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NHL Trade Talk Recap: Oilers, Maple Leafs, Hurricanes, Canadiens

NHL Trade Talk Recap Mar 17: The Oilers finding their game, Hurricanes will try to sign Marner, and the Canadiens decline the Sabres trade.

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NHL Trade Talk
March 17, 2025

In today’s NHL Trade Talk Recap (Mar. 17), the Carolina Hurricanes are said to have continued interest in Mitch Marner and will chase him in free agency if the winger gets to market this summer. Meanwhile, it was said Marner wasn’t told about who he was potentially being traded for if he was willing to go to Carolina. In other news, the Edmonton Oilers look like they’re starting to find their game, while the Montreal Canadiens reportedly declined a wild ask from the Buffalo Sabres in a potential deadline trade.

Top NHL Trade Talk Recap Story:

Hurricanes Will Swing for Marner This Summer

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun is reporting that the Carolina Hurricanes will take a swing for Mitch Marner if he makes it to free agency this summer. Ready to use a good chunk of their $36 million in cap space to sign a big ticket in free agency, the Hurricanes tried to trade for Marner at the deadline, but he didn’t want to leave the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It was also reported that Marner was not told about the Mikko Rantanen part of the trade ask when Toronto came to Marner to see about waiving his no-trade. Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun reported that Marner took time to consider the option before declining the trade. Simmons also suggested it wasn’t revealed that the deal would have included Rantanen coming to Toronto, which runs counter to some of the other insider reports.

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The Oilers Are Starting to Come Around

The Oilers had a difficult road trip until the last two games, when Edmonton pulled out wins, keeping the New York Islanders and New York Rangers to one goal apiece. Leon Draisaitl continued to lead the way, extending his point streak to 18 games.

Other players have started to contribute, including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who had three assists against the Rangers on Sunday. Jeff Skinner drew a couple of penalties, and Viktor Arvidsson scored, all things that are helping the Oilers find their game.

Read More About the Recap Here

Did the Canadiens Shoot Down a Trade with the Sabres?

According to journalist Mathias Brunet (h/t House of Hockey for the translation), the Canadiens were interested in potentially trading for Dylan Cozens but the Buffalo Sabres wanted Montreal to send one of Cole Caufield or Juraj Slafkovsky back in return. There was no way the Canadiens were going to do that, so trade talks fell apart, and Cozens was traded to the Ottawa Senators.