Gary Bettman reportedly asking teams to avoid trades temporarily

The Panthers took a 3-0 lead in the series on Thursday, surviving a late comeback attempt from the Oilers to put the team in the verge of their first ever Stanley Cup. As such, we could start to see many offseason moves being made at once. According to a recent rumor, Gary Bettman has privately asked teams not to make any moves. He does not want any distractions overshadowing the Stanley Cup final.

Fans seemed to take this to mean that the Leafs could have something cooking in terms of trade possibilities. After all, Mitch Marner has been heavily involved in trade rumors this offseason, and his trade would send shockwaves around the hockey world, certainly overshadowing the Stanley Cup, especially with the Florida Panthers being one of the teams involved.

It seems then, that Bettman wants to give the Panthers their own moment in the sun as they appear set to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The Oilers would have to pull off something that hasn't been done since 1942 with a reverse sweep in the finals. The last reverse sweep in general came in 2014 when the Kings defeated the San Jose Sharks.

Source: BladeofSteel
NHL reportedly telling teams not to make trades or roster moves