NHL free agency and trade tracker: Henrik Lundqvist to sign with Capitals, per report

A strange, prolonged NHL season is officially in the rearview mirror, as the Tampa Bay Lightning closed the league’s playoff bubble by defeating the Dallas Stars in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final. But with the league’s timeline all thrown out of whack due to COVID-19, we now have a condensed offseason thrust upon us and there’s barely been any time to catch our collective breath. 

In a normal year, we’d spend the first week of October gearing up for a new season. But this year has been anything but normal and, as such, we find ourselves deep in trade rumors, pre-draft chatter and free agency rumblings as the leaves begin to change. There’s a lot going on right now so we’ll do our best to keep you in the loop with the latest updates all in one place:

Rumors

• Henrik Lundqvist plans to sign with the Washington Capitals when free agency opens on Friday, per report
• Tyler Toffoli is reportedly heading to free agency because the Canucks can’t free up the money to re-sign him
• The Maple Leafs reportedly have “genuine interest” in signing veteran forward Wayne Simmonds
• Tyler Johnson has given the Lightning a trade list that includes “a mix of teams league wide” as TBL looks to deal him
• Speculation around Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekmann-Larsson continues to grow, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Chris Johnston saying OEL “has almost certainly played his last game with the Coyotes” and is angling for a trade to the Bruins or Canucks
• The Arizona Coyotes are shopping the negotiating rights to impending-UFA Taylor Hall
• The Blackhawks and Penguins reportedly discussed a trade for goaltender Matt Murray but things fell apart because Chicago couldn’t reach terms of a contract extension with Murray

Notable transactions

• The Canadiens have acquired Josh Anderson from the Blue Jackets in exchange for Max Domi and a 3rd-round pick in 2020
• The Sharks acquired Ryan Donato and Devan Dubnyk from the Minnesota Wild in two separate deals. Donato comes in exchange for a 3rd round pick, while Dubnyk (and a 2022 7th-round pick) came in exchange for a 2022 5th-round pick
  
  
• The Maple Leafs re-signed Jason Spezza to another one-year deal
  
  
• The Stars re-signed Andrej Sekera to a two-year extension worth $3 million
• The Kings acquired defenseman Olli Maatta from the Blackhawks in a move that’s largely a salary cap dump for Chicago