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NHL Rumors Update
NHL Rumors Update for 01/13/2020
The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.
01/13/2020 edition:
By Jim Parsons on Jan 12, 2020 12:55 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there’s news surrounding the San Jose Sharks, the New York Rangers will listen on a goaltender, the Edmonton Oilers may lose one of their forwards and the Montreal Canadiens might be one of the busier teams around the All-Star break.
San Jose Sharks Won’t Shake Up Core
Despite having a terrible season that will likely see them categorized as sellers for this year’s NHL Trade Deadline, the San Jose Sharks are not likely to shake up their core group, at least according to Sportsnet’s NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.
First Friedman revealed during Saturday’s Headlines report that the team intended to stand firm with their key group and contend again next season. In other words, San Jose is going to ride this out. Friedman explained:
“San Jose, there’s been a lot of take about what the Sharks will do… Sharks have let it be known they will look at this the way they looked at 2014 – 2015, the last season they missed the playoffs. The following season they went to the Stanley Cup Final, that is their goal to continue to contend for next year. They don’t plan on removing any of their core.”
So, don’t expect huge changes to the roster. That said, a couple of smaller moves might be possible. Expect the Sharks to look at moving pending UFA’s with Brenden Dillon and Melker Karlsson being the most notable. “I think there is a lot of interest in Dillon, potentially even a team like Toronto kicking the tires there,” Friedman said.
New York Rangers to Listen on Georgiev
Friedman also noted that the New York Rangers are ready to listen to offers on their goaltender Alexander Georgiev. The Rangers don’t need goalies and they have a lot of good defensive prospects coming so the Rangers have made it known what they want.
Apparently, they’ve told teams Georgiev won’t be cheap and they want a good young forward prospect or player almost ready to play now. And, if a team that has interest doesn’t step up with something impressive, the Rangers won’t even listen.
Related: Top 3 All-Time Stars Goalies
Kassian to Face Hearing with NHL Player Safety
After three hits, Zack Kassian lost his cool against the Calgary Flames Matthew Tkachuck in Saturday’s Battle of Alberta and grabbed an unwilling combatant in Tkachuk from behind and began to feed him punches. He got a 10-minutes misconduct and the Flames scored on the ensuing power play.
Kassian answered questions after the game saying he’d do it again and that it sucks they lost the game, but now he’s facing a hearing from the NHL Player Safety Committee and could be suspended. That suspension shouldn’t be big, possibly one game.
There are a lot of upset fans in Edmonton. Most are not dissappointed in Kassian but upset that Tkachuk wasn’t given a penalty on the first-period hit that many deemed charging and a head shot.
Lots of Montreal Canadiens Talk
Outside of Friedman suggesting Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin will do something but will wait until around the All-Star break to consider a trade, there is tons of speculation coming out of Montreal.
It’s hard to know how they’d accomplish a trade but Michel Bergeron of le Journal de Montreal (subscription and translation required) believes it’s time for the Montreal Canadiens to consider trading goaltender Carey Price and defenseman Shea Weber.
Bergeron writes:
It’s obvious that Price is a frustrated player right now. He wants to win a Stanley Cup before the end of his career and knows that it will be difficult to do so in Montreal in the short or medium term.
He also adds, “In the case of Weber, it’s a bit the same. Even though he is having a great season, the reality is that he is not getting any younger either.”
Bergeron suggests management sit down with both players and talk about their options. He also doesn’t believe Price’s full no-movement clause would be an issue if Price wants to go to a contender.
The post NHL Rumors: Sharks, Oilers, Rangers, Canadiens, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on Jan 11, 2020 01:35 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news on the Boston Bruins who might have a trade option available but could be waiting on something bigger, there is news on Robin Lehner’s thoughts about staying in Chicago. Finally, are the Edmonton Oilers working on a deal with the Detroit Red Wings?
Bruins Waiting For Right Deal
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested in the latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that at any time, the Boston Bruins could make a trade for Los Angeles Kings winger Tyler Toffoli. He also said, the Bruins are holding off for now.
Friedman didn’t explain why that deal was already in the Bruins hip pocket, only that he is and that the team is thinking about Chris Kreider before they pull the trigger on the Toffoli deal. Friedman believes Bruins GM Don Sweeney is likely focusing on trying land a bigger fish at this year’s trade deadline.
If the Bruins went the Toffoli route, they would need some salary cap assistance and for the Kings to retain a bit of his $4.6 million salary.
Lehner Speaks About His Future in Chicago
John Dietz of the Daily Herald spoke with Blackhawks goaltender Robin Lehner who admitted he liked it in Chicago but isn’t interested in taking a discount to stick around.
He said:
I’ve taken discounts my whole life. I’m not a guy that wants to be overpaid either. I want to gain some respect that I think I deserve and we’ll see if that happens or not.
This has to mean the Blackhawks will either step up prior to the end of the season and provide him with a longer-term deal at fair market value or he’ll test free agency hoping to get more than the one year he got last summer.
