In today’s NHL rumour rundown, we look at how the Seattle Kraken will be looking for a “king’s ransom” if another team wants to acquire Jared McCann. Elsewhere, there have been some updates on the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, and how that could look. Finally, there have been some updates on the biggest remaining restricted free agents and 2026’s top unrestricted free agents.
Kraken Hanging On To McCann
Over the course of the summer, McCann’s name came up a few times, but nothing really emerged from it, and there wasn’t a ton of chatter. Rob Simpson of Seattle Hockey Insider reported, “Without question, the New Jersey Devils were at least one NHL team told by the Seattle Kraken earlier this summer that forward Jared McCann was unavailable.”
McCann has been an integral part of the Kraken since their expansion draft. He is a leader on and off the ice, has scored over 100 goals over the past three seasons, and has lots of value around the league.
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Simpson said that it would take a king’s ransom to pry McCann away from the Kraken, and after noting the Devils as an interested team, mentioned that Jim Biringer of RG.org stated a first-round pick would need to be in the package, as well as some candidates, including the likes of Dawson Mercer, Seamus Casey, Simon Nemec, and another top prospect.
NHL Moving Forward With 2028 World Cup Without IIHF
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) oversees pretty much all of the international hockey, with the World Championship, World Junior Championship, and the Olympics being the biggest tournaments. The IIHF did not have any involvement with the uber-successful 4 Nations Face-Off, and with Gary Bettman and the NHL promising the World Cup of Hockey to return, it was reported by Darren Dreger that the NHL is planning to move forward without the IIHF’s involvement.
Dreger also stated that the NHL is going to work directly with each Hockey Federation when putting together the tournament. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly was on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts and spoke about the upcoming plans.
The World Cup is going to be a mid-season tournament in February of 2028. It will consist of eight separate countries with no hybrid teams (Team North America), and there will be a European host city as well as one in North America….
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