3 Potential Landing Spots For Rickard Rakell

As we reported earlier this week, it is extremely likely that Rickard Rakell will be traded by the Ducks this season. He has one year left on his contract and can become an unrestricted free agent. With the Ducks in the middle of a rebuild, Rakell is an obvious rental candidate.

Rakell is a solid point-producer who is capable of playing all three forward positions. With that, he also has an affordable $3.8 million cap hit. Therefore, teams who have limited cap space shouldn't have too much trouble finding a way to fit him in, even if that means moving another player or two the other way. It's not like he's making $10 million for multiple years like Jack Eichel.

Alas, here are three teams who should try to add the 28-year-old versatile forward.

Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers were interested in Rakell over the summer, so it wouldn't be surprising to see them go after him again. The beauty that comes with Rakell is he can play all three forward positions and that should be very appealing to Edmonton. The Oilers could utilize him on their second line right wing position and drop Kailer Yamamoto to the third line. Rakell also seems like a very solid fit for the Oilers' third line center position if needed. These are two areas where the Oilers could improve and Rakell would be great for either of them.

Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins are already having injury trouble, so perhaps they could look to strike a deal with the Ducks early on. Even when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin return for the team, they still need more depth on both wings. The second line right wing position is screaming for Rakell to take it. Salary would have to go the other way to make it work, but boy does Rakell look like a perfect addition for them.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Similarly to the Penguins, the Toronto Maple Leafs would need to move out some salary to strike a deal. They do have some players who would become expendable though if they want to make a significant upgrade with Rakell. Yes, it's early on into the season, but the Leafs seem like they already could use another forward. As we get closer to the trade deadline, it would not be too surprising to see them pursue him heavily.