NHL Rumors Update

NHL Rumors Update for 03/02/2019

March 02, 2019

The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.

 

03/02/2019 edition:

By Jim Parsons on Mar 01, 2019 02:10 pm

In today’s rumor rundown, there are rumors the Canucks might try to trade a pretty good forward for help on the blue line this summer, there are updates on what to do with Taylor Hall when he comes back from his knee surgery and the Oilers interest in Connor Brown out of Toronto, plus more.

Could Virtanen Be Traded By Canucks?

Jason Brough of The Athletic suggests that the Vancouver Canucks might look at trading winger Jake Virtanen to bolster their blue line over the summer. With Alex Edler’s future uncertain and with their blue line not much deeper than Edler, it is an area of concern for the team.

Jake Virtanen, Vancouver Canucks, Nov. 21, 2017 (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Brough writes:

I wonder about the future of Virtanen in Vancouver. To me, he’s the most obvious trade chip that the Canucks could play to help fix the defence. After all, they’re not going to move Pettersson, Horvat, or Boeser.

source – ’10 thoughts on the Canucks, who can’t afford any more bad contracts’ – Jason Brough – The Athletic – 02/27/2019

Virtanen’s play has been a bit up-and-down during his NHL career but still holds some value around the NHL because of his potential. He may be the piece Vancouver can dangle to get the most in return but also doesn’t remove a key piece of the organization when it comes to the young prospects and stars they want to build around.

What the Devil to do About Taylor Hall

We mentioned the news that Taylor Hall will be having surgery to repair his knee and may or may not return this season for the Devil’s in yesterday’s rumor rundown. Bob McKenzie said the more interesting story coming out of New Jersey as it pertains to Hall is what the team will do moving forward and once he’s healthy.

What is the future for New Jersey Devils left wing Taylor Hall? (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Hall has one season left on his contract but the Devils are not looking much like a playoff team. McKenzie said that in a similar way to how the Senators had to make a decision on Erik Karlsson, the Devils will have to either convince Hall that the team can be competitive or move him so as to not lose him in free agency next summer.

Elliotte Friedman recently wondered if an offer sheet was a potential for the Devils to try and grab a player that could help Hall bring the Devils back to playoff respectability. GM of the Devils, Ray Shero said he has no desire to move Hall and that it’s not often you can trade for a player who comes in and becomes an NHL MVP.

Outside of the injury, Hall’s future and how the Devils approach it is certainly one to keep an eye on.

Jets Interest in Simmonds Not What People Thought

Elliotte Friedman recently said on his 31 Thoughts Podcast, he believes what he thought was strong interest by the Winnipeg Jets in forward Wayne Simmonds was not as strong as many believed.

Wayne Simmonds didn’t want to leave Philadelphia. (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Friedman said that leading up to the deadline, he does still think there was interest from the Jets and that Simmonds was preparing to waive his no-trade clause to go there. But, Friedman explained, “… they made the choice to go with [Kevin] Hayes, which took their first-round pick out of play.” He also said Morrissey got hurt and once that happened, they switched to focusing on defense.

So, the rumors that Simmonds almost became a Jet before he became a Predators player might be as accurate as some believe. Friedman also said that Simmonds didn’t really want to leave the Flyers and it sounds like there is a chance he looks at the team again in free agency.

Oilers Had Interest in Connor Brown

One of the things Friedman and Jeff Marek also talked about on the podcast was the Edmonton Oilers interest in Connor Brown from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Friedman heard that the discussion centered around Matt Benning for Brown and Marek said he’d heard the Oilers might have offered up Jujhar Khaira.

Connor Brown garnered interest on deadline day. Toronto Maple Leafs, Dec. 12, 2017 (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Both suggested the rumor that Adam Larsson was somehow connected to that deal was not true. Friedman also mentioned that somewhere along the lines he heard the Oilers might have offered up Zack Kassian for Brown, which he believes signals the fact the team really liked the idea of getting Brown out of Toronto. Apparently, the Oilers weren’t the only ones.

