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NHL Rumors Update
NHL Rumors Update for 05/25/2020
The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.
05/25/2020 edition:
By Jim Parsons on May 24, 2020 01:05 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news on the Detroit Red Wings and who they might be targeting in free agency. In Vancouver, the Canucks might be making big blue line changes. In Edmonton, the rumored trade with the New York Rangers and Oilers isn’t necessarily a slam dunk and in Tampa, why the Lightning voted “no” to the 24-team playoff format is revealed.
Red Wings List of Possible Free Agency Targets
Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan listed a number of proposed forward options for the Red Wings this offseason due to the lack of scoring on the club. He writes:
The Wings ranked last in goals scored (142), goals per game (two), and ranked 29th on the power play (14.9%).
After the top line of Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha, goal-scoring was lacking.
For that reason, expect the Red Wings to be active in landing a scoring forward during unrestricted free agency in the offseason later this year.
His list of potential names included Colorado’s Vladislav Namestnikov, Florida’s Evgenii Dadonov, Mike Hoffman, or Erik Haula, Nashville’s Mikael Granlund, Vegas’ Tomas Nosek, or the New York Rangers’ Jesper Fast.
He then moved over to the blue line saying, “But the unit has to get deeper and more experienced, which means the Wings likely will be busy sifting through the free-agent market.” He listed Tyson Barrie, Justin Schultz, Brenden Dillon, or Andy Greene as possible options.
Finally, goaltending targets include Robin Lehner, Anton Khudobin, Thomas Greiss, and Cam Talbot.
The Wings plenty of cap space even after the team potentially signs Robby Fabbri, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Anthony Mantha. The trick will be convincing players to join a rebuilding franchise on shorter-term deals. The good news is that this is potentially the best offseason to have the extra cap space.
Ansar Khan of MLive reports that Jonathan Bernier will be back with the Detroit Red Wings next season. Soon to be 32-years old, he’s got one season remaining on his deal and could look at signing him to a contract extension after next season. Pending UFA Jimmy Howard won’t be back.
Changes to Canucks’ Blue Line
Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet notes in a recent mail bag segment that the Vancouver Canucks blue line could look very different next season. He says Alex Edler, Tyler Myers and Quinn Hughes will be back but Chris Tanev (UFA) and Troy Stecher (RFA) will likely be cap casualties.
MacIntyre also writes that the team is expected to try moving Jordie Benn. He notes, “Benn’s $2 million salary could go to Nikita Tryamkin, and there’s a chance Brogan Rafferty makes the NHL roster after his excellent season in the AHL.”
Rangers Interested in Puljujarvi
We reported a while back that there was buzz about the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers possibly considering a deal that would send Jesse Puljujarvi to the Rangers and Lias Andersson to Edmonton.
Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal notes that the interest from the Rangers is much greater than it is from the Oilers who would need a sweetener to consider the move. He writes:
“The Rangers would potentially part with a high pick in order to make it work. But I’m made to understand that the Rangers interest in Puljujarvi is considerably greater than the Oilers keenness on Andersson, who is slow of foot.”
Why Tampa Bay Voted “No” On 24-Team Playoffs
According to Joe Smith of The Athletic, the Tampa Bay Lightning were one of the two teams to vote “no” on the 24-team playoff format (the other being Carolina). Part of the reason the Lightning didn’t want this format was because the team felt it was unfair to allow teams who hadn’t earned their way into the postseason to, all of a sudden, be in the playoffs.
Tampa’s player rep, Alex Killorn said:
“They didn’t feel it was fair that certain teams that probably wouldn’t have made the playoffs would have a chance to make the playoffs in a best-of-five series. My team also felt it was unfair that the teams with a bye would not be as well prepared for a playoff series as the teams that had already basically played a playoff series to get into the playoffs.”
