players most discussed include Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi (who re-signed with the team in August), Seattle Kraken's Jared McCann, Calgary Flames' Nazem Kadri, and Boston Bruins' Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha.
But maybe the most interesting player who continues to see his name swirling in trade rumors is Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish, who remains a restricted free agent without a new contract as training camp approaches.
Canucks, Leafs, Canadiens would love to land Mason McTavish
As Murphy reported, McTavish is “the biggest name amongst NHL centers potentially available.” But that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to get traded — and there's no indication that the young forward and general manager Pat Verbeek have reached an impasse in contract talks.
“He hasn’t sent the bat signal out yet that it’s time to talk trade and take the best offer,” one executive said of Anaheim's GM. “The pressure point of camp is coming, but right now they’re not there yet, and I’m not sure they ever get there.”
Each of the Canucks, Maple Leafs and Canadiens would likely jump at the chance to bring a player of McTavish's caliber to town. The third overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft just put together his best professional season, amassing 22 goals and 52 points in 76 regular-season contests.
The Canucks have been searching for a 2C since JT Miller was traded to the New York Rangers in the middle of the 2024-25 campaign, and currently, Filip Chytil is pencilled into that spot.
The Habs have Kirby Dach as their second-line center on the depth chart, but he has battled injuries and inconsistency throughout his tenure in Montreal.
As for Toronto, they look set down the middle with Auston Matthews and John Tavares, although moving the latter down to the third line would make the Leafs a fearsome opponent in the Atlantic Division. They also could be looking to recoup some talent following Mitch Marner's departure this summer.
All three Canadian clubs are hoping to make the playoffs in 2025-26, and that quest would certainly get easier if a player like McTavish — or one of the other aforementioned centers — are brought into the fold.
