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NHL Rumors Update
NHL Rumors Update for 05/20/2020
The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.
05/20/2020 edition:
By Jim Parsons on May 19, 2020 12:30 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news that the Ottawa Senators are losing one of their veteran forwards to the Swiss league. Is Corey Schneider considering retirement? Would the Toronto Maple Leafs entertain a Mitch Marner to Dallas trade? And, how will the Edmonton Oilers juggle their blue line with limited funds?
Senators Will Lose Mikkel Boedker
Technically, the Ottawa Senators haven’t been eliminated from play in 2019-20, but it doesn’t seem likely they’ll be in any postseason games, even with a changed playoff format. As such, Mikkel Boedker has made alternate plans to play hockey next season.
The veteran forward has signed a two-year contract with HC Lugano in the Swiss NLA and he’ll likely make the move as soon as the NHL season is called off. Boedker, 30, is completing the final season of a four-year, $16 million deal he signed with the San Jose. He spent two of those seasons as a Senator and in 20 games for Ottawa this past season scored two goals and two assists.
Corey Schneider Says Not Thinking About Retirement
Corey Schneider, 34, has not had the best past couple of seasons as an NHL goaltender. After suffering a major core injury in 2015-16, he’s been replaced in New Jersey as the starter by MacKenzie Blackwood, and with two years still remaining on a contract that pays him $6 million per season, he’s an easy buyout candidate. Should the NHL re-introduce compliance buyouts, Schnieder’s name would be at the top of New Jersey’s list. That said, he’s not thinking about retirement.
Schneider told NHL.com Mike Morreale that he’s taken advantage of the NHL pause to get himself into “peak physical condition” and that despite his struggles, he has not “entertained thoughts of retirement at all.” In fact, he says he’d like to stay with the Devils, even in a backup role.
“”I’m not naive to the business side of things,” Schneider explained, “but I feel that when I’m playing well, I can do a lot for our team on the ice and off the ice. That’s the role that I want to fill.”
Perhaps Schneider realizes that if he were to be bought out, he’d struggle to find work in an NHL free agent market that has many goalies and a lot less money to go out to players looking for jobs.
Maple Leafs Mitch Marner Trade Scenario
Luke Fox of Sportsnet was asked during a recent mailbag segment if the Toronto Maple Leafs should trade Mitch Marner to the Dallas Stars for Miro Heiskanen. Fox says he doesn’t see the Stars parting with their 20-year-old stud defenseman.
Stars beat reporter Sean Shapiro (The Athletic) also noted that the Stars have deemed Heiskanen untouchable but speculate they could be willing to part with blueliner John Klingberg. Would the Maple Leafs do that trade?
Klingberg is a young right-shot defenseman who has been a star for the Stars over the past few seasons. He would immediately make the Leafs’ blueliner better and is under contract for two more seasons after this one at $4.25 million, making him a cap saving for the club.
Still, it would be a tough sell in Toronto to move Marner and not get an elite player back in return.
Oilers to Sign Green and Benning, Move Russell?
We reported earlier this week that Matt Benning and Kris Russell were tield closely together as far as their contracts go. Mark Spector of Sportsnet notes that Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland is operating under the assumption the NHL will see a flat of cap of $81.5 million. The plan might be to move Russell, sign Benning at a small raise and see if Mike Green will re-sign for around $1.5 million.
From there, either Evan Bouchard or Caleb Jones will get a long look to make the club as their cap hits are relatively low.
The post NHL Rumors: Senators, Devils, Maple Leafs, Stars, Oilers, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on May 18, 2020 01:10 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news that the New Jersey Devils might try to offload a player or two. In St. Louis, is there a way Alex Pietrangelo will accept a bridge deal with the Blues? And, is there an update on Max Domi’s situation in Montreal? Finally, are the Toronto Maple Leafs willing to move Frederik Andersen to land Matt Murray out of Pittsburgh?
Devils to Dump a Contract or Two
In his most recent mailbag, The Athletic’s Corey Masisak (subscription required) writes that the New Jersey Devils would like a number of their prospects to take on bigger roles with the team, thus they may look to unload a player or two during the offseason.
Masisak names players in the system like Jesper Boqvist, Janne Kuokkanen, Joey Anderson, Nicholas Merkley, Nolan Foote and the potential of a 2020 lottery pick being ready for the NHL. That means trade candidates could be players like Miles Wood and Pavel Zacha. He also writes:
It will depend on a few factors. One is what happens with Kyle Palmieri and Nikita Gusev. If either or both sign new contracts for beyond next season, then spots in the top nine are going to be pretty limited.
Update on Max Domi and Canadiens
We reported the other day that the Montreal Canadiens and Max Domi haven’t talked an extension and that perhaps his desire to play center could create a situation where the Canadiens wonder about the long-term fit with the Habs.
Sportsnet’s Eric Engels acknowledged recent trade rumors but feels there are plenty of reasons why the Montreal Canadiens will retain Domi. Furthermore, Engels said he never heard from anyone that the Canadiens were considering trading him. It sounds like both sides want to get a deal done so it will a matter of waiting until salaries are more certain.
Pietrangelo Open to a Bridge Deal?
Alex Pietrangelo will be an expensive re-signing for the St. Louis Blues. With that in mind, some of the buzz around the rumor mill involve ways the Blues might clear up space to make any deal with their captain work.
Assuming Pietrangelo accepts a “hometown discount” of between $7.5 million to $8 million, Jim Thomas of St. Louis Today was asked about the possibility of Pietrangelo accepting a one-year bridge deal. He didn’t think it was likely, based mostly upon the fact that salaries might not rebound in a year’s time and the Blues would be right back to the same problem next summer.
But, Thomas did say there was one scenario where a bridge deal could be possible:
Even with a flat cap, there are still several teams that are in good enough cap shape for next season to make a run at Petro. Last time I checked CapFriendly, there were 18 teams with less than $70 million committed to the cap next season.
So maybe the agent checks the market, and if the waters are lukewarm at best, then maybe he thinks about a bridge deal.
Most believe the only way the Blues get out of this without much issue is if the NHL implements compliance buyouts. The belief is that this won’t happen.
Related: Every Stanley Cup Winner Since 1960
Matt Murray for Frederick Andersen Swap?
Luke Fox of Sportsnet suggests not to look too deep into any rumors that include the Maple Leafs trading Frederik Andersen and trying to pick up Matt Murray from Pittsburgh.
While Fox thinks the Penguins could trade Murray, the scribe ins’t convinced Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas sees Murray as a better goaltender and wonders what his future contract will look like. He believes it’s better for the Maple Leafs to push Andersen contract talks past this season and see what happens next summer.
As more news and rumors hit the NHL wire, we’ll be sure to keep you updated.
The post NHL Rumors: Devils, Canadiens, Blues, Maple Leafs, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
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