Player Contracts to Slide to End of the Season
Michael Russo of the Athletic notes that the NHL is simply going to slide player contracts to the end the of the 2019-20 season to solve the question about what happens with players who have contracts that expire June 30. He writes:
An NHL source tells The Athletic that the “intention is to agree on a slide with the NHL Players’ Association, which would uniformly extend all contracts through the end of the 2019-20 season.”
This would also apply to minor-leaguers on two-way contracts. If a contract expires June 30, that player would still be allowed to be part of an expanded NHL roster through the end of 2019-20.
Russo does add that the question for coaches and team staff is a trickier question to answer since they individuals don’t have collective representation.
The post NHL Rumors: Red Wings, Canucks, Oilers, Lightning, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on May 23, 2020 01:45 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, the players have voted on the 24-team playoff bracket suggestion by the league. Is NHL action one step closer? The Edmonton Oilers and the city of Edmonton are pushing hard to host games, and will the San Jose Sharks trade either Tomas Hertl or Kevin Labanc?
NHLPA Approves 24-Team Playoff Format
It appears the NHL is one-step closer to resuming play and potentially closer than at any point they’ve been since the league hit pause on the season. While there is still lots to iron out, late Friday night, the NHLPA announced that they voted to proceed with discussions on the 24-team playoff format that was proposed by the league. Their full statement:
The Executive Board of the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) has authorized further negotiations with the NHL on a 24-team return to play format to determine the winner of the 2020 Stanley Cup. Several details remain to be negotiated and an agreement on the format would still be subject to the parties reaching agreement on all issues relevant to resuming play.
Apparently, only two of the 31 team reps voted no. There was apparently speculation the Pittsburgh Penguins were one of those teams, but that mistake was cleared up after Kris Letang said they voted yes, and the source of initial report looked into things further.
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now posted a retraction on his initial report saying they had confirmed with the organization the club voted yes.
As per Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, the exact format of the proposed playoff format hasn’t been ratified but speculation is that this set-up would see the top four seeds in each conference get a bye through play-in rounds which would see the other 16 teams play a best-of-five series to narrow the field down to a traditional 16 clubs.
Related: Do You Know Your NHL Goalie Trivia?
Oilers Putting on Full-Court Press to Host Games
One of things that will need to be figured out from the NHL’s perspective is where the games will be played. They’ll likely choose a few host cities or hubs from which the many games will happen. Edmonton is looking more and more likely as one of those teams.
TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the Oilers and the city are trying to present the most hospitable situation possible for players. He writes on Twitter:
Curious what NHL players think about this? Edmonton is rolling out an impressive “lifestyle” presentation in its Hub city quest. Secured golf course. Cool temps. Outdoor big screens for movies/other games. Some fun stuff planned. More tonight in Insider Trading.
Sharks to Move Some Big-Name Forwards?
In a recent mailbag segment, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic discussed the possibility the San Jose Sharks might trade Tomas Hertl or Kevin Labanc. While he doesn’t believe the Sharks will move Hertl and his $5.625-million annual average salary, he does think Labanc could be a prime trade candidate.
Kurz writes:
… his value has gone down from this time last year, when many figured he had earned a multi-year contract worth something like $3-4 million annually. I certainly wouldn’t offer him that much if I was in Wilson’s position, and if that’s the case, I wonder how Labanc’s camp might take it. Arbitration doesn’t seem out of the question in this instance, and it’s part of the reason I believe Labanc could be a candidate to get moved this offseason whenever trades are permitted.
Labanc, 26, is a restricted free agent completing a one-year, $1-million contract and has arbitration rights. He bet on himself last season by taking less than he probably should have and it didn’t pay off.
Still with the Sharks, NBC Sports Bay Area columnist Marcus White suggests the team address their need for a reliable backup goaltender by pursuing a trade for Alexandar Georgiev. The 24-year-old has been in the rumor mill and the New York Rangers have three netminders. They need to do something with one of them.
