Latest on the Arizona Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings in part two of your Sunday NHL rumor roundup.
WILL THE COYOTES TRADE BOEDKER?
Could Coyotes winger Mikkel Boedker be dealt to the Blackhawks?
TORONTO SUN: Steve Simmons reports the Arizona Coyotes will go right up to Feb. 29 if necessary in their attempt to re-sign pending UFA winger Mikkel Boedker. If a new deal can’t be reached, they’ll try to trade him on deadline day.
THE BUFFALO NEWS: Mike Harrington reports there’s growing speculation the Chicago Blackhawks might be a good fit for winger Mikkel Boeder if the Arizona Coyotes put him on the block for the Feb. 29 trade deadline. Harrington also doubts the Montreal Canadiens will trade defenseman P.K. Subban and claims the Buffalo Sabres will move pending UFA winger Jamie McGinn if he can get a second-round pick for him.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Coyotes and Blackhawks have a recent trade history, specifically the deal last February that sent center Antoine Vermette to Chicago. The ‘Hawks have the cap room to take on the remainder of Boedker’s $3.75 million cap hit, but it depends upon the asking price. The ‘Hawks parted with a first-round pick and a young defenseman in Klas Dahlbeck for Vermette last year, but they might be unwilling to give up a comparable return this year.
UPDATE ON THE EDMONTON OILERS.
EDMONTON SUN: With the Oilers sitting dead last in the NHL’s overall standings, Terry Jones believes they should start entertaining offers for their 2016 first-round draft pick. If they remain in last place, that pick has a 20 percent chance of becoming the top pick in the draft lottery and just over a 13 percent chance of being second overall. If the Oilers win the draft lottery again this year, Jones believes they’ll shop that pick anyway, so it makes sense to shop it now in hopes of landing a blueliner, as the Oilers need two top-four defensemen.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Jonathan Willis reports the Oilers will showcase veteran defenseman Nikita Nikitin, who’s spent most of this season in the minors, in hopes of moving him at the trade deadline.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Wouldn’t surprise me if Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli lets it be known he’ll entertain offers for his first-round pick now. While the argument can be made it’s best to wait and see if they win the draft lottery again, it’s also possible they won’t win it this year. So why not see if there’s a GM with blueline depth willing to gamble on landing the first- or second-overall pick in this year’s draft.
LATEST ON THE DEVILS AND RED WINGS.
NEW YORK POST: If the New Jersey Devils seek a rental forward, Larry Brooks suggests pursuing Toronto Maple Leafs winger P-A Parenteau, perhaps by offering up defensemen Eric Gelinas.
DETROIT FREE PRESS: Helene St. James reports the Red Wings must shed salary if they hope to add an impact player at the trade deadline. GM Ken Holland also said he’s not moving struggling goalie Jimmy Howard at the trade deadline. He also claims he’s not looking to add depth, claiming this year’s roster is deeper than last season’s.
If the oilers trade that 1st round pick, Please don’t trade it to teams like Chicago, Anaheim, LA, Detroit…….we can’t have those teams getting a potential 1st overall pick. How about phoenix for OEL? Josi? It will have to be a heck of a D man.
That pick figures to be a top 5 pick in a mediocre draft. Matthews is not McDavid or Eichel or even close and then the two Finns are a step down from there and everyone else a further step with not a lot of difference in the next four picks. So there is no OEL type return coming back, IMO. However, they win the lottery again, ARZ could irrationally overpay for the hometown boy – that’s your best bet
I read recently that scouts felt if Matthews were in last year’s draft he would have been drafted ahead of Eichel.
Here’s what Mckenzie published a couple weeks ago in his mid season update:
Likewise, the scouts are somewhat divided on whether Matthews, who only missed being eligible for last year’s NHL draft by a mere two days, is in the same class as Buffalo Sabres rookie Jack Eichel, another big American No. 1 centre. Half said Matthews should be considered in the same universe as Eichel; half said he was just a step behind, perhaps with a better all-around game than Eichel but maybe not projected to be as dynamic offensively in the NHL.
Dan, if you watched the world jrs. the scouts interviewed there were no longer sure Matthews was a sure bet to go first this year and Mackenzie stated last year that Matthews was never in Eichels or McDavids universe, but he did rate Matthews higher than Strome and Marner. Matthews chose to play in a league that is rated a hair better than the ECHL. Miko Rantenen and William Nylander who are about the same age as Matthews are producing at a better rate in the AHL. Which is a far better league, does that mean Miko and William are better, maybe, hope so. The fact that I`m a leafs fan, I hope Matthews is as good Eichel or half as good as McDavid, I`d be happy with him
Still probably going to be a good player but the Swiss league is essentially a rec league for former professionals. Its not as competitive as the KHL SEL or AHL (it only has 12 teams and 50 games) for that matter. Be interesting to see how he develops….was great at WJC. but wonder how he would hold up to heavier schedule and more travel.
