NHL Rumors: Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, Hurricanes, and the Senators

If Cayden Lindstrom wasn’t there at No. 4, the Blue Jackets had a fall-back trade ready

Aaron Portzline: Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell said if Cayden Lindstrom wasn’t available to them at No. 4, they had a fall-back trade ready.

Pierre LeBrun: Heard the Chicago Blackhawks offered the Columbus Blue Jackets an unprotected 2025 first-round pick, and another pick for the fourth overall pick. The Blue Jackets obviously passed and selected Cayden Lindstrom.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: With Jake Guentzel leaving the Carolina Hurricanes, if they stop looking to trade Martin Necas and go with a one-year deal or arbitration? In a potential trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets involving the No. 4 pick, the Blue Jackets had an extension offer for Necas.

NHL Rumors: Guentzel, Stamkos, Duchene, Tanev, Blues, Oilers, Predators, and the Top 12 UFAs

Cap space was an issue for some teams trying to make a trade … A couple of UFA targets for the Ottawa Senators

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen: The Ottawa Senators didn’t have any luck in trading Mathieu Joseph or Erik Brannstrom and didn’t find the right fit for Jakob Chychrun and maybe Jacob Bernard-Docker.

• Bruce Garrioch: The Senators won’t be qualifying Brannstrom and he’ll become a UFA.

Senator senior VP Dave Poulin on Saturday.

“I don’t they’re (making trades and free agency) mutually exclusive. Sometimes you have to be able to make a trade to get to where you want to get to financially in free agency.

“You could still see some movement. There’s ebbs and flows and there was certainly a lot of trade chatter go right up to the draft that would have included draft picks in those trades. When that doesn’t happen, it still might taking freeing up financially.

“The cap is so significant in trying to make deals. We might say to a team, ‘OK, we’re going to do this, but one of the two teams has to move financial space’. You’ll still see some movement. We’re going to be in free agency mode to try to fill a couple of spots, but it may have to happen simultaneously to be effective.”

Two free agents the Senators could target are Matt Roy and Brandon Montour. The Senators need a right-handed defenseman. One source said they looked at Brett Pesce but he’ll be signing with the New Jersey Devils.