NHL Rumors Update

NHL Rumors Update for 07/17/2020

July 17, 2020

The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.

 

07/17/2020 edition:

By Jim Parsons on Jul 16, 2020 12:20 pm

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news on Johnny Gaudreau and the Calgary Flames, plus Robin Lehner wants to stay with the Golden Knights. The Chicago Blackhawks have signed three players, and there is speculation Taylor Hall might surprise a few people in free agency. In Boston, there are questions about David Pastrnak, and is there a chance some coaches won’t be joining their NHL rosters?

Issues in Calgary with Johnny Gaudreau?

TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger said during a recent report that there is some question in Calgary as to how happy Johnny Gaudreau is with his specific situation. People were quick to notice when Gaudreau wasn’t on the top line with Sean Monahan or Elias Lindholm.

Dreger said, “They’re doing their best to downplay it and I don’t have a firm answer.”

Of course, this could simply be that the coaching staff simply opted to split top players onto different lines. Still, there is a sense around Calgary that a message is being sent right out of the gate and at the start of camp. He says, “If that’s the case, then maybe Johnny didn’t spend enough time in the home gym, but that’s just speculation.”

There’s talk that Gaudreau may let the Flames know he’s unhappy and going to want to go back east. Dreger said, “If Johnny Guadreau doesn’t like playing in Calgary, good for him. He can make that decision. It’s 100% up to him, he’s a grown a– man” and he added, “There seems to be some sort of galvanizing pieces or pieces in Calgary that just don’t seem to go away.”

Lehner Looking to Stay With Golden Knights

Danny Webster of NHL.com writes that despite the fact Robin Lehner has not been with the team long and there’s talk of him looking to do well in free agency — and Vegas Golden Knights having Marc-Andre Fleury on the books — the talented goaltender is hopeful that he’ll have talks about remaining with the team beyond this season.

“I’m sure we’ll have some discussions after the season and see what happens,” Lehner said Wednesday. “I really like it here. Great team, great organization, great group of players. We’ll see what happens. You never know, but it’s a very good impression here so far.”

The problem for the Golden Knights is obviously how much money they are willing to invest in a goaltending tandem. That said, Lehner could get the nod as a starter over Fleury which might signal the thought process about keeping him.

Blackhawks Sign Three

The Chicago Blackhawks have officially announced three signings. Ian Mitchell has signed a three-year entry-level contract, Wyatt Kalynuk has signed a two-year entry-level contract and Pius Suter has signed a one-year entry-level contract.

All three deals will start in 2020-21.

Where is David Pastrnak?

Matt Porter of the Boston Globe notes that Bruins star David Pastrnak is not at practice and Bruins PR said he would not Zoom with reporters as scheduled.

Bruce Cassidy confirmed that Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase were “unfit to participate” in today’s practice: “Hopefully that changes in the near future.”

Tryamkin Signs With the KHL

There was talk the Vancouver Canucks might work out contract details with Nikita Tryamkin and that he could possibly return to the team, but that’s not happening. The defenseman has signed a new one-year contract with Yekaterinburg of the KHL. According to Thomas Drance of The Athletic felt there was “too much risk” in waiting given he hasn’t played since February.

While the Canucks will be able to retain his rights until next summer, Tryamkin will become an unrestricted free agent on his 27th birthday—August 30, 2021.

Taylor Hall Could Surprise With His Free Agency Decision

Elliotte Friedman said on Writers Bloc:

… if anyone goes off the board to put themselves in a winning situation, it’ll be Taylor Hall. He’s been in a lot of losing situations & he’s tried of it, he’s made a lot of money in his career, winning is his #1 priority now.

The idea here is that Hall hasn’t won anything in his NHL career and knowing that this offseason’s free agency might not be the best time to hit a financial home run, he could pick the team with the best odds of helping him win. Does that mean we could see him in a Colorado uniform for one year?

Coaches Working to Get Full Pay Back

According to a recent report by TSN, not all team employees are back to full pay in the NHL and that could pose a problem. Many teams had to cut the salary of coaches and staff during the pause and Darren Dreger noted, “The NHL Coaches’ Association is trying to get all head coaches and assistant coaches back up to full salary.”

There’s an issue with this because the NHL doesn’t govern over this and can’t force teams to reinstate full salaries. Some contracts also include a force majeure clause (right to not performed employed services when certain circumstances beyond their control arise) which, in this case, was triggered by the NHL going into pause.

The good news is most of the NHL teams that were forced to cut back salaries have returned to full pay.

