NHL Rumors Update

NHL Rumors Update for 04/27/2020

April 27, 2020

The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.

 

 04/27/2020 edition:

By Jim Parsons on Apr 26, 2020 02:09 pm

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, the Montreal Canadiens are waiting for a KHL prospect, the Tampa Bay Lighting will be getting a key forward back and there are six teams that could be in great shape if the NHL has a flat salary cap next season.

Montreal Waiting on Alex Romanov

Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports that while Montreal Canadiens fans can expect top prospect Alex Romanov to sign with the team, they may have to be patient. Reports are he’s not prepared to sign his contract until he’s gotten a better understanding on what will happen to the current NHL season.

Romanov can sign after his KHL contract ends April 30, but the 20-year-old wants to make sure he doesn’t sit idle. Engels writes:

Alex Romanov won’t sign before we know what’s happening with the 19-20 season. He’ll sign once we do, but not before then. Obviously wants an opportunity to avoid an extremely long period without playing, if possible. So, if you had May 1 circled, just be patient.

Lightning to Get Stamkos Back

Joe Smith of The Athletic writes that after missing six to eight weeks due to surgery to repair a core muscle injury, Steven Stamkos will be ready to go when play resumes. 

Smith quotes Stamkos when he writes:

“With the timing of all this, it was devastating at the beginning because I thought I would possibly be missing some playoff games. And the stoppage happened, and we didn’t know how long it was gonna be. So the silver lining in that was I’ll be ready when we resume. So I’ve been able to still use this time to rehab. I’ve been going to the rink … about three times a week to skate and just start feeling normal again.”

source – ‘ Lightning notes: Ryan Callahan’s next chapter, a Stamkos health update and more’ – Joe Smith – The Athletic – 04/26/2020

Teams That May Take Advantage of Flat Salary Cap

Luke Fox of Sportsnet wrote a piece looking teams who are most able to take advantage of a flat salary cap this next season. While he notes the NHL might implement compliance buyouts, even if they do, some teams are poised to fare well if the cap doesn’t increase.

Fox notes six teams that he sees as having a distinct advantage:

The Ottawa Senators

The Senators have over $12 million coming off the books. This team actually needs to spend a ton of money just to hit the cap floor and ice a full roster.

The New Jersey Devils

The Devils have about $29 million in space with a few RFAs to re-sign. There are questions about who the GM will be and their strategy moving forward, but if they go for it, they have the resources to do so.

The Los Angeles Kings

The Kings have eight picks in first four-rounds of the NHL Draft and have cap space to work a number of trade scenarios.

The Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche may be the team to watch in terms of adding a big-ticket free agent. They have a group of free agents but have salary cap flexibility. They are a good team that wants to be a great team.

The Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens have extra draft picks in hand and everyone knows GM Marc Bergevin has been hoarding his cap space waiting for the right moment to spend it. They also have 14 picks in the 2020 NHL Draft, including 10 in rounds two through five. The idea is that he’ll package those picks to land a significant player.

The Columbus Blue Jackets

Finally, the Columbus Blue Jackets have most of their big tickets signed and plenty of cap space remaining. They need to take care of Pierre-Luc Dubois’ deal but shouldn’t have much trouble doing so.

By Jim Parsons on Apr 25, 2020 01:25 pm

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news on how the St. Louis Blues might free up some cap space to sign Alex Pietrangelo, the New Jersey Devils have plans to improve their roster for next season, and Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersson talks about wanting to finish out the season. Finally, would Lias Andersson return to the New York Rangers if asked?

Blues to Move Players

In his STLTODAY.com column, Jim Thomas was asked about how the St. Louis Blues might free up the cap space needed to sign defenseman and pending free agent Alex Pietrangelo. He wants to stay in St. Louis, but reports are that he’s keen to make fair market value and that could be problematic for the Blues.

He feels the most likely scenario is trading goaltender Jake Allen and buying out the final season of veteran forward Alexander Steen’s contract. Thomas explains:

Keep in mind, this works only if its a compliance buyout — the kind last used after the 2012-13 lockout year. I don’t think a regular buyout — the kind that’s available to every team, every year — would free up enough money.

If I’m correnctly understanding the compliance buyout language provisions from ’12-13, Faulk wouldn’t be eligible for a buyout because he would have been with the Blues only one year. Even if you could buy out Faulk, that would be adding a lot more money to the organization’s overall “bill” than merely buying out a year of Steen or a year of Bozak. Maybe this all means you’re not re-signing Pietrangelo.

source – ‘ Quick Hits: JT on the Blues’ – Jim Thomas – St. Louis Dispatch – 04/22/2020

Thomas added that because the Blues signed Marco Scandella, at least two roster players will need to be moved off the roster to make room.

Devils to Add Top-Tier Defenseman

Abbey Mastracco of Northjersey.com took a look at the blue line situation in New Jersey and noted that the Devils need to add pieces to be a contending team. There’s speculation the organization might target a short-term bigger-ticket blueliner.

Mastracco writes:

If upgrades are made then they will likely be made through trades since this isn’t exactly a team in position to throw big money at free agents. This team isn’t one or two players away from contending, especially on the blue line, but a veteran free agent on a short-term deal may not be out of the question.

source – ‘NJ Devils’ position-by-position: Defense depth badly needed in 2020-21- Abbey Mastracco – Northjersey.com – 04/14/2020

There is also word that the Devils might target trades for forwards with cap-strapped teams and the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs are two clubs the Devils might be looking at. The Lightning might be forced to part with winger Alex Killorn or Ondrej Palat and the Maple Leafs might have to move Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson.

