6 Trade Landing Spots for Ducks Defenseman Cam Fowler amid NHL Rumors

Rumor season in the NHL never truly ends. As training camps open this week, we've already got a juicy name making the rounds, with buzz surrounding Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler picking up.

He has spent 14 seasons with the Ducks and is 26 games shy of 1,000 played. Born in Windsor, Ontario, but raised in Detroit, he's been a high-class puck-mover for Anaheim as well as a steady point-producer, amassing 96 goals and 453 points in his career.

But the Ducks are in the throes of a rebuild that's kept them at or near the bottom of the NHL in three of the past four years. They've got younger puck-movers and scorers on the blue line ready to take on the bulk of the minutes, and at 32 years old, Fowler is no longer the main guy. With two years remaining on his contract, the time to trade him is at hand.

Fortunately for Anaheim, veteran defensemen who can generate points and scoring chances are in demand. Perhaps unfortunately for some of those teams, Fowler has a four-team no-trade clause.

So where could Fowler be headed? We've picked out six situations that have been talked about or just make sense. Let us know your thoughts in the comments and if your team should be included (or excluded) from the discussion.

Even if Fowler didn't grow up and play hockey in the Detroit area, the Red Wings would be a team to consider for his services.

We're patiently waiting to see what the Wings will re-sign restricted free agents forward Lucas Raymond and defenseman Moritz Seider for. If and when that happens, Seider could use another capable puck-mover to give him a bit of a break. After all, Detroit lost Shayne Gostisbehere in free agency to Carolina and has rather infamously laid low in free agency itself apart from re-signing Patrick Kane.

Though the Red Wings' defense corps is veteran-heavy, they lack a truly offensively capable defender outside Seider. Erik Gustafsson is solid for depth, but Fowler could instantly land on a pairing with Seider to load up or on the second pair to provide more depth and another wave of attack.

The Wings have cap space and need help, and they're also desperate to get back to the playoffs as soon as possible. Adding Fowler makes a whole lot of sense for roughly a zillion reasons.

When the St. Louis Blues found out they'd be without defenseman Torey Krug for some time because of the severe ankle injury he's been dealing with for years, they scrambled to find help and landed on veteran Ryan Suter.

Suter's best seasons are behind him, and asking him to take on Krug's responsibilities in some way would be difficult. This is where Cam Fowler would help out immensely.

Mind you, Fowler at 32 doesn't exactly make him a young player, but he's still slightly younger than the 33-year-old Krug and much younger than 39-year-old Suter. There's also some convenience in that Krug's $6.5 million cap hit matches Fowler's, and if they need to use LTIR to make a deal happen, it's a perfect fit.

The Blues aren't a Stanley Cup contender, per se, but they could be in the mix for the playoffs, and the loss of Krug makes that fight a lot more difficult. Replacing him with Fowler, however, gets them right back into what should be a fierce fight for the wild card out west.

Atop the Central Division, it's a regular arms race between the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators. Every addition can earn a team home ice in the first round of the playoffs and perhaps beyond that.

The Stars are loaded and have designs on winning the Stanley Cup, and adding a player like Cam Fowler to their blue line would be a monster move.

The Stars aren't lacking for puck-movers and point scorers on defense, having Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley (although he's an unsigned restricted free agent).

Dallas' whole team thrives on playing hard and physically, using elite skill to beat teams, and that profile has classically matched up with Fowler throughout his career. Heck, that's how the Ducks played back in their heyday while Fowler was in his prime.

If the Stars made a move to add Fowler, it would be a virtual luxury for them, but when you consider who they're going up against just within the division, it could also be the move that gives them an edge on the Avalanche, Jets or Predators and would allow them more ammo to battle Edmonton, Vancouver and Vegas deeper in the playoffs.

Winnipeg's place in the battle for the Central Division leans heavily on how well goalie Connor Hellebuyck performs. But if the Jets were to make a move to add Fowler to the blue line, it could go a long way to helping them advance deeper into the postseason and make life easier for last season's Vezina winner.

Fowler joining All-Star defenseman Josh Morrissey on the blue line would give them two outstanding puck-movers who can help generate goals. Beyond Morrissey, the Jets' blue line has a lot of questions. Neal Pionk has been a good partner for Morrissey, and guys like Dylan DeMelo, Dylan Samberg and Colin Miller are good for depth, but they're lacking more high-end help.

Bringing in Fowler would create more depth and give them another guy who can support the forwards in the attack that they sorely need. The potential big catch here, however, is whether Winnipeg would be on Fowler's four-team no-trade list. If it's not, making a bold move like that would be huge.

While we're talking about teams that could be on Fowler's no-trade list, the Ottawa Senators sure could use a left-handed puck-mover.

Ottawa's defensive depth has been lacking for a few years, and even with Jake Sanderson establishing himself with Thomas Chabot, they need so much more help. Fowler would give Ottawa the production it lost when they dealt Jakob Chychrun to Washington. While they got Nick Jensen in return, those players aren't exactly comparable. Fowler fits that description a lot closer despite being older than the 26-year-old Chychrun.

Like Detroit, Ottawa is desperate to get back to the playoffs and the sooner the team does it, the happier the fans will be and, perhaps, the sooner they can get a new arena deal done.

Bringing in Fowler to help on defense would deepen the Senators instantly and lend credibility to their chances of making the postseason in the Eastern Conference. Considering they went bold to add Linus Ullmark in goal to help that end, going for Fowler would prove they're very serious about it.

This summer's offseason champions, the Nashville Predators, blew everyone away by adding three of the biggest free agents available. They could double-down on proving how serious they are by making a deal for Fowler while they're at it.

Signing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei were massive moves for the Predators, and having Skjei and Roman Josi makes for a very good one-two punch on the back end. But they're in a division that's going to be a brutal battle all season, and adding another key veteran like Fowler for the next couple of seasons could make a difference in how it plays out.

Let's face it: When you're dealing with the Stars, Avalanche and Jets all the time, having defensive depth is a necessity. If that depth can score goals and produce points, that creates a big advantage.

Like with Dallas, Nashville adding Fowler would be almost a luxury move and one that would be tricky to pull off. But if the Predators' closest foes are examining how they can make the same move, they'd have to get involved and find a way to keep that from happening. It's just nice that doing that would also make their team better.