He’s played well enough (.922 save percentage) that other teams will definitely be interested this upcoming season. At the very least, Lehner’s free agent case should be bolstered this summer.
Oilers and Red Wings Talking Deal?
“You can bet Holland is eyeing Athanasiou in Det too,” said Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. He added, the Oilers general manager “Loves his speed. His hands don’t quite match his top 5 wheels but he’s restricted free-agent, and Wings’ Steve Yzerman didn’t draft him.”
The last part is a suggestion by Matheson that Yzerman doesn’t feel a loyalty to Athanasiou that a GM who’d pick him at the draft would. Do you know who that GM was? Ken Holland.
What the asking price is remains unclear but the assumption that the Red Wings would move Athanasiou is fair since they are certainly going to be sellers at this year’s deadline and Yzerman just stated in an interview that he’s not looking to be passive and is hoping to bring in picks or young players that can contribute sooner than later.
Discussion of Hall Being Trade Again?
In an interesting article that is catching lots of heat over at The Athletic, Justin Bourne wrote that he believed the Coyotes would be better served moving Taylor Hall than keeping him. He admits that it sounds strange considering they just got him and they are in a playoff spot but he writes, “Yes, I know they just traded picks and prospects. But you can recoup those and improve on them, otherwise, you don’t do a deal.”
The reason he suggests moving Hall is that he doesn’t believe the Coyotes are really that strong a team. He explains:
“And if you’re Arizona, isn’t the best, best, best thing you can do for your franchise is to acquire high draft picks or prospects that will be tied to your organization for the duration of their entry-level contracts (and they’ve had success keeping those players)? Wouldn’t trading Hall provide you cheaper talent that’s going to stick around?”
Bourne didn’t say he had inside information that the Coyotes are thinking this, only that he believes they should be.
The post NHL Rumors: Bruins, Blackhawks, Oilers, Red Wings, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on Jan 10, 2020 01:55 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, one insider predicts a huge change coming for the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins lost Zdeno Chara but it’s unclear for how long, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are shopping Alex Galchenyuk. Finally, are the New York Rangers dealing with additional complications beyond his play when it comes to trading Lias Andersson?
Canadiens About to Make Huge Move(s)
After suffering their eighth straight loss, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman is reporting that something significant is coming to Montreal and the Canadiens organization.
While talking on Sportsnet 590 Friday morning, Friedman explained that he’s not entirely sure what’s going to change. It could be a coaching move where Claude Julien is released, a big trade as a number of players have been listed as available or even general manager Marc Bergevin getting fired. Friedman said:
“I see a team that something’s coming. I don’t know if it’s the coach, I don’t know if it’s a big trade…I just get the sense that’s a team that’s just drowning right now…”
There is a real sense of panic in Montreal where almost anything is on the table from a total restructuring that could including moving Shea Weber or Carey Price to trades that will send players with terminating contracts out the door. Names like Tomas Tatar, Artturi Lehkonen, (soon-to-be RFA) Max Domi, Jeff Petry and even newly acquired Marco Scandella and Ilya Kovalchuk might get looked at.
Bruins Lose Chara, Shouldn’t Be Long
Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was a surprise absence from the lineup on Thursday night, and the reason appears to be soreness in his surgically repaired jaw. He was punched in the jaw a few nights ago and it was a bit too much of a hindrance to play.
Chara took a couple of good shots from the Nashville Predators’ Yakov Trenin in a fight on Tuesday night but everyone knows how tough Char is. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy believes his defenseman will be back in the lineup Saturday against the New York Islanders.
Related: 7 Things About Zdeno Chara
Penguins Shopping Galchenyuk
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun notes that the Pittsburgh Penguins are talking to teams again about moving winger Alex Galchenyuk. The ask is a draft pick or a bottom-six forward in return.
Galchenyuk should be contributing more to the Penguins than he is but he’s struggled since arriving as part of the Phil Kessel trade. At this point, the Penguins need another option and speculation is they may be looking at someone like Tyler Toffoli out of Los Angeles or Jason Zucker out of Minnesota.
Potential Lias Andersson Trade Getting Tricky
The New York Rangers were dealt another wrinkle when it comes to the prospect of trading Lias Andersson.
Andersson was vague but spoke not long ago about some injury and wellness issues he was dealing with to a Swedish media outlet. Rumors have persisted that it’s these mental issues that are keeping him away even though he and his agent have denied those claims and there is speculation he’s set to undergo surgery. There is still some interest in Andersson by other NHL teams but the Rangers need to be cautious of how they proceed.
Dreger’s colleague Bob McKenzie believes that the Rangers are ready to move on and will try to trade Andersson before the NHL Trade Deadline but that the organization is also aware of the message it could send if you simply trade a player just because they’re dealing with mental health issues or have decided to leave the organization because they’re unhappy.
The post NHL Rumors: Canadiens, Bruins, Penguins, Rangers, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
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