A number of teams apparently inquired about Brown but the Leafs ultimately decided to hang onto him and not give him up for a rental since they like him too.

“By the way, Kassian an interesting one. Someone told me Nashville looked at Kassian before they got Brian Boyle,” Friedman said.

Islanders Having a Little Trouble With Lee

While both Friedman and Marek said it’s not likely the Islanders will reveal their plans for a number of their pending free agents, they have heard a couple of whispers coming out of the organization. “The one I’ve heard about [Anders] Lee is the Islanders are concerned about the term,” indicated Friedman. “That’s all I’ve heard. No questions about the player or the willingness to keep him, it’s all about the term on him.”

Listen to the Latest Version of The Hockey Writers Podcast

By Jim Parsons on Feb 28, 2019 04:16 pm

In today’s rumor rundown, we look at the interest in Alex Edler, that the Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to re-sign one of their forwards, why the LA Kings didn’t do much and a couple big injuries in the NHL.

Teams Did Inquire About Alex Edler

Rick Dhaliwal has cited an interview with Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 650 where Friedman said the Calgary Flames were one of a few teams going after Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler. Friedman also heard that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets checked in on Edler as well.

Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks, Nov. 21, 2017 (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Ultimately, Edler decided he didn’t want to leave Vancouver and would not waive his no-trade clause. The Canucks will now focus on signing Edler to an extension.

Maple Leafs Trying to Extend Andreas Johnsson

Darren Dreger is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have made attempts as recently as late last week to re-sign pending restricted free agent Andreas Johnsson and there was the preference by Johnsson’s camp to wait.

Toronto Maple Leafs Andreas Johnsson and Tampa Bay Lightning Dan Girardi and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Johnsson has 19 goals now and could easily be a 25-goal guy by the time the season is done. Being patient is probably the smart move on Johnsson’s part. He will get paid and it will be interesting to see if he stays in Toronto considering the Maple Leafs tight cap situation or if they try to trade him and sell high.

Why Weren’t the LA Kings Active?

The Fourth Period is reporting multiple sources saying that despite Tyler Toffoli not being moved at the trade deadline, there were a few teams that showed interest. Among them were the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars. One team in particular was heavy in on talks about Toffoli but the deal never materialized.

Los Angeles Kings center Tyler Toffoli (Dom Gagne-USA TODAY Sports)

The Kings had hoped to try and move other players, including forward Jeff Carter, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Trevor Lewis. None of those deals could get completed before the deadline came and went.

Curtis Zupke of the LA Times is reporting the Kings were only able to trade defenseman Oscar Fantenberg and nothing else was really close. Rob Blake said, “We talked about a lot of different things here the past few days.” He added, “This is what took place … the ones that we have in place right here now.”

They were able to move out Jake Muzzin, Nate Thompson and Carl Hagelin prior to Monday’s rush of deals and in the future, expect there to be some interest and whispers surrounding names like Alec Martinez, Jonathan Quick, Trevor Lewis, Kyle Clifford, and, of course, Toffoli, Carter and Kovalchuk.

Taylor Hall and Jesse Puljujarvi Out With Surgery

The New Jersey Devils have officially announced that Taylor Hall underwent arthroscopic knee surgery this week, and will begin rehab immediately. It’s too early to know if he’ll be back at all this season.

Taylor Hall #9, New Jersey Devils, October 20, 2018 (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Hall has missed NHL action since December 23rd and with the Devils pretty much out of the running in the Eastern Conference, it made sense to not delay the surgery. Chances are the Devils just shut down Hall for the season. The question will become what Hall wants to do with one season left as a Devils forward. Will he re-sign or look to be traded?

In Edmonton, Jesse Puljujarvi is going to undergo hip surgery. Jason Gregor of TSN is reporting that Puljujarvi will surgery next week and will not play again this season.

This all comes after rumors that there was something fishy going on with Puljujarvi’s injury. He went and got a second opinion on his hip and that second opinion agreed with the first.