The post NHL Rumors: Oilers, Penguins, Sharks, NHLPA Votes, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on May 22, 2020 01:20 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there are comments from the coach of the Arizona Coyotes on Taylor Hall likely staying with the team, the Montreal Canadiens may have to decide what they can afford to pay Tomas Tatar, and the Vancouver Canucks have some options for their blue line. Finally, what happens to some of NHL records if the NHL regular season doesn’t resume?
Hall to Stay With the Coyotes?
Arizona Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet told ESPN On Ice that winger Taylor Hall told him that he’d like to find a team to settle in with. After comments that Hall wasn’t interested in a short-term deal just to maximize his value in free agency, there were questions about where he might end up. The Coyotes are “a team he’s very interested in staying with” according to the Arizona coach.
I’m not saying he is going to sign here, but I definitely think we’re a team he’s very interested in staying with,” Tocchet told the ESPN On Ice podcast this week. The coach is aware that the current pandemic has changed the thinking of a lot of top-tier free agents but Hall seems to be a little different. Tocchet explained:
“You’re talking about a guy who, before this, was going to make a ton of money. With this whole pandemic, like he told me, he doesn’t want to go through another year trying to play on a one-year contract. He wants to get settled somewhere. So he’s got a lot of different options that weigh.”
Arizona Sports writer Matt Layman reports Hall believes he has a good relationship with Coyotes management and the coaching staff. It is expected the winger will ask for around $9 million per season on a long-term deal.
Canucks Targets on Defense
We mentioned yesterday that Tyson Barrie commented on what next season might look like and listed the Vancouver Canucks as a team that might have some interest. The Canucks, however, have other options.
The Athletic’s Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal recently listed seven additional defensemen for the Vancouver Canucks to target via free agency. They include Calgary’s Travis Hamonic, Washington’s Radko Gudas, Winnipeg’s Dylan DeMelo, Philadelphia’s Justin Braun, Florida’s Mark Pysyk, San Jose’s Tim Heed, and Tampa Bay’s Jan Rutta.
That said, they don’t have a ton of room on their salary cap. They explain:
And with the organization keen on retaining two key pending unrestricted free agents of their own in Jacob Markstrom and Toffoli, things will get tight in a hurry unless the club can find creative ways to carve out some additional flexibility under the salary cap.
Still with the Canucks, Elliotte Friedman writes that a return for Micheal Ferland is still iffy at this point. “No skating yet,” Ferland said Wednesday, “but I’ve been training and I’m feeling good. Symptom-free.”
Noting the last time he didn’t take enough time away, he would like a “mini-training camp” to make sure he’s ready this season.
Related: Top 10 Nicest Current NHL Jerseys
What Can Canadiens Afford to Pay Tatar?
While it might night not be a big concern this offseason, Tomas Tatar will be an unrestricted free agent after next season. If he keeps playing well, he’ll likely be too expensive for the Canadiens to hang onto says Eric Engels of Sportsnet.
The flattening of the salary cap and how long that lasts could rule out a four- or five-year deal for Tatar. It was rumored he could have made around $6 million for that term before everything went on pause.
Oilers Have a Couple Reasons to Be Upset
With the talk of a 24-team playoff bracket gaining steam, the Edmonton Oilers have a couple of good reasons to not like it. First, they are not a team with a bye which means they’d play the Chicago Blackhawks. While inconvenient, other teams are in the same boat.
Personally, for Connor McDavid, it could have a huge influence on his personal records. All the talk of a playoff suggests the regular season won’t resume. That means McDavid would finish with 97 points in 64 games not reach 100 points. Had he played those last regular-season games he would have become the 13th player to reach 100+ points in four consecutive seasons. More than that, it will steer him off his course to try and catch Wayne Gretzky’s seven consecutive seasons.
Leon Draisaitl also won’t reach 50 goals and 100 points for the second-straight season. Only 15 NHL players have ever done that.
Guys like Alex Ovechkin, Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak (almost reached 50 goals) will be stopped in their tracks as well.
The post NHL Rumors: Canucks, Canadiens, Oilers, Coyotes and Hall, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
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