NHL Rumors Update

NHL Rumors Update for 04/27/2019

April 27, 2019

The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.

 

04/27/2019 edition:

By Jim Parsons on Apr 26, 2019 12:59 pm

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, most of the NHL rumor talk surrounds Mitch Marner and what the Toronto Maple Leafs plan to do while trying to negotiate a new deal with their prized RFA. There are more updates on Jacob Trouba and the Winnipeg Jets and what kind of money are the Golden Knights looking at having to spend on William Karlsson? He wants a long-term deal.

Marner Negotiations Needs to Move Quickly

Toronto won’t do with Marner what they did with William Nylander. Based upon comments made by GM Kyle Dubas, he has no desire to sit back and let the player and his agent dictate the speed of a new deal.

Kristen Shilton of TSN said Dubas admitted that he may not have managed William Nylander’s contract situation ideally and other media insiders are suggesting the Maple Leafs cannot afford to let this negotiation drag on.

TSN’s Darren Dreger suggested it was best the Maple Leafs offer be north of $10 million and perhaps, north of $11 million per year to encourage Marner to ignore the outside interest beyond July 1.Pierre LeBrun added, “Cannot allow Marner to be in an offer sheet situation. Make your very best offer to Marner by draft weekend.”

Dubas called getting Marner’s deal done priority #1 and everyone else has to wait, including a player like Jake Gardiner.

More Talk on Jacob Trouba

Jared Clinton of The Hockey News offered up some projections on the salary cap and how it affects the Winnipeg Jets. He wrote that if the cap reaches the expected levels, the Jets will have $26 million to spend with Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor taking up about $14 million of that. That leaves about $12 million on the rest and not enough room to sign everyone.

Many are suggesting this is another sign that Jacob Trouba gets traded. He signed a one-year arbitration deal for $5.5 million last season and could do so again but at some point, there is a belief one of the two sides, if not both, needs to make a commitment. Trouba wants to be an unrestricted free agent in 2020 so getting him to do long-term deal might be difficult unless the big money is offered now.

William Karlsson Wants Long-Term Deal From Vegas

Golden Knights forward William Karlsson told David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he had some preliminary talks with the team before the playoffs and that now that the season is complete, he hopes to sign a long-term deal.

That means he wants to avoid arbitration because an arbitrator can only offer up to a one-year contract. Vegas would probably like to avoid that as well because he would then become an unrestricted free agent for 2020.

Karlsson had a down year but also a good year. He could reproduce the 43-goal season he had in 2017-18, instead, winding up with 24 goals and 56 points in 2018-19. This will help the Golden Knights heading into negotiations.

Considering how aggressive the Golden Knights have been in acquiring players like Paul Statsny, Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone, they are quickly running out of money to throw around and they’ll need a fair contract for Karlsson based on the average of his two seasons.

Jordan Weal Wants to Stay Put

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that there have been preliminary discussions between the Montreal Canadiens and Jordan Weal’s reps. LeBrun adds that Weal has interest in staying with the Canadiens and speculation is the Canadiens would like to keep him too.

By Jim Parsons on Apr 25, 2019 11:57 am

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there are updates on the Nashville Predators and a number of their players, the Toronto Maple Leafs and what they’ll do now, plus the Vegas Golden Knights who have to improve their blue line.

Predators Quick Hits

John Glennon of The Athletic is writing that Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis wouldn’t comment on whether he will need another knee procedure or not. “I think we will be releasing stuff on health matters later,” said coach Peter Laviolette when asked for his comments.

Fans will be eager to know the status of Ellis as he was often harped on during the series with the Dallas Stars for not being as effective as some expect of the solid blueliner. If he was severely injured, it would offer an explanation.

Thomas Willis, the Digital Manager & Producer @PredsNHL added a couple of other notes about the team. First, he said that the Nashville Predators GM David Poile said they have every intention of re-signing Rocco Grimaldi. Second, he said pending UFA forward Brian Boyle said he’d be interested in re-signing with the Predators.

Brooks Bratten writes that pending UFA forward Wayne Simmonds, who played in only two games for Nashville in this year’s playoffs, was not a factor. He said he wished he could have helped but also said he hasn’t thought much about free agency and next season.

On P.K. Subban Trade Rumors

Glennon spoke with Subban about the possibility of him being traded out of Nashville considering the team has admitted that it will make some changes. Subban answered:

“I can’t think of anything in a negative way about this organization or city or my transition here that would want me to play anywhere else. But at the same token, if I’m talking facts, I’m the highest-paid player on this team, and with that comes a responsibility.”