Listen to the Latest Version of The Hockey Writers Podcast

On the 13th episode of The Hockey Writers Podcast, Brandon Share-Cohen and I chat all things NHL Trade Deadline day analysis. We look closely at the biggest trades to fall on Monday and leading up to the deadline, what it means for NHL franchises moving foward, who has the best playoff hopes, and who won and/or lost all the moves that were made.

By Jim Parsons on Feb 27, 2019 01:15 pm

In today’s rumor rundown, we look at a few more deals that didn’t materialize on trade deadline day and a couple of deals that were rumored to be out there but have been shot down by those that would likely know better than the sources who reported them.

Edmonton Oilers Were Not Moving Adam Larsson

Somehow, Jimmy Murphy said he’d heard that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers talked about a large deal on trade deadline day that involved Edmonton Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson being moved for Toronto Maple Leafs forward Connor Brown. He did admit there were lots of moving pieces so he wasn’t suggesting it was a one-for-one deal, but he also suggested the sides could revisit talks in the offseason. This rumor has been shot down by almost everyone within the Edmonton media.

Adam Larsson rumor was the Oilers tried to move him for Connor Brown which isn’t true. (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

Not only would the Oilers look incredibly bad moving Larsson for Brown (the same Larsson that was acquired for Taylor Hall) but Edmonton just had Drake Caggiula and moved him. Caggiula was a very similar style player to Brown. Host of Oilers Now and color analyst for the Oilers, Bob Stauffer tweeted, at no point was Oilers Adam Larsson brought up in any trade talk at the trade deadline. The Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson wrote, “Don’t even bother with talk, it’s not true.”

There was interest by the Oilers in Brown, but it was not for Larsson.

Montreal Canadiens Didn’t Want to Get Fleeced

A day after trade deadline day, GM of the Montreal Canadiens has discussed his team’s lack of action and said it was mainly due to the fact that had he paid the prices or done the deals that were offered to his team, he would have been roasted by fans and media alike.

Jordie Benn was ultimately kept by the Canadiens (Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports)

Arpon Basu, who covers the Canadiens for The Athletic wrote the Canadiens were in on Matt Duchene, but the price was too high. Bergevin said teams were interested in prospects he had no desire to move so conversations were extremely short. And, Bergevin ultimately kept Jordie Benn because he didn’t want to mess with team chemistry.

Basu wrote a quote from Bergevin saying, “I’m telling you right now, if I would have done what I was asked for, you would probably call me an idiot. Which you probably do anyway.”

Why Ferland Didn’t Move

While the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators both made last-minute pitches for Micheal Ferland, Michael Smith is reporting the Carolina Hurricanes and GM Don Waddell said that they’ll hold contract extension talks with Ferland after the season and would like to extend him on a new deal.

Waddell said, “We believe in this team, and that’s why we stuck with them.”

It is believed the Predators offered Ryan Hartman to Carolina for Ferland prior to the team using Hartman to acquired Wayne Simmonds.

Trades That Almost Happened, But Didn’t

Elliotte Friedman had a Tuesday afternoon radio hit on Vancouver’s Sportsnet 650 was asked about any possible trades he’d heard almost took place but didn’t end up going through.

Friedman notes the Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames were working on a deal for Jason Zucker and while he’s not sure why the trade never happened, it sounds like the two sides simply ran out of time. Friedman also said that Wayne Simmonds almost went to the Winnipeg Jets.

Wayne Simmonds almost became a Winnipeg Jet (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Friedman explained, “I think Winnipeg thought they had Wayne Simmonds. They were preparing it and Wayne Simmonds had to waive his no-trade to go to Winnipeg, and it never happened.” Friedman said that the reason Simmonds ended up in Nashville was that it wasn’t required he waive his no-trade clause to go there and Philly had fewer issues making that deal in the final hour.

Friedman also said that the Vancouver Canucks asked Alex Edler if he would waive his no-trade clause to go to either the Calgary Flames or the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edler declined.

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