Shticky, you forget it`s basically a non contact league, much like Jr.A has become. The fact that Turris admits it was a mistake for his development. the lack of contact will hurt his development. Will he go into traffic or how hard will he go into the corners. Better still one hit and he disappears. Toronto just traded Matthias to Col. for Colin Smith and a 4th rd
Guys, I’m not sure you have spent much time studying the Swiss league. 10-15 years ago, AHL might have been a better league. I’m not sure this is correct anymore.
Just my 2 bits
Yeah, I am not saying Mathhews doesn’t have significnt upside, but I was one of the guys wondering aloud if he could be the player Eichel is/will become.
I did so in my evaluation of him:
http://www.draftsite.com/nhl/player/auston-matthews/22455/
I ma not sure that the Oilers could leverage that slot for a proven and still improving commodity in Oliver Eckman Larsson, but you have to wonder if a sweetener of one of those still not adjusted former Oiler first rounders, Yakupov, RNH and the pick get it done. A deal where the OIl does the overpaying to secure a young top pair defender that you rarely see availbale on the market…
Dan are you kidding Matthews could be a gold mine for the Arizona franchise, especially if he pans out. The difference between losing 20-30 mill a year and maybe breaking even. The ticket and jersey sales would be huge for them. I can see Arizona over paying to get him. At the draft, if I hold the 1st pick, I`m saying hello Arizona.
Won’t happen Yotes are loaded w perhaps the deepest pool of upcoming talent in the NHL.
However it’s all on offense.
No way they trade a Norris caliber dman.
Yeah, that’s what I meant: ARZ could overpay for him massively. In fact, I’m hoping that’s exactly what happens except with the Leafs winning and swapping Matthews for Strome plus one of one of those prospects – they have a ton of great young pieces – or their 1st.
You only get 100% of jersey revenue in a 75 mile radius of your arena. All other jersey revenue goes to the NHL & is split equally among all teams.
Arizona isn’t moving OEL 1 of the top 5 D in the league on a great contract & only 23 years old.
The only way Matthew’s ends up in Arizona is if they win the lottery.
Yes Dan I totally agree Strome and Domi +. I just wish he stayed and played Jrs. here, you don`t no how much playing there is going to hurt his development. Just ask Turris, he played Jr. A instead of playing for the Giants and now he admitted it hurt his development.
Andrew you don`t understand the value Matthews is to Arizona franchise, Matthews was born in Phoenix. In a pure dollar sense to the owners who are losing 20-30 mill /yr, Matthews is worth a lot more than OEL will ever be. If the asking price is only OEL, to the owners it`s a no brainer. Done Deal
Yogi, you’ve made a lot of excellent points today. As to Matthews for Strome plus. As the plus I’d like Domi of course but there are lots of prospects I’d take from them Duclair, Dvorak, Perlini, Merkley. They are absolutely stacked. The one I wouldnt take is Tinordi, who I think is overrated due to size, name.
I wouldnt move OEL for Matthews either. Of course I’d love to have the home town boy on the team if I was the Coyotes but not for OEL. I think Arizone needs OEL as much as Edmonton does.
I am actually travelling Europe and was at the Zurich game today, Matthews was dominant and for those saying the Swiss is a non contact league, there was plenty of rough stuff, 2 minor scraps and Matthews was ran hard into the boards from behind at one point and got up just fine, finished with a goal and two assists and was constantly threatening. Really don’t see how playing for a long time nhl coach and playing with/against former nhlers (Robert Nilsson, Marc Andre Bergeron, Derek Roy,Corey Conacher, Andrew Ebett, Chuck Kobasew, to name some) is going to hurt his development, looked real good to me
this is not what I hear about the draft at all.
Matthews would have been drafted before Eichel if he was 1 week older. He might not have been, but still he has great potential. Tkachuck and Nylander and pretty good and the 2 fins are really good. A bunch of good defense guys are following this top 5 which is starting to be a pretty good draft imo.
