NHL Rumors Update

NHL Rumors Update for 06/05/2019

June 05, 2019

The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.

 

06/05/2019 edition:

By Jim Parsons on Jun 04, 2019 08:49 am

In today’s NHL rumor rundown there is news on the likelihood Taylor Hall stays with the New Jersey Devils, there is more to the Phil Kessel and Minnesota Wild rumors, Patrick Marleau is likely gone from Toronto and the Philadelphia Flyers traded for Kevin Hayes in the hopes they could sign him to an extension.

Taylor Hall to Be Traded?

Despite the fact the New Jersey Devils won the NHL Draft Lottery and have budding star Nico Hischier, it appears they might be preparing to move their best forward in Taylor Hall.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period is citing that multiple sources have said that as of now, Taylor Hall is not interested in signing a contract extension with the New Jersey Devils. He is eligible to do so as early as July 1.

Pagnotta says it’s likely the Devils explore the idea of a trade but it’s unclear if Hall would sign an extension with the team that acquires him. His lack of desire to re-sign at this time could be a reflection of his interest in testing free agency.

Hall does not have trade protection in his contract and there would certainly be a fair share of teams interested should he become available. New Jersey’s best bet in keeping him should they decide not to trade him is to win. That might make them aggressive buyers this offseason.

Marleau As Good as Gone?

Pagnotta also wrote that Patrick Marleau’s days in Toronto are as good as done and the Maple Leafs, as he points out has been well reported by multiple outlets now, are trying to move him.

According to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, reports are that Marleau’s family is returning to San Jose and he’d like to be closer to them. The Sharks aren’t listed as one of the teams expected to have interest but the Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, and Los Angeles Kings are listed as possible trade partners.

Kessel to Minnesota Deal Not Dead

According to Prospects Watch: TSN’s Bob McKenzie says that the Pittsburgh Penguins could still end up trading Phil Kessel to the Minnesota Wild.

Kessel has already nixed a trade to Minnesota because he feels like they aren’t contenders. That said, under the assumption Kessel might finally agree to move if he knows the Penguins don’t want him, if Kessel eventually agrees, the deal would be a one-for-one for Jason Zucker.

This may be the best deal available for Kessel that doesn’t include the Penguins retaining salary.

Flyers To Make a Run At Keeping Hayes

On Monday, the Philadelphia Flyers traded for Kevin Hayes and did so with no idea he’d sign an extension with the team. As Elliotte Friedman points out, there is nothing imminent on an extension but the Flyers will make every attempt to sign him.

The Flyers were a team listed as ready to be aggressive and this trade certainly demonstrates that. They are the first team to make a big trade and didn’t wait for the official offseason to begin.

New GM Chuck Fletcher has publicly stated he has multiple holes to fill in his lineup so he may not be done making deals. Should Hayes not want to sign with the Flyers, they still have plenty of time to try and move him to reacquire the fifth-round pick they gave up in the deal.

By Jim Parsons on Jun 03, 2019 12:21 pm

In today’s NHL rumors, there is news coming out of Winnipeg that forward Patrik Laine might consider accepting an offer sheet. Kevin Hayes might be a target for the Chicago Blackhawks and the Florida Panthers are the favorites to land Artemi Panarin.

Laine to Look at Offer Sheets?

The Fourth Period is writing that contract talks between the Winnipeg Jets and restricted free agent winger Patrik Laine are expected to pick up soon. But, David Pagnotta has been informed by his sources that if talks don’t go well, Laine will look at other options including signing an offer sheet or asking for a trade.

Laine wants a quick and easy negotiation with the Jets and depending on the term, is looking for as high as $10 million per season.

This means the Jets will have to let certain salary leave the team, including this next player…

Blackhawks Interested in Kevin Hayes

Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports wrote in his mailbag segment that there are reports the Chicago Blackhawks are doing their homework on free agent center Kevin Hayes.

