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NHL Rumors Update
NHL Rumors Update for 02/12/2020
The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.
02/12/2020 edition:
By Jim Parsons on Feb 11, 2020 01:47 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is not-so good news from the Edmonton Oilers on Connor McDavid, the Boston Bruins might be interested in a New Jersey Devils forward, the Detroit Red Wings have waived a defenseman and there is news on a potential Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs deal.
McDavid Out 2-3 Weeks
Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland addressed the media in Edmonton on Tuesday morning and while it appeared Connor McDavid was going to be ok to play since he’d skated on Monday, Holland updated his star player’s injury status and gave everyone some not-so-great news.
McDavid will miss 2-3 weeks, hopefully less, as he rests a quad injury that is completely unrelated to his previous injury that he spent all summer rehabbing.
What does this mean for the Oilers moving forward? McDavid will not be available during their upcoming road trip and as the Oilers head towards the trade deadline but he’s not out long enough to do anything with his salary. The Oilers will just have to play their best hockey moving forward and possibly Holland tries to add that piece in the top-six he was rumored to already be looking at as a way to keep the Oilers in the race.
Bruins Looking at Kyle Palmieri?
Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston suggests New Jersey Devils winger Kyle Palmieri might be a good fit for the Boston Bruins and a viable trade option before February 24.
At this point, the Bruins are rumored to be in on a few names, including New York’s Chris Kreider, LA’s Tyler Toffoli, or Detroit’s Andreas Athanasiou. There’s not even a definitive report out of New Jersey that the Devils are looking to move Palmieri who isn’t a rental but has one more season remaining on his contract ($4.65-million annual average salary).
If Palmieri is available, he would be a nice add for a number of teams. With 37 points in 50 games, including 20 goals he provides immediate and consistent offensive production and the Bruins have been looking for that type of scorer all season.
Related: NHL Dynasties: Which One is No. 1
Ericsson Placed on Waivers
Courtesy of NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Detroit Red Wings have placed defenseman Jonathan Ericsson on waivers. The 35 year old Ericsson has played just 11 games for the Red Wings this season going pointless, but has 27 goals and 125 points in 673 NHL games, all with Detroit.
The waiver demotion has to mean the Red Wings were unable to find a trade partner.
Oilers and Maple Leafs Talking Huge Trade?
In a recent article for The Athletic, Toronto Maple Leafs insider James Mirtle proposed what would have to be considered a huge trade between the Maple Leafs and Oilers. It’s not a deal that is likely to be done before the trade deadline, but could be looked at in the offseason.
Mirtle suggested that the Leafs should or could have interest in Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson and young Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi and in exchange, the Maple Leafs would send Kasperi Kapanen to Edmonton. It’s a deal he calls one that would fill holes for both teams.
I continue to argue there’s potentially an interesting trade to be made between Toronto and Edmonton. It’ll be harder to make before the deadline than in the off-season, but perhaps not impossible.
The Oilers desperately still need more help on the wing, and that’s an area that the Leafs have depth to spare. The Oilers are also very intrigued by the potential of someone like Kapanen to play with Connor McDavid and give them more of a threat up the lineup.
Clearly, the McDavid injury news changes things for Edmonton in terms of having someone like Kapanen to work with the Oilers captain.
KHL President Steps Aside
According to one of our sources close to the KHL, President, Dmitry Chernyshenko has reportedly stepped aside which is fairly big news for the league.
Chernyshenko has been credited with formalizing the structure of the league grown it into an international competitor, spread the brand across Europe and supported funding of the Women’s Hockey League. We’ll update this story as more plans to replace him are made available.
The post NHL Rumors: Oilers, Bruins, Devils, Maple Leafs, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on Feb 10, 2020 03:20 pm
With only two weeks left the to close of the NHL Trade Deadline on February 24, we’re going to take two looks at every major storyline working its way around the league — one today and one a week from today.
This is the time of year where there is a lot to process all at once so in an effort to wrap all the major happenings into a tiny little bow, we’ll provide a summary of the biggest and juiciest stories worth watching.
The Patrick Kane Salary Cap Loophole
Recently, TSN’s Frank Seravalli reported a possible salary-cap “loophole” Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas might use if he’s made aware that defenseman Morgan Rielly isn’t able to return during the regular season. Previously tagged the “Patrick Kane loophole” because the Blackawks did this once before, essentially, it will give Dubas up to $9 million in spendable dollars before Feb 24.
The rule states that there is no salary cap for teams during the playoffs. So, if Dubas adds salary to the team while Morgan Rielly, Cody Ceci and Ilya Mikheyev are on LTI, he doesn’t have to worry about what he spends as long as those players don’t return before the regular season ends. In the playoffs, all three could return and the Maple Leafs can continue to ice all of the players, including those he acquires over the next two weeks.
There is speculation Toronto isn’t the only team looking into this as St. Louis might be in a similar situation with Vladimir Tarasenko. The storyline to watch here is reports on the status of the injured players over the next two weeks.
Who Are the NHL Sellers? When Will the Market Flood?