Marc Crawford said he thinks the Swiss league is better than the AHL. He is coaching Mattews now at 19 and he coached the Sedin twins,Jamie Benn and Kopitar at that age and said Matthews is better than them at that ages do he is only 18 ,good enough for me and a pretty good start for Mattews. Not only that, with his late birthdate, Matthews will be 19 before next season starts and will play for US at the Worlds I bet and may be on the 23and under Team North America at the World Cup. Oilers should see where they r drafting first and consider trading someone else for d if they win lottery. McDavid Matthews down the middle sounds pretty good to me.
Sorry my mistake, he’s coaching Matthews at 18 and coached the others at 19 yrs of age, lol
Marc was probably talking about the USHL where Matthews was going to play. The AHL/KHL are considered the next best league. The Swiss league is way below, not even close.
Terry Jones is Edmonton`s version of Toronto`s Simmons. Plus Terry doesn`t think it`s a real sport if it doesn`t involve food.
I thought that you were the one who couldn’t stay out of the picnic baskets? Glass houses and all that, Yogi.
Ya, but, that`s beside the point Boo Boo
Marc said Swiss league was better than AHL, quote unquote, don’t know why your talking about USHL or any other league, he never mentioned those leagues so I am not sure why u r, and he’s coached in AHL, NHL, Olympics and Swiss league, I will stick with his opinion, sorry Boo Boo, I mean Yogi
OEL for Edmonton’s #1……
NEVER going to happen!
Other than PA Parenteau and Polak I don’t know why any team would give up much if anything for the rest of what Toronto has to offer, particularly Bernier who is both overpaid and inconsistent. Parenteau is a bit of specialist with 1/3 of his goals coming on the PP but PPs are less prevalent in the playoffs. Polak may be more attractive because playoff games often become more physical and Polak brings that element to the game.
Wow
Toronto has many cost effective options for teams looking to boost their depth before the playoffs. You could add reimer(good backup option) mathias(size and limited goal scoring) boyes(4th line option, good hands) hunwick(5-7 dman) arcobello(hot and cold point producer) and grabner( speed, PK)to polak and parenteau in terms of who could be moved. None of these players are prime names, but it takes more than one guy to win the cup. The leafs have set themselves up gif a good haul at the deadline.
Parenteau has scored 6 of 15 on the PP. Ovechkin 15 of 38, Kane 14 of 34, Stamkos 11 of 24, Tarasenko 10 of 24 etc. Very normal for goals scored to be significant by % for almost all goal scorers. PP goals factor into wins in the playoff far more than in the regular season as scoring drops substantially as defense is much tighter.
That said Parenteau isn`t really a goal scorer he`s a good puck possession complementary winger that sets up goals at least he used to when he played with players that could score a luxury that doesn`t really exist in Toronto being the 28th ranked team in the NHL for goals scored.
By far the biggest return the Leafs would get at the deadline (aside from Rielly and Van Riemsdyk of course who won’t be dealt anyway) is for Komarov. He plays with an edge, is durable and is not a stranger to the net. I know, opinions are split on whether they should retain him to “mentor” the young guys coming in – but if Lamoriello gets an offer he can’t refuse, colour him gone. Mentors are a dime a dozen on the every year’s UFA list.
maybe kadri but for a draft day pick
difference is pa is nota first or second liner on any cup contender he won t get the prime minutes and pp time , which is the only reason he looks good on the leafs .
You forget one thing George, regular season has shootouts and PA has been dynamite in them and he`d get 2nd unit time on some the teams. He looks good because the Leafs gave him a chance and these days it`s getting harder and harder to find guys that score regardless who he plays for. George there`s a lot of guys who can play . they just need some one to give them chance to show it.
Yogi, just to be clear – there’s a George (me) and a george (not me) commenting here.
Sorry George didn`t realize that
The issue with the Oilers idea is that if a rival GM makes a trade now for the 1st-rounder, the player(s) the Oilers receive would become assets that help make sure that the Oilers DON’T get 1st overall.
ahh logic
in the offseason Jimmy Howard for Wideman Calgary gets a goalie for 2 more years and Wings get a top 4 RHD for 1 year.
I saw on the other article that Skinner is available.
Wings should trade
Tatar kindl and this years 2nd round pick for Skinner. that will make salary about equal.
would love to see Skinner with Larkin
I prefer Tatar to Skinner never mind the salary of Skinner or his concussion history.