A former draft selection of the Blackhawks, if they were to sign Hayes, they would likely either trade one of their current centers, or move one to the wing. There were already whispers of the Blackhawks trying to moveArtem Anisimov. It’s not likely they would trade any of David Kampf, Dylan Strome, and Jonathan Toews.

Anisimov, if he moves, would be traded after his no-trade clause and bonus go away on July 1st.

Mike Condon on the Move

The extension of goaltender Anders Nilsson in Ottawa has prompted speculation that Mike Condon’s days are numbered with the Senators.

Now considered an overpaid third-string goaltender, The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch writes:

With backup Anders Nilsson agreeing to a two-year extension Wednesday, it would appear the club will likely either try to deal backup Mike Condon or buy him out of the final year of his contract. The 29-year-old has one year left on a deal that pays him $3 million in salary and he essentially didn’t play last season because of a hip issue.

source – ‘Mike Condon’s days with the Senators are numbered after Nilsson signing’ – Ottawa Sun – Bruce Garrioch – 05/29/2019

Garrioch says that the cap space is not a problem for the Senators, but the team would prefer to trade Condon and all or part of his $2.4 million salary rather than buy him out at the cost of $400K next year and $1 million the year after.

Canucks Blue Line Rumors

Sportsnet 650’s Mike Zeisberger spoke with Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning. Benning said he’d like to add to his blue line this season but won’t sacrifice draft picks or young players to get what they need.

He also doesn’t expect the team will go after any big fish. That would rule out someone like P.K. Subban.

Panarin and the Panthers

Dan Rosen of NHL.com started listing reasons he believed the Florida Panthers are the favorites to land free agent forward Artemi Panarin. Among them, he lists Panarin being familiar with coach Joel Quenneville, the chance to play with either Aleksander Barkov or Vincent Trocheck and being a teammate of good friend Evgenii Dadonov.

One can’t ignore the fact that the weather and no state tax in Florida are excellent reasons to play the next six-seven seasons there.

By Jim Parsons on Jun 02, 2019 08:35 am

In today’s NHL rumor rundown there is news coming out of Philadelphia that the Flyers are listening to offers on their first-round draft selection, The Canucks are going to be aggressive leading to the NHL draft and there’s a potential trade in the works that would send Patrick Marleau to the LA Kings.

Flyers Offering #11, Being Aggressive

Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer said that Philadelphia Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher is listening to any trade offers for their first round pick – 11th overall.

While he’s not set on keeping the pick, he’s also not willing to move it if the right deal isn’t there. Fletcher said, “if we can get a good player at the right stage of his career and with some term left on his contract, we’d certainly look at it.”

Adam Kimelmen of NHL.com adds that the Flyers are planning on having a busy and aggressive offseason. He cites Fletcher as having said:

“The unfortunate part is the vast majority of things you look into don’t work out. … So we’re going to be very aggressive in trying to fill the holes we feel we have. I don’t know if I can say we’ll be able to fill all of them.”

Fletcher says the Flyers have holes everywhere that he’s looking to fill. He’ll do what he can to add but he’s also having preliminary talks with their four big RFAs in Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton.

Patrick Marleau to the Kings?

Pierre LeBrun is reporting that he’s heard that the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Los Angeles Kings have talked about a possible Patrick Marleau trade.

Marleau has to waive a no-trade clause to be moved but the feeling might be that if he were to be offered to a team with a former head coach and a location similar to San Jose, he might say yes. The Kings now employ Todd McLellan.

If Marleau were to say yes, the Kings would need to move a contract or two in order to fit him in under the cap. That’s the main issue for LA and why Los Angeles Times’ Helene Elliott reported Marleau will not be traded to Los Angeles.

Elliott wrote that once the teams started discussions, it quickly became obvious that each teams’ needs and salary cap issues wouldn’t make a trade viable.

Jim Benning’s Job on The Line in Vancouver?

Talking to TSN Radio Vancouver, TSN’s Jeff Patterson said Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning is well aware that his job is likely on the line if the team can’t take that next step this upcoming season.