Frederik Andersen Wants to Finish Season

When asked about whether or not he’d like to finish out the season, Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen said he’s hoping the NHL can do whatever is possible to find a conclusion to this season.

I think I’ve heard a lot of different ideas and scenarios, but I’m pretty open to pretty much everything that can be done to salvage the season and finish the season and get a Stanley Cup champion. I think all 31 teams have put a lot of time and effort in obviously, so I definitely want to see something to be done to finalize the season and move on and not lose out on all the hard work and all the stuff that’s been put into this season. 

Would Lias Andersson Return to Rangers If Asked?

Talking about his struggles, former New York Rangers player Lias Andersson said he’s not sure if he would return to the Rangers organization if invited. Vincent Z. Mercogliano of Lohud spoke with Andersson about his mental struggles and his response was:

“It wasn’t just something that happened overnight, but it sneaked up on me,” he told Rylander. “I had a hard time. … I was injured, couldn’t do anything about it. There were many small things that made it weigh. I started to get (into) bad habits off the ice.”

Andersson didn’t tell the Rangers about his struggles and it wound up being a poor decision that left him on the outs with the franchise. When asked if he’d return should they invite him, he said, “I do not know.” He added, “Damn, I haven’t thought that far. I get to have a dialogue with agents and whatever it is during the summer — and then I try to take it as it comes. I am open to suggestions.”

By Jim Parsons on Apr 24, 2020 01:25 pm

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news that the Philadelphia Flyers might try to sign a deal with the older brother of a Maple Leafs rookie, Jacob Markstrom says he wants to stay in Vancouver, the Edmonton Oilers are looking at international options and the Arizona Coyotes and Taylor Hall are finally talking.

Markstrom Wants to Stay in Vancouver

Goaltender Jacob Markstrom was on a conference call with reporters yesterday including Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, and explained that he wants to “stay in Vancouver” and has “no plans of leaving.”

Markstrom has been the hot-button topic in Vancouver the last few months as he played incredibly well and many considered him the reason the Canucks performed as productively as they did this season. He’s going to be an incredible bump in pay but also knows the salary cap situation facing the NHL right now is tricky.

The 30-year old goaltender was having the best season of his career, posting a 23-16-4 record and .918 save percentage when the season was paused.

Flyers to Sign Linus Sandin

Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that Linus Sandin intends to sign with the Philadephia Flyers once the international transfer agreements are finalized. Sandin is the older brother of Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin and is an undrafted free agent who has played the last three seasons in the SHL. Because of his undrafted status, the Flyers can sign him immediately.

Unlike Rasmus Sandin, Linus is a high-scoring winger who recorded 19 goals and 36 points in 51 games this season for HV71. That tied him for third in the league in goals. The Flyers are hoping his game can translate to North America.

Coyotes Have Spoken With Hall

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period has been reporting that Taylor Hall‘s agent Darren Ferris said that the Arizona Coyotes haven’t approached him about contract talks since the NHL paused the season. Ferris seemed to confirm that on NHL Network radio Chayka noted that isn’t exactly true.

“I’ve talked to Darren a few times. I’ve had multiple conversations with Taylor as well. I think Taylor has the same view in terms of planning for himself and the organization. Obviously, he has a great understanding of what’s going on in the world right now. I think there’s a right time to approach some of these things. Unfortunately, it’s difficult given all of the uncertainty. But we’ll have that discussion.”

Chayka says that what Ferris probably should have said is that the Coyotes and Hall haven’t had any “meaningful back-and-forths” as of yet.

Hall has recently said that he’s still looking for a long-term deal as opposed to doing a short-term deal even with the uncertainty around this season\s salary cap. When asked if the Coyotes would consider a long-term deal, he noted, “There’s certainly implications of this. I’m not saying it doesn’t apply. But we weren’t afraid to have a discussion about a longer-term before, and this doesn’t change that opinion.”

Oilers Sign Berglund, Debating Over Haas

The Edmonton Oilers have signed defenceman Filip Berglund to a two year ELC. There is some internal discussion about whether or not re-sign center Gaetan Haas, according to the Edmonton Journal.

They write:

The Oilers have signed Swedish draft pick defenceman Filip Berglund but he’s going to stay with his club team Linkoping for this upcoming season and he may come over in 2021 … The Oilers are still mulling over whether to re-sign Swiss free-agent centre Gaetan Haas (10 points, 58 games) as a depth forward.

source – ‘Ryan Mantha’s potential Oilers career never had a chance’ – Jim Matheson – Edmonton Journal – 04/21/2020

Berglund was a third-round selection from the 2016 entry draft and finished last season second among defencemen in points with 20 (5-15-20) in 52 games.

As for Haas, if the Oilers can get him on an inexpensive deal for around $800K, the expectation is that they’ll sign him.

The Oilers also kicked the tires on forward Mikhail Grigorenko but the free-agent forward plans to sign a one-year deal in Columbus. His signing will be for more than Haas (around $1.2 million) and about the same as what Edmonton was offering Anton Slepyshev to return.

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