Interesting Parenteu has the best stats of the available left wingers but seems to be behind Ladd and Staal. Teams that are talking left wing and defense depth should be looking at Parenteau and Polak? Solves two problems. Pittsburg, Chicago, LA, Tampa, Ducks and Dallas should look at offering a layer 1st or top prospect, another top prospect plus a lower pick or prospect and take back and ugly contract. Bozak and Grabner or Matthias gives any team a good 2nd centre and depth forward. Nashville, SJ and Dallas could use this. As for Oilers first pick Gardner, Percy and a second gives them two nhl ready players with Gardner showing flashes of what is to come. Ed could even add a contract going the other way? Looking forward Lupul would look good with the Habs but TO would have to take back a bad contract or hold money. He could show Galyenchuk how to put out every shift? There I have traded most of the Leafs available. The last two deals are a stretch but the rest are viable.
Parenteau is a RW
And no way either Bozak or Grabner or Matthias are # 2 C. Leafs fans have to sop over-valuing players who have guided them to 30th.
Matthias just went to Colorado for Colin Smith and a 4th. Smith looks small – must be a burner? Anyone see him play in Kamloops?
George Toronto just got a prospect and a 4th rd pick for Matthias
At 5′ 10″ and 175 lbs he IS small – especially for a C. He’s AHL material.
Yogi, Do you truly consider a 5″10 175 lb C a “prospect”???
George do you rate your prospects solely based on their size. Smith is list right now as 5-11 188. He`s shown tat he`s not scared to go into corners or hg traffic areas. In each of his 3 yrs, he`s shown a steady improvement. His skating is rated to be excellent and he has put the puck in the net at all levels so far. His play was good enough to get a call up this yr. by Colorado. He`s a smaller player who`s not scared to get hs nose dirt and shown he can score. At 22 I`d say he was a prospect, unless George you think short guys like Gilmore or skinny guys like Gretzky can`t play the game.
Never mind what I “think.” What I KNOW is, for every smallish “skinny” guy like Gilmour and Gretzky who made it, there were probably hundreds similarly built who did not. Don’t even think for a fleeting second that if Colorado ever saw him as remotely – and I stress remotely – similar to Gilmour (forget Gretzky – not one that has come into the league since his heyday is even on the same page) that they’d have traded him for a 4th line player? At best. I understand your desperate desire to see the team you follow finally start to show improvement, but you also have to be realistic here.
You have to admit George any player at 22 and earns a call up to an NHL team is still a prospect. He`s showing improvement each and every yr. and scoring at every level that he`s played. Never called him a blue chip or a sure bet, my hopes aren`t up. No parades are being planned at this time. Speaking of parades how`d Dion do last night, see he scored the tying goal. Greening had himself not a bad night, no tying goal tho, but not a bad night none the less
To Matt about Stamkos signing in Mtl….I think your pills are a little too strong…no way Stamkos sign in mtl with a team like this and the taxation at almost 50%++++….good luck on this one my friend
Don’t make fun of me but I don’t get why if Edmonton is needing young defense-men why they are burying Nikitin in Bakersfield and trying to dump both him and Schultz (please bear with me as I confess I am not a regular Oiler game watcher at all…). These guys were “good young D-men prospects” at one time – doesn’t this suggest that McClellan’s system is exposing these guys and it’s not necessarily that they can’t play their position? If they suck why would anyone else want to overpay for an “un-coachable” young D-man? PC couldn’t GIVE Nikitin away – why not play him and try and try an pump up his value ala Phaneuf (not that i’m comparing the two at all – just that they are both d-men that their respective teams wanted to move). I understand The Leafs moving Phaneuf if they feel they are still at least 3 years away but The Oilers should be wanting guys like Nikitin and Schultz to peak at the same time as the rest of their young forwards – I feel like i’m taking crazy pills or something… In all seriousness – someone explain…
Schultz used a loophole in the CBA by not signing with Anaheim. So as a Ufa he signed with Edmonton who guaranteed him a roster spot in the NHL. Schultz was no where near ready to play in the NHL, so instead od developing in the minors where he belonged, he wasted away in the NHL. It didn`t help with the revolving door for coaches and poor management to boot. Whether another team can fix him, big question now. As far as Nikitin goes, he got the russian pass. Must be good he`s russian, never was never will be, too bad some of the kids who pay here don`t get same consideration.
Schultz wasn’t guaranteed an NHL spot by the Oilers. And with the lockout he ended up starting his career in the AHL. He played half a season and was leading the league in scoring with 48 points in 34 games. He was out scoring his teammates Hall and Eberle. He is a great skater but makes poor decisions in his own end. With his scoring drying up, his offence no longer compensates for his poor defence. He doesn’t shoot well enough to anchor the PP. he will be a UFA unless someone wants to qualify him at $3.9M.
