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NHL Rumors Update
NHL Rumors Update for 09/16/2019
The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.
09/16/2019 edition:
By Jim Parsons on Sep 15, 2019 12:20 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown there is reactionary news out of Toronto in regards to the Mitch Marner signing. What really happened behind the scenes to help get this deal done? In Edmonton, where everyone is watching Connor McDavid closely, he took part in the first day of training camp. How involved did he get? And, are the Montreal Canadiens trying to acquire Julius Honka out of Dallas?
About the Marner Signing: Who Blinked?
The Toronto Sun’s Kevin McGran writes that Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs were quite a ways apart until Marner blinked. The belief is that Marner was worried about missing games so he budged on his ask. When he did, the Maple Leafs budged too and the two sides sat down and worked it out.
Kyle Dubas explained in the piece:
“It was great for Mitch to tell me how he felt, and me to explain where we were at and what we were proposing and so on. About how he fit into the team, how the team was going to move forward and everything of that nature. It was a real positive in the process.”
With Marner signed, the team’s core is set and Dubas must fill around the core with inexpensive pieces over the next few years. The Maple Leafs will be in salary cap trouble over the next few seasons and Dubas has a tricky job ahead of him.
McDavid Wants to Play Games
Ryan Rishaug of TSN tweeted that when it comes to McDavid at Oilers training camp, new coach Dave Tippett says McDavid wanted no part of a non-contact sweater. “He’s out there to play. ”
McDavid was cleared for contact in practice and did actually go down in front of the net on a minor collision. He got up, shook it off and was fine. McDavid says he wants to play in games but the Oilers are going to be very cautious with him.
According to Edmonton Sun’s Jim Matheson, both players involved in the collision on the coach were joking about it afterwards. “Kass is doing everything he can to stay on that line (McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) and he hits his centreman. That’s not going to keep Kass on that line,” kidded Oilers’ coach Dave Tippett.
Anaheim Not Happy With Carolina
It became clear the rumored deal between Anaheim and Carolina that involved Justin Faulk was not going to happen early Saturday. General manager Bob Murray seems to be blaming Carolina owner Tom Dundon for partially getting in the way of the deal, or at the very least, negatively impacting his roster by publicly leaking the players involved.
According to Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register, Murray says the Hurricanes’ owner leaked out Ondrej Kase’s name in the trade negotiations. Murray explained:
“When things are out there and haven’t happened and some owner decides he’s going to garner some friendship with the media, and he’s going to get close to the media, and he puts things out there, some of these people, I wish they were players at some point in their lives,” Murray said. “Obviously, they weren’t.”
Canadiens Calling About Honka
Eric Engels of Sportsnet writes that the Montreal Canadiens are among a couple of teams that are interested in Dallas Stars defenseman Julius Honka. Recently it was reported Honka had requested a trade with such an uncertain future with the Stars.
The Canadiens are rumored as willing to trade a player for Honka instead of just giving up a draft pick. Sean Shapiro of The Athletic writes he too had heard that the Canadiens name connected to Honka and that a player-for-player swap might make more sense than Dallas acquiring a pick too low for their liking.
Elliotte Friedman suggests the Carolina Hurricanes could be another team that has some interest in Honka. Althought it would be interesting to see how that works considering Carolina’s depth on defense or if the trade only makes sense should they move Justin Faulk.
The post NHL Rumors: Maple Leafs, Canadiens, Ducks, Oilers, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on Sep 14, 2019 11:35 am
In today’s NHL rumor rundown there is news on a few free agents now that Mitch Marner is signed, including Matthew Tkachuk and the Calgary Flames, and Brayden Point and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Plus, Kevin Fiala is not at Minnesota’s training camp, while two Anaheim Ducks will miss the entire season. Finally, where will defenseman Ben Hutton sign?
Flames Holding Comments Until RFAs Signed
Following the lead of Kyle Dubas, it appears the Calgary Flames aren’t going to say much regarding the status of negotiations with free agents who have yet to sign. Pat Steinberg of the Fan960 writes that Flames GM Brad Treliving said they want to focus who is at camp rather than who is not – Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane.
Treliving said he wasn’t waiting for someone else to sign first but things just aren’t where they need to be yet. Eric Francis of Sportsnet says negotiations with Mangiapane are close and he’s come down $200,000 in his ask to try and get a deal done. He is now asking for $850,000 on a one-way deal, and a little more on a two-way deal.
Talks Between Point and Tampa Not Going Well
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that there has been very little progress in contract talks between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Brayden Point. While many believed this may be one of the first big RFA contracts signed in the offseason, LeBrun notes negotiations “might be even more stalled than people think.”
Elliotte Friedman noted during a talk with Bob Stauffer on OilersNow that Montreal had actually reached out to Point’s people before tendering an offer sheet to Sebastian Aho and Point said, ‘no, I’d like to work things out with Tampa.’ That’s a good sign in that he wants to say with the Lightning but the two sides have a lot of work to do to find common ground on a new deal.
LeBrun says he still believes a deal will get done but “right now not remotely close as far as I can tell.”
Why is Fiala Not at Minnesota Wild Training Camp?