By Jim Parsons on Jul 15, 2020 09:20 am

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, while teams are getting ready for the NHL playoffs with exhibition games, there is news that the Ottawa Senators are busy off the ice and are going to be making a big change to their logo. Torey Krug of the Boston Bruins talks his future with the team after the announcement of a new CBA, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have questions about line combinations.

Senators Changing Logo

The Ottawa Senators have decided to turn back the clock. The team announced they’ll making a major change and altering their logo, according to The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian.

Salvian reports that the franchise is bringing back something very similar to the two-dimensional logo that they debuted in 1997. The team has decided they like the more retro look of the old logo, which better represents the Roman style of their centurion logo. The news was met with wide praise by Ottawa fans.

These changes will feature redesigned jerseys, plus include a brand new third jersey, all in the hopes that the organization can appeal to a wider audience, better represent their younger roster, and increase merchandise sales.

The new-look jerseys and logo mockups have been sent to the league for approval, the source said. The logo has also been sent to sponsors for updated branding for the 2020-21 season. A date for unveiling the new look to the public has not yet been set, the source said. The Senators declined to comment.

source -‘Source: Senators to return to vintage 2-D logo for next season’ – Hailey Salvian – The Athletic – 07/13/2020

NHL to Hold Exhibition Games Prior to Play-ins

THe league announced Tuesday night that they’ll be scheduling three days of exhibition games between some of the NHL’s biggest rivals playing in this very unique postseason. While fans and media are excited to have hockey back, and now sooner than expected, there are some questions about pitting rivals against one another in meaningless games where injuries could hamper the actual postseason contests.

For example, what are the chances the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers won’t try to beat the tar out of each other before the games that matter begin? Sure, there may be a sense of not going too hard when the results don’t matter, but these two teams have heat with one another and their regular season games were nasty affairs. There’s a portion of the fan base and media arguing the optics of someone like Connor McDavid getting hurt in that game would be terrible for the NHL.

At the same time, there are fans who are excited about rivals playing each other because those are the matchups the fans really want to see and there’s no guarantee they’ll play each other during this road to the Stanley Cup.

The game schedule is below:

July 28:

Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia – 3pmToronto vs Montreal – 7pmEdmonton vs Calgary – 9:30pm

July 29:

Tampa Bay vs Florida – 11amColorado vs Minnesota – 1:30pmCarolina vs Washington – 3pmSt. Louis vs Chicago – 5:30pmIslanders vs Rangers – 7pmVancouver vs Winnipeg – 9:30pm

July 30:

Nashville vs Dallas – 3pmBoston vs Columbus – 6pmVegas vs Arizona – 9pm

Torey Krug Preparing for Free Agnecy

Even though he admits the new CBA is good for the players, Bruins defenseman Torey Krug now knows his time in Boston could be coming to an end. He said the lower salary cap could mean the Bruins don’t have the space to keep him.

Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic cites Krug who said:

I don’t really know what’s going to happen,” Krug said. “I’m just trying to take it day by day and worry about the playoffs right now. I’ll have to probably prepare for free agency. Then we’ll see what happens there. In terms of what’s going on with the Bruins and everything else, that’s probably a question for someone else.”

source -As Torey Krug readies for playoffs, he acknowledges time in Boston could end’ – Fluto Shinzawa – The Atheltic – 07/13/2020

Krug also mentioned that being a free agent right now is concerning, and not just when it comes to money and a lower cap. Like other UFA’s, he’s had 3-4 months off, he’s about to dive head first into some of the most intense hockey, and there’s a better chance of injury. Not knowing your future is something he admits he’s thought about.

“Being a free agent that goes into this situation, it’s definitely risky. I’d be lying if I said it’s not,” Krug said.

Maple Leafs Unsure About Line Combinations

While head coach Sheldon Keefe said he saw some good things from certain line combinations at the end of the regular season, he’s not sure how he’s going to set up his lines yet for the postseason.

“…we’ve got two weeks here and I expect to move things around a little bit here and there just to try different things and get guys comfortable with each other and renew some chemistry,” he said. He added, “I expect it to move around a fair bit, but we like the fact that really within that top-six forward group we’ve got lots of combinations that can work.”

With that in mind, Keefe’s focus has been on defense where he says the team needs to see the biggest improvement. As per TSN, “I don’t think it’s any secret that we got to be a lot better defensively,” he said after Tuesday’s workout. “There’s no area of our game defensively that we were satisfied with. We’re not kidding ourselves here.”

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