Never worry in these pages if someone might “make fun of you” Swiss2793. If anyone does just tell him-her to take a hike. You ar e as much entitled to your opinions and questions as anyone else.
Appreciate it George – love reading Lyle’s site but don’t want to come across as another head in the clouds Leaf fan…lol. I can’t help it – I was born this way – I love to suffer I guess – just ask my wife…lol
Why would Edmonton trade their first pick now? They’re not pushing for a playoff spot, plus the fact there is no guarantee it’ll be a first overall only diminishes it’s value (compared to the off season when there’s an assigned value). If it’s a first, they can trade down and pick Chychrun (getting more picks or prospects) or pick him with the 2nd 3rd or 4th pick. Worse case scenario they pick 4th or 5th and Chychrun’s gone, then they can entertain moving it for a defenceman, or trade down and pick one of the second teir guys. Trading now makes zero sense.
Yeah, depending on the pick Edmonton gets In return will determin if they trade the first pick. Edmonton needs to draft a defensman. So they could drop in the draft to get one but in my opinion they shouldn’t simply ship the first for a mediocre D.
RNH and some thing should be more than enough to bring in a D man. Then come draft day trade down in the draft to gain something us the D man they covet in the draft.
I’m not so sure Chychrun is a tier above the other Dman, has been underwhelming down the stretch I hear. Looks like a good bunch 5 of them that will go in the top 15 – with Dman, often the top one picked is not new the best. Look at Provorov over Hanifin. My point is EDM could drop down and be pretty comfortable of getting a solid if unspectacular D.
Dan I agree there were high expectations for Chychrun this year, and maybe he just barely met them, or didn’t exceed them like people wanted. But IMO he’s head and shoulders above the rest. I’ve seen Fabro, Joulevi, sergachev and bean all vary wildly in each mock draft I’ve seen, all of them have ranked as high as the late teens and as early as 6-7. But Chychrun has always stayed in the top 5, and has been solid all year for sarnia and was the most noticeable defenceman in the chl all star game IMO. I don’t see him being as good as the top tier guys from last year, but he’s still a top pairing guy if he meets expectations.
You know – I looked at the lineup The Leafs skated with the other night against The Rangers and we getting pretty spotty to say the least – after we dump as many of these cap friendly deadline contracts as we can the cupboard is gonna be pretty bare – does anyone think that Nylander and some other young guns will get brought up in the midst of a Calder Cup run to fill out the big boy roster or does Shanny keep them down at the fair grounds to get some championship experience? If so who the hell do we fill our roster out with and will anyone go watch after Feb. 29th?? I got tickets for March 21st and I have to go with a Flames fan – this could get ugly for us Leaf fans…
I mean more ugly than it already is – but hopefully not as ugly as a year ago was… I guess i’ll have to cheer for Lou’s “2 feet & a heart beat squad in March… 🙁
According to Shanny next year could be far worse. I think you`ll see players like Brennan, leivo. Morin, Soshnikov, Leipsic and a few of the older Marlies get a look see. Anybody the Leafs feel they need to make a decision on before next camp. When the Marlies playoffs starts they`ll return who they feel will help them the most. Toronto will sign college free agents, waivers and get a few warm bodies back in trades to fill the roster out. Don`t think they wanna burn a yr off the kids arbitration rights and Ufa status just for a quick look.
Coyotes gave lots of prospects and have nyr first round pick this year also I’m sure they could make a decent offer for first pick
I agree coyotes10, they have a lot of good forward prospects, and plenty of picks. They need defensive depth though, I can’t see OEL or any defenceman in a package for Mathews.
@Durtmchurtt, question for you. If you were the owner of the Coyotes and you are losing 20-30 mill/yr. Local boy comes along, if he lives up to his press clippings, he could do for Phoenix what Gretzky did for L.A.. Arizona could go from losing 20-30 mill/yr to breaking even or come close to it. Now the GM you pay to run the team says to you, I won`t trade OEL for Matthews. You go on losing 20-30 mill/yr. What would you say to your GM.
Considering Arizona has a lack of defensive talent in the system, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Mathews would be great for jersey sales and yes there would be hype and an overall attendance boost, but that all goes away if they don’t make the playoffs. And they won’t contend with their d-core without OEL. Having a successful team is more important than one player. Being a perennial playoff team will make the owners more money than one player ever would regardless of hype. If Arizona had Nashville, Anahiem or Minnesota’s defensive depth I