In this week's NHL rumors, there is news on the Flyers search for a goalie, the Capitals trying to trade Andre Buravosky and more.

Will Pavel Datsyuk make a return to the NHL? Will Jeff Carter — who is speculated to be a moveable piece out of LA — make a trade easy for the Kings if they try to move him? Will the Maple Leafs make a move via the rental market seeing as how they're so close to being a contender?

Here are the biggest rumors in the NHL for the week of December 22, 2018.

Capitals and Burakovsky

via ESPN.com

There’s certainly truth to the rumors that Andre Burakovksy — who has been a regular healthy scratch for the Washington Capitals of late— is trade bait. Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post writes the Capitals have received calls from teams asking about his availability, including a call from the Vancouver Canucks.

That said, Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the Capitals are only willing to move him for a piece that could help the team now and not for futures or draft picks. The organization wants to give itself the best chance to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions this season.

Related: Biggest Rumors In The NHL This Week - December 15, 2018

Flyers Still Looking for a Goalie

via NBC Sports

Outside of the news that the Flyers fired their head coach and the speculation Joel Quenneville might be in the running for the job, the Flyers still badly need to find a solution in net. Top goaltender prospect Carter Hart made his debut on Tuesday but he's not the Philadelphia Flyers solution in goal this season. Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that new GM Chuck Fletcher “sounds like he’s shopping for a goalie.”

Fletcher understands that throwing Hart into the full-time starting role right now would be unwise and in fact, would rather keep him at the AHL level for this season.

Related: Joel Quenneville Rumored To Coach Flyers After Unexpected Blackhawks Firing

Jeff Carter Won’t Make a Trade Easy

via LA Kings Game-Used

Elliotte Friedman reported on the rumors Jeff Carter might be a trade piece out of LA but he also mentioned that Carter might not be interested in leaving Los Angeles. In fact, he may be so tied to the city and the organization that if he's traded to a destination he doesn't like, he may just retire. As such, any team looking to acquire him should be extremely cautious and talk to him first.

Carter is aware of the rumors he might be traded and said  “When you’re not winning, that’s the nature of the beast. We’ll see what happens. Obviously, I don’t want to go anywhere." He also mentioned this was the first time he had kids and a family to worry about.

Related: Leafs Not Worried About Mathews & Marner Getting Offer Sheets

Leafs Not Interested in Rental Market

Maple Leafs Hotstove

Kyle Dubas is expected to try and improve his team to go on an extended playoff run but he's also suggested during an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, that he's not looking to the rental market to do so. Dubas said, "I don’t really look and see many pure rentals that really change the dynamic of our group. So anything that we’d be looking at would be players that probably have some term."

It's hard to imagine this is the truth considering the best chance the Maple Leafs have to really make good trades that don't affect their future cap is to acquire players whose contracts terminate at the end of the season.

Related: Maple Leafs' Lack Of Top-End Defenseman Is Apparent After Loss To Lightning

Datsyuk Returning to the NHL?

via MLive.com

Bob McKenzie tweeted there was speculation Pavel Datsyuk might return to the NHL. However, when Datsyuk’s agent, Dan Milstein was asked to comment the rumors, he said, “Every year we sit down and talk about options but (returning to the) NHL isn’t something he has entertained.” That's a pretty emphatic no.

Part of the issue could be that Datsyuk’s rights are currently owned by the Arizona Coyotes and not the Detroit Red Wings where it is assumed he would prefer to return if he made a comeback. A return is still possible considering Datsyuk would be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

Next: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Responds To Ference's Damning Account Of Oilers Young Team