Subban said it was up to him to help this team get out of the first round of the playoffs and he didn’t do that. He understands the business of the NHL, he believes the Predators deserve the best team they can put on the ice and all he can hope is that he’s part of the solution and that he can help the Predators win a championship.

Maple Leafs Dilemma

Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun notes the difficulty Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas faces with his free agents while carrying limited salary-cap space. He believes there’s no way the Leafs can sign all of Mitch Marner, Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen.

Koshan writes:

The Leafs, as it stands now, have used approximately $75 million of that on existing contracts… That leaves roughly $8 million for restricted free agent Mitch Marner, who will be looking for much more. Count on Marner seeking Auston Matthews money once Dubas and agent Darren Ferris sit down to start serious negotiations (with the Leafs’ elimination fresh, that has not happened yet).

source- ‘Ability of Dubas to deke through potential salary-cap issues key in Leafs’ off-season’ – The Toronto Sun – Terry Koshan – 04/24/2019

Koshan adds that Dubas needs to try and find a way to shed the team of Patrick Marleau’s contract, get Nikita Ziatsev off the books and make a decision on Nazem Kadri who many believe might be a trade candidate with his selfish play in the post-season that saw him sit out the remainder of the series.

Golden Knights Need Solid Defenseman

Greg Wyshynski and Chris Peters of ESPN both believe the recently-eliminated Vegas Golden Knights need to make changes to the roster after being eliminated from the playoffs in round one this year. Their target should be a foundational defenseman.

There was previous interest in Erik Karlsson and the Golden Knights certainly got a close look at him in this past series but they would need to make some roster changes to find the cap room to add him. Considering the team needs to re-sign center William Karlsson, that could mean trading Cody Eakin ($3.875 million), Ryan Reaves ($2.775 million) and Nick Holden ($2.2 million).

You may not get an argument from some fans on Eakin who’s five-minute major played a significant role in the Golden Knights being booted in Game 7.

By Jim Parsons on Apr 24, 2019 01:43 pm

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there are updates on the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers and more. Also, there is a new name linked to the Buffalo Sabres coaching search.

Vancouver Canucks on Dean Lombardi Speculation and Contracts

Francesco Aquilini says that despite reports he’s reached out to Dean Lombardi on a number of occasions, he has not. “I want to correct erroneous media reports that I tried to hire Dean Lombardi. In fact, I’ve never spoken to Dean Lombardi in my life.”

Also in Canucks’ news, Jason Botchford of TSN Radio Vancouver reports the Canucks can make and have room to make a lot of moves. That could include taking on a contract like James Neal or “find free agents, weaponize the cap space and find players with high upside.”

Jacques Martin in Buffalo?

It was heavily speculated that the Buffalo Sabres went after Todd McLellan as their new coach only to lose him to the LA Kings. They were then recently linked to several other names after a recent courting process, and have now been linked to several other names like Dave Tippet or Ralph Kreuger but the latest name out there is Jacques Martin.

Darren Dreger of TSN was on The Instigators on WGR550 in Buffalo and reported that Martin is a leading candidate for the job. He says:

There’s been speculation of Todd Richards, although a couple of days ago I got the sense that [Richards] is of interest and is certainly a candidate, but things weren’t heating up there. Maybe that’s changed in the last 24 hours, I don’t know that, but yesterday I was told that Jacques is considered a top candidate. We’ll see.

John Shannon of Sportsnet also notes that the Ottawa Senators have asked for permission to speak with Martin who is currently an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Requests Coming in Fast to Speak With Kelly McCrimmon

Now that the Vegas Golden Knights are officially out of the playoffs, one person who will quickly have interested parties calling on him is assistant general manager Kelly McCrimmon.

McCrimmon has been linked as the new possible GM of both the Edmonton Oilers and expansion Seattle team. Darren Dreger of TSN tweeted that the Oilers will send a request for permission to speak with McCrimmon almost immediately.

That the Golden Knights were eliminated last night really helps the timing for the Oilers if McCrimmon is, in fact, their guy.

Mike Babcock on the Hot Seat?

There is a ton of premature speculation in Toronto after the Maple Leafs got booted from the playoffs on Tuesday but there are also plenty of reputable names in the media suggesting he just coached his last game for the team, noting they haven’t advanced past the first round in the past three years and his player usage is under fire.

It seems unlikely that Babcock is relieved of his duties with four years left on a contract that pays $50 million over eight years. So too, the man in charge who hired him still very much in charge and having watched the team rack up four 100-point seasons in a row isn’t likely to throw in the towel yet.

Instead, the Maple Leafs will focus on getting a Mitch Marner contract done (which could be much harder now that the team is not a “winner”) and improve the blue line.

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