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NHL Rumors Update
NHL Rumors Update for 08/03/2020
The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.
08/03/2020 edition:
By Jim Parsons on Aug 02, 2020 01:20 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, night one of the NHL’s qualifying round included some great hockey action, but it wasn’t a wonderful night for the Winnipeg Jets who lost two key players. In Boston, the Bruins have a player returning, but will he see game action? Questions about the New York Rangers’ netminder Igor Shesterkin were partially answered, and the Detroit Red Wings will need to make a decision on Frans Nielsen. Finally, what is going on with Jake Virtanen in Vancouver and will Drake Caggiula be suspended?
Jets Lose Scheifele and Laine
In what some are calling a dirty hit and others calling a hit that wasn’t malicious, Matthew Tkachuk’s right skate appeared to take out or at least turn Mark Scheifele’s left foot to the point of an injury on Saturday during the Calgary Flames versus Winnipeg Jets game. Scheifele went into the boards awkwardly, stayed down in pain, and didn’t put weight on his left foot on his way off the ice. He did not return.
While the hockey world debates the hit, Jets head coach Paul Maurice called the play intentional and said it was a “filthy, dirty kick to the back of the leg.”
TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Scheifele will be getting checked out and fans in Winnipeg will wait to see how long one of their stars is out of action for. Dreger writes:
As the Jets indicated last night, Mark Scheifele will be seen by specialists today with post-MRI result to determine the extent of injury…next step, etc. @NHLPlayerSafety continues to review the play, although “freak accident” is a common response to what was a horrific play.
Unfortunately, the Jets didn’t only lose Scheifele.
Patrik Laine headed to the locker room after a collision with Flames defenseman Mark Giordano in the third period. Laine will also see a specialist and is projected to miss time.
Shesterkin’s Absence Likely Related to Injury
Igor Shesterkin’s late scratch against Carolina on Saturday had a lot of people talking. He was the favorite to be the starter in net for the Rangers and when he was shown on camera during the game, it answered a few questions about what was ailing him.
Larry Brooks of the New York Post clarifies that it’s believed Shersterkin suffered an injury and not playing is not related to a positive COVID-19 test. He notes that the injury was likely either suffered at practice on Friday or during their tune-up game against the Islanders on Wednesday. Head coach David Quinn told reporters, including Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press, he’s unsure if Shesterkin will be available on Monday for the second game of the series.
Another Rangers player, winger Jesper Fast left the game Saturday after the first shift. It appeared he was hurt after taking a hit from former Rangers teammate Brady Skjei. There’s no word yet on how long he may be out for.
Kase Joins Bruins
Boston Bruins winger Ondrej Kase has joined the team in Toronto, according Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston. Kase missed all of camp and he will not play Sunday. It’s unclear as to when he’ll see game action considering he’s likely not in game shape.
Caggiula to Have Hearing With NHL Player Safety
The Chicago Blackhawks are facing the first potential suspension of this season’s tournament as Drake Caggiula is going to have a hearing with the NHL Player Safety Committee for his hit on Tyler Ennis in Game 1 between the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks.
There is certainly some debate as to the intent of the hit and the play did not actually result in a penalty during the game. In fact, Ennis actually received a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass in the same series.
Canucks Quitting on Virtanen?
Despite the fact GM Jim Benning said not to read too much into Jake Virtanen not playing for the Canucks, Don Taylor of TSN Radio Vancouver says, “I just get the feeling they’re done with Jake.”
He added:
This is his 1st opportunity to play in a postseason, and this happens. Travis Green has seen Virtanen since 2014, he doesn’t believe in him. He’s seen his act. Are they going to commit to him? No way”
A Frans Nielsen Buyout Not Likely
Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press writes that she doesn’t believe the Detroit Red Wings will buy out the contract of forward Frans Nielsen. Nielsen has two years left on his contract at a $5.25 million salary-cap hit.
She writes:
There are two years left on Nielsen’s contract. It is doubtful GM Steve Yzerman will buy him out because it’d be prohibitive — it would cost around $3.4 million against the salary cap in 2020-21 and roughly $4.4 million in 2021-22. Nielsen is still a good skater and passer, and is a dependable penalty killer.
The post NHL Rumors: Jets, Rangers, Bruins, Canucks, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on Aug 01, 2020 02:50 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, the NHL has ruled on the conditions of three trades and there’s some debate about the merits of doing so. In Toronto, there is news the Maple Leafs are loaning out a prospect to the KHL. Finally, the New York Rangers started a surprising goalie against the Hurricanes. Why not go with the best netminder?
The NHL Rules on Three Trades
Teams involved in trades that had conditions or conditional draft picks attached no longer have to wait to find out what will happen with those conditions. The NHL has ruled on trades involving the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and other teams.
In the trade that saw James Neal come to Edmonton for Milan Lucic (to Calgary), Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that Edmonton will have to transfer a third-round pick in either 2020 or 202 to complete the trade. The Oilers will have until the start of the third round in October’s draft to decide if the selection will come this year or next.
There is a lot of debate about whether or not this was a fair decision. The condition of the trade was that Neal had to have at least 21 goals and Lucic ten or fewer. Neal scored 19 when the season was shut down and Lucic was at eight, meaning only the Lucic portion of the condition was met. It appears the league prorated Neal’s goal pace over 82 games.
The Oilers are now without their second-round pick for the next two years and a fourth-rounder in 2020, along with this third-rounder.