With two weeks to go, there are surprisingly only a handful of sellers at this stage of the season. Among them, the New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks.
Other teams are close and might be sellers by this time next week but there are a ton of NHL franchises still in the race. Which teams will be trying to sell before the market floods? We should hear lots coming out of these teams over the next four or five days.
Imagine you’re the Detroit Red Wings or the San Jose Sharks and you’re trying to move a couple of pieces, some that might not normally have a ton of value due to age or salary commitments. You can get better value now because as many as 20 teams are trying to scratch and claw their way in but in a few days, as many as eight other teams could make players available. The value on what you’ve been offering goes down tremendously thanks to supply and demand.
Does that mean teams keep waiting? Or, will some NHL clubs get trigger happy and grab what they can now and while teams lower the ask a touch on their rentals before the market floods?
Kreider, Pageau, Kovalchuk… Will They Sign?
There are a few teams that may move pieces but only if they don’t sign new deals with their respective clubs. This storyline should start to sort itself out over the next couple of days.
Chris Kreider is still wanted in New York and the Rangers are currently talking with him about an extension. If one isn’t worked out, he’ll likely move.
Ilya Kovalchuk isn’t willing to talk about a future in Montreal. As a veteran, he has to know he’s as likely to be moved as the team is interested in keeping him. What will he decide?
Jean-Gabriel Pageau hasn’t even started talking to the Ottawa Senators about an extension. Does that mean he’s certainly going to be moved? If so, what are teams offering?
A Lack of Options
One theme that is starting to stand out is a lack of options at certain positions. The center position isn’t ripe with available players at this year’s deadline which means a team is bound to overpay for someone like Pageau. So too, defensemen are available but there aren’t a ton of good rentals out there for the taking.
At some point, there will be more teams still trying to get in than there will be teams who have players to offer that fill needs. Then what? It might become a situation about who acts first.
A team like Calgary could be quick to make a move because they have cap space, whereas a team like the Edmonton Oilers are tight up against it. How does that affect a very close Pacific Division? These two teams aren’t the only ones who would have to make these types of decisions based on their NHL standings and that could create early action on the trade market.
The post Two Weeks to Trade Deadline: Top NHL Rumors and Storylines appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on Feb 10, 2020 12:15 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, the Edmonton Oilers are set to announce an extension and they’ve made a few lineup changes, Jason Zucker comments on trade rumors out of Minnesota, and why aren’t the Ottawa Senators and Jean-Gabriel Pageau even talking?
Oilers Extend Darnell Nurse?
While it’s not been made official by the Edmonton Oilers, reports are everywhere that the organization and defenseman Darnell Nurse have come to terms on a two-year bridge deal worth, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, $5.6 million annually.
The deal will walk Nurse to unrestricted free agency which is somewhat risky but the Oilers didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter considering their salary cap issues. When the announcement will be made official by the team is unclear.
In other Oilers news, the team has recalled forward Colby Cave after sending Tyler Benson back to the AHL and James Neal is set to return to the lineup on Tuesday after a foot injury kept him sidelined for a few games.
McDavid Good to Go
Another bit of good news for Oilers fans is that Connor McDavid seems good to go after an injury scare in Saturday’s game versus the Nashville Predators. He went hard into the end boards and had the ice a bruised knee after the game.
Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reports that McDavid is expected to take part in practice on Monday as a full participant and is showing no effects from the bump.
Jason Zucker Frustrated Over Trade Rumors?
Michael Russo of the Athletic reports Jason Zucker is refusing to discuss the trade rumors that have him potentially being dealt out of Minnesota. The forward said he hasn’t spoken to Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin about a potential deal, saying he’s “Heard nothing.”
Zucker said, “Whatever happens, happens. I’m done dealing with it. I’m done worrying about it.”
Russo writes:
Zucker is clearly not a happy camper right now, especially after Boudreau chose to downgrade him in the lineup following Tuesday’s win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
But he also can’t be happy with the fact his name is yet again running rampantly through the rumor mill.
Speculation is that Zucker has included all of the Canadian teams on his no-trade clause list and the most likely destination for him is in Pittsburgh with the Penguins. They have shown interest in him on multiple occasions.
The Penguins are also rumored to be interested in Nashville’s Craig Smith, Toronto’s Andreas Johnsson, and Rangers winger Jesper Fast if Zucker is off the table, according to Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dan Kingerski.
Pageau and Senators Still Not Talking
During the Hockey Night in Canada Saturday Headlines segment, Chris Johnston reported that the Ottawa Senators and Jean-Gabriel Pageau haven’t started talking about a possible extension, lending near certainty to the idea he gets moved before Feb 24.
It’s still possible a deal comes together last minute but there are teams interested and Pageau could fetch a first-round draft pick should they move him. There’s a risk involved for any team that picks him up considering his production has dropped but he’s one of the few centers available this season as a rental.
The Senators are also rumored to have a number of players available including Dylan DeMelo, Mark Borowiecki, Ron Hainsey. Craig Anderson and Tyler Ennis.
The post NHL Rumors: Oilers, Wild, Senators, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
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