Patterson believes Benning is very likely to be active on the trade market as the draft approaches. “Benning seems open for business on the trade front,” Patterson said. Noting that Benning repeatedly talked about speaking with other GM’s around the NHL, he spoke of draft week and looking forward to all the managers being back in the same room.

“Defence is not a position of strength for the Canucks,” Patterson said and noted he got the feeling Benning knows he’s got to make a big trade but his record on big trades isn’t great.

Still the with Canucks defense, Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal writes that the Canucks haven’t made much progress with veteran defenseman Alexander Edler. There has been quite a bit of talk from both sides about a continued working relationship but they still far apart. Dhaliwal says the term is the key problem.

By Jim Parsons on Jun 01, 2019 12:26 pm

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news out of Chicago regarding Artem Anisimov, speculation that the Edmonton Oilers might be adding an assistant coach that used to be with the Philadelphia Flyers, and there is plenty of talk when it comes to offer sheets for restricted free agents and players who might be receiving one.

Finally, who is climbing up Frank Seravalli’s trade board this week? Some of the names have already changed since the first rankings came out.

Anisimov on the Move?

With the Chicago Blackhawks looking to make changes this summer, Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago suggests that center Artem Anisimov is someone the team might move this offseason.

Anisimov has a partial no-trade clause that expires at the end of June and will cost a team less in actual dollars than his $4.55 million cap hit. He’s owed $5 million over the final two years of his deal and a $2 million bonus is paid out on July 1.

Nothing to Oilers and Hakstol Rumors

There is major change coming to the Oilers coaching staff as it was announced on Friday that the organization parted ways with assistant coaches Trent Yawney and Manny Vivieros.

Quickly following the news, rumors started to pop up that former Philadelphia Flyers coach Dave Hakstol was a candidate in Edmonton.

According to Mark Spector of Sportsnet, there’s little to the rumor that the Edmonton Oilers have talked to Hakstol about joining the coaching staff under new head coach Dave Tippett.

Spector isn’t ruling it out, but there are no plans for him to visit Edmonton at this time.

Trade Talk Heating Up Say Seravalli

According to Frank Seravalli of TSN trade talk around the NHL is starting to heat up and a couple of big names might be on the move. We already mentioned Anisimov out of Chicago, but Seravalli thinks Phil Kessel, Jacob Trouba and Nikita Zaitsev are the top candidates now.

Phil Kessel has already said no to waive his NTC to the Minnesota Wild while the Toronto Maple Leafs have told Zaitsev they will try to grant his trade request. The Winnipeg Jets are actively shopping Jacob Trouba, with more teams likely interested this week.

Rounding out Seravalli’s Top Ten are Jason Zucker, P.K. Subban, Ryan Callahan, Michael Frolik, Kyle Turris, Kevin Shattenkirk and Shayne Gostisbehere.

RFA Offer Sheet Talk

We mentioned yesterday the news that Mitch Marner might be trying to get to July 1 so he can interview with teams that would be interesting in putting together an offer sheet for him. Jared Clinton of The Hockey News suggests Marner might not be the only one.

While other restricted free agents may not be as big a show as the “Marner decision” will be, Brayden Point was previously considered a candidate as Tampa Bay has several moving assets and his number could come somewhere around $8.5 million.

Kasperi Kapanen and William Karlsson were also on Clinton’s list as Kapanen’s speed intrigues many teams and Karlsson is a former 30-goal, 60-point player. An offer sheet for Karlsson could get in the area of $6.5 million if someone really thinks he’s got potential.

Flames To Trade a Defenseman

Ryan Pike of the Flames Nation cites Bob McKenzie’s comments on his Bobcast when he said that the Calgary Flames are looking at trading a defenseman – either T.J. Brodie or Travis Hamonic.

“Brodie and Hamonic are two names we’re hearing a lot of because the Flames have good young defensemen they feel can take over for one of those guys. And also like when I mentioned the Michael Frolik potential trade, they are trying to free up dollars to be able to sign restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk.”

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