Condition of Maple Leafs and Kings Trade
The NHL has ruled on terms of the Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs trade that saw Jack Campbell and Kyle Clifford go to Toronto. Toronto will owe a 2021 second-round pick if they win their Qualifying Round series against Columbus and Campbell gets two or more wins or if Clifford re-signs.
Hurricanes and Devils Trade Condition Ruling
With the Carolina Hurricanes’ acquisition of Sami Vatanen, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that if Carolina beats New York in the Qualifying Round series and Vatanen plays in 70% or more of their playoff games, the Hurricanes send New Jersey their 2020 third-round pick. He also writes:
If he plays in less than 70 per cent of CAR’s playoff games, then it depends on if Vatanen appears twice against NYR. If yes and CAR wins the series, NJ gets a CAR 4th this year. If yes and NYR wins, Hurricanes get the choice of a 4th this year or next….
If he doesn’t play twice against NYR, there’s no pick going to NJ. Easy!
Maple Leafs Loan Out Lehtonen
The Maple Leafs announced that they have loaned Mikko Lehtonen to the KHL. The blueliner will head back to Jokerit to start next season and is expected to report to the team next week.
Lehtonen will be the second Toronto player loaned out to the KHL to start next season as it was reported Egor Korshkov would be loaned to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. The idea is to get some playing time in before training camps start up again.
Rangers Start Lundqvist
Henrik Lundqvist started in net for the New York Rangers versus the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Igor Shesterkin was not on the ice and reports were that he was deemed “unfit to play” today.
The NBC broadcast showed him inside the building watching the game, which means his absence is not related to COVID-19. If he tested positive, he would already be isolated, according to protocol.
Bruins Might Be Without Rask
According to Chris Johnston, Tuukka Rask “wasn’t feeling well” and missed practice, according to Bruce Cassidy. Unclear if he’ll be able to start tomorrow’s game against Philadelphia.
The post NHL Rumors: Oilers, Flames, Maple Leafs, Bruins, Rangers… appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on Jul 31, 2020 12:10 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, the Boston Bruins are hoping an injury to Brad Marchand isn’t too serious. He left an exhibition game and is questionable for Sunday. In Calgary, one scribe tries to explain the chatter surrounding Johnny Gaudreau, and in Vancouver, why is everyone passing Jake Virtanen on the depth chart? Finally, what was the deal behind David Pastrnak’s odd tweet about Tom Wilson?
Marchand Injured Against Blue Jackets
Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston notes that Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand left Thursday’s game in the third period with what appeared to be a lower-body injury. It’s not entirely clear when the injury happened as it could have been when he fell awkwardly but he was shown on replay skating gingerly before leaving.
“He left ,” said Bruce Cassidy. “I don’t think it’s anything serious, but we’ll have a better idea obviously in the morning.”
Cam Neely didn’t give an update on Marchand’s status during an interview with NESN but did say that the Bruins will have to find the right use of players going forward during the round-robin portion of this postseason.
Sports Insights Twitter page has Marchand listed as questionable Sunday vs. Philadelphia.
Pastrnak Explains Odd Wilson Tweet
Earlier this week, Bruins forward David Pastrnak caught some attention with a tweet that went viral. He wrote, “In my opinion Tom Wilson is the best goal scorer in the league.”
While Wilson is a skilled player, to say he’s the best scorer in the NHL is a bit of a stretch and some had wondered if maybe Pastrnak had lost his phone or someone was pranking him.
Pastrnak explained the post after the Bruins’ exhibition game on Thursday evening saying, “I just felt like it.” According to NHL’s Amalie Benjamin, Pastrnak said, “I wanted to say it. It was my opinion. Nobody hacked my Twitter. It was all me and it was my own fingers typed that in.”
Then, things became a lot clearer when he said, “It was a little side bet with Tom from back in the day.”
Wilson also commented on the tweet before the Capitals’ exhibition game against the Hurricanes and said, “shenanigans have begun.”
Clearly, players have already begun to get bored in the bubble.
More on Jake Virtanen Not In Canucks Lineup
It was asked on Wednesday why Jake Virtanen was sitting during the Canucks loss against the Winnipeg Jets and GM Jim Benning said the team wanted to get a look at Micheal Ferland. Now, it appears not just Ferland has passed Virtanen on the depth charts.
Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet writes that Loui Eriksson appears to have passed the 23-year old and coach Travis Green said “I just went with the lineup that I thought gave us the best chance to win. Plain and simple.”
Part of the reasoning could be that Virtanen doesn’t kill penalties and that he can be a defensive liability at times.
Explaining Gaudreau Trade Talk
Scott Cruickshank of The Athletic discusses the trade speculation surrounding the Calgary Flames in a recent mailbag segment. Looking at buzz regarding Johnny Gaudreau, he noted that the winger’s time in Calgary may not necessarily be over.
The 26-year-old has two years left on his contract and there’s plenty of talk the Flames might look to move him if he struggles again in this year’s playoffs. But Cruickshank notes that Brad Treliving isn’t actively shopping him and his $6.75 million annual average salary.
One thing Cruickshank did say was:
Now, is he a potential trade chip? Of course. Everybody is….
He won’t sign elsewhere — allowing him to walk would be rotten asset management. Meaning the Flames either deal him or extend him.
The post NHL Rumors: Bruins, Canucks, Flames, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
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