Kevin Fiala of the Minnesota Wild is not holding out, he’s signed his bridge deal and he should be ready to go, yet he’s not at camp. He’s yet to join the team.
Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune notes that Fiala isn’t rocking the boat or causing problems, he’s simply awaiting his work visa. The team is hopeful that he’ll be joining them early next week but he may miss the first couple of preseason games due to the delay.
Related: The 5 Best Agitators in the NHL
Kesler and Eaves Out Entire Season
The Anaheim Ducks officially announced (via Twitter) that both center Ryan Kesler and winger Patrick Eaves will not be suiting up for the Ducks this season.
Kesler’s diagnosis isn’t surprising considering the coverage his issues have received. There was, however, a chance that Patrick Eaves might be able to play some of the 2019-20 season. That is no longer the case.
Both players will be placed on LTIR and this will free up some space for the Ducks, who were already well under the Upper Limit of the NHL salary cap. This injury will take Eaves to the end of his contract with the Ducks.
Where is Ben Hutton?
TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that Ben Hutton is weighing his options as he has a number of interested parties vying for his services. The Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, and Detroit Red Wings are all listed among the teams to have shown interest.
The Canucks decided not to qualify Hutton at $2.8 million despite the increased playing time and responsibility given to him last season. He’s not likely to make that kind of money with whatever team he signs with, but it sounds like he’ll have a chance to prove his worth and take the pick of a few options with the hopes he can up his value again.
The post NHL Rumors: Flames, Lightning, Ducks, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on Sep 13, 2019 01:55 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, one Edmonton Oilers forward seems to be retiring after serious and lingering back issues. What does that mean for the Oilers future and how does it explain the signings they did this summer? The Tampa Bay Lightning might waive or trade a goaltender and the Toronto Maple Leafs are going Fight Club-silent with the media in regards to Mitch Marner. Finally, why is Dustin Byfuglien missing Jets training camp and did Julius Honka just say goodbye to Dallas?
Kyle Brokziak Retiring?
All day yesterday and today, Edmonton Oilers media has been writing revealing and touching pieces on Oilers forward Kyle Brodziak. It has been revealed that he won’t be able to play this upcoming season after failing his physical before training camp.
Mark Spector of Sportsnet writes, “Back issues will likely force an early retirement, after an steady, reliable 917-game NHL career.”
This may be one of the reasons the Oilers went out and signed some of the bottom-six depth that they did this summer, namely Riley Sheahan as a veteran center. It also leads to other questions about what role Brodziak might play with the organization in the future.
The Oilers will put Brodziak on long-term injury reserve which will free up some cap room to potentially do something in trade or take on a little salary if they eventually move Jesse Puljujarvi. As for Brodziak, he’s going to take some time away from hockey, spend it with his kids and see if he can’t find another passion that will help him not miss the game as much as if he were to just sit at home and not be with the team.
Lightning to Move One or Both Domingue and Condon
Tampa Bay Lightning insider, Erik Erlendsson writes that there was an initial plan by the Tampa Bay Lightning to put goaltenders Louis Domingue and Mike Condon on waivers on September 21st. That may have changed slightly.
Another team did call the Lightning Thursday morning about one them, so Tampa could possibly move someone before placing either on the waiver wire. If that trade happens, it would happen in the next week.
Maple Leafs No Longer Willing to Talk About Marner
The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to go quiet when it comes to talking about Mitch Marner from today onward. As Darren Dreger reports, there is potential something could get done this week, but also potential if it doesn’t, this could all be pushed back to October.
In a recent Maple Leafs Hot Stove segment, Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said, “I am happy to address the matter today and take your questions today, but after that, we won’t have anything from our end until there is a solution to the matter one way or another.” He added, after this round of questions, he was going to go radio silent on the situation.
He answered media questions but it was obvious things were status quo with the player and the team. James Mirtle of The Athletic writes that the Maple Leafs have made several offers this offseason, one of which was a believed to three-year bridge deal at around $26.5 million another which was a seven-year deal around $11 million. All of which have been turned down to this point.
Mirtle writes:
That has to at least get them close to a resolution. If not, it’s a huge problem, as it’s hard to see where there’s much more to give. Dubas will likely have to more seriously consider drastic measures, including trade options.
Dustin Byfuglien to Miss Jets Training Camp?
The Winnipeg Jets today announced that Dustin Byfuglien has been granted a leave of absence from the team and will not be participating at the start of training camp.
Both Head coach Paul Maurice and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said not to read too much into this decision as there is no injury to report and “nothing sinister” going on behind the scenes. It sounds like whatever this is, it’s something personal to the player. There is no timetable for his return.
Julius Honka Requests Trade From Dallas
Stars GM Jim Nill told media including Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas News that Julis Honka has officially requested a trade from the organization.
Without a real plan in place for where the Stars will play Honka this season, they did retain his rights via a qualifying offer, but that’s not enough for the player who wants to know where he stands in the depth chart. He’s worried if he stays with the Stars, he won’t see NHL time.
The post NHL Rumors: Oilers, Lightning, Jets, Maple Leafs, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
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