The Three NHLs and What You Need to Know About All Three
Every day, hockey fans wake up and enter three different NHLs. The funny thing is, they’re all real. And if you’re a hockey fan in 2026, you’re probably following all three whether you realize it or not. You may think you’re just checking scores, reading a rumor, listening to a podcast, scrolling through social media, or arguing in a group chat about whether your team should trade for a center. But really, you’re moving between three different versions of the same league. There’s the NHL that actually exists. There’s the NHL that might exist. And there’s the NHL fans wish existed. They overlap. They contradict each other. They feed each other. And every once in a while, all three start pointing in the same direction. But it’s honestly the exception to the rule when they do.
#1. The Actual NHL
The first NHL is the easiest one to understand. It’s the actual NHL. It’s the games, the standings, the playoffs, the draft, the free-agent signings, and the trades that actually happen. This is the NHL of final scores and official announcements. It is the NHL of box scores, press conferences, lineup cards, salary-cap sheets, injury updates, waiver claims, and transactions that show up on the league website. Right now, that NHL is focused on one thing: the Stanley Cup Final. The Carolina Hurricanes are trying to win their first Stanley Cup since 2006. The rest of the league is watching, waiting, and preparing for what comes next.
- Front offices are getting ready for the Draft and free agency
- .Coaches are being hired.
- Scouts are finalizing draft lists.
- Agents are preparing their clients for the market.
It is the NHL where results matter more than theories. A team either wins or loses. A player either signs or he doesn’t. A trade either happens or it doesn’t. A prospect is either selected or passed over. A coach is either hired or someone else gets the job. There is comfort in the Actual NHL because it is concrete. The Actual NHL gives us facts. It gives us closure.
But it also moves slower than fans want it to. And when your team is not in the Stanley Cup Final right now, it’s something most fans keep up with, but it doesn’t matter the most. That’s the problem. The Actual NHL only tells us what has already happened. If I’ve learned anything in 20 years of doing this, it’s that hockey fans care more about what’s going to happen than what has already happened…….That’s where the second NHL enters..... My NHL.
#2. The Rumor NHL.
This is the NHL Eklund spends most of his time in. The NHL that lives in text messages, conversations between executives, discussions among agents, insider reports, scouting trips, background calls, and trade boards that the public never sees. This NHL never sleeps. Even when nothing is happening, something is being discussed.
- A general manager makes a call just to check in.
- An agent mentions that a player may not be happy.
- A team tells another team it is not shopping a player but would listen if the offer was significant.
- A reporter hears that a name has come up.
- A scout shows up at a game and everyone starts wondering why.
That is the Rumor NHL.
It is rarely clean. It is almost never direct. In the Rumor NHL, Connor McDavid is discussed every day. Not because the Edmonton Oilers are necessarily trading him. Not because a deal is sitting there ready to happen. But because he is Connor McDavid, and the second there is even the smallest opening for conversation, every team in the league has to think about what it would mean. In the Rumor NHL, Auston Matthews gets connected to teams despite nobody suggesting Toronto is actively shopping him. That is what happens with superstar players. Their names become bigger than their actual availability. Robert Thomas, Vincent Trocheck, Brady Tkachuk, and dozens of other players bounce in and out of conversations as teams explore possibilities and fans imagine scenarios.
Some of those conversations are serious. Some are just due diligence. Some are one team asking and another team immediately saying no. Some never get past one phone call. But they all exist. That is one of the hardest parts of following the Rumor NHL and reporting on it. A rumor can be true without a trade being close. A player can be discussed without being available. A team can make a call without having a real chance. I can relay to you that a name has come up, and that still doesn’t mean anything is ever going to happen. But even when NOTHING happens, there are MANY clues in the rumors that go nowhere...
That’s where fans always get frustrated, and I’m right there with them. They hear a name. They attach a destination. They build a trade package. They imagine the press conference, the jersey being pulled over ahead...and then nothing happens. But nothing happening does not mean the original information was wrong. It just means the Rumor NHL never became the Actual NHL. We have seen playera dominate rumor discussions for months and never move. Another player can be traded without his name ever appearing on a public rumor list. That is why Rumor NHL is so hard to follow. It is real, but it is not final. It tells us what people are discussing, not what is guaranteed…..But there is a third NHL that I think may be becoming as important as the other two.
The Fan NHL.
This NHL has exploded over the last 3-6 years.. It lives on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, team forums, message boards, social media, podcasts, YouTube shows, fantasy hockey chats, and group texts. It isn’t driven by executives or agents. It’s driven by emotion. That doesn’t mean it is useless. That doesn’t mean it is even wrong. It just means it operates by a different set of rules. The Fan NHL is not always asking, “What is likely?” It is often asking, “What would be cool?”
- What would fix our team?
- What would make our rival miserable?
- What would give us the center we’ve needed for years?
- What would finally push us over the top?
- What would make our rebuild exciting again?
The Fan NHL isn’t necessarily talking about players who are available. It’s talking about players fans want to be available. That’s why you see players like Auston Matthews, Quinn Hughes, Connor McDavid, Brady Tkachuk, and Robert Thomas constantly discussed by fan bases all over the league.
- That is the Fan NHL.
- It is emotional.
- It is passionate.
- It is often unrealistic.
- But it is powerful.
Sometimes the Fan NHL Can Become the Rumor NHL.
A player starts appearing in trade proposals. Then enough people discuss it that reporters get asked about it. Then podcasts start debating it. Then a local radio host brings it up. Then front offices notice the conversation. Then teams make calls. Then agents hear the noise.
That is why the Fan NHL matters more now than it used to.
Until recently, the fan conversation was more contained. A wild trade idea could live and die in one city. Now it can travel across the league in an hour. That doesn’t mean the rumor is real. But it does mean the conversation is real. And conversations have weight.
That’s why I suggest paying attention to all three NHLs.
- The Actual NHL tells us what happened.
- The Rumor NHL tells us what is being actually discussed and might happen..
- The Fan NHL often tells us what people want to happen.
The challenge for hockey fans is understanding which NHL they’re in at any given moment and applying the proper perspective.
- A fan proposal often gets treated like a rumor.
- A rumor wrongly gets treated like a report.
- A report gets treated like a finished deal.
- People get angry when the thing that was never truly close does not happen.
The most important realization....
Unlike MANY others at teams or in the media I fully accept and BELIEVE that NONE of this is bad. It is part of what makes life fun. Speculation is...amd always will be... part of sports. Arguing about possibilities is part of being a fan. And so much more fun that sitting back and saying nothing Nobody wants to follow a league where the only thing you can discuss is what has already been announced.
The challenge for people like me is trying to figure out when one NHL is disguising itself as another. Even talking to GMs you quickly realize that they are susceptible to speculation way more than you would guess. I am often telling NHL people, "No, that was a fake twitter account reporting that..." There are false alarms. There are dead ends. There are rumors that never become anything more than rumors. But when all three NHLs begin to line up, you have to pay attention. Because the Actual NHL may be the only one that goes in the record books. But the Rumor NHL and the Fan NHL often tell us where the league is going before it gets there.
And in 2026, if you want to really understand hockey, you can’t follow just one NHL anymore.
You probable want to at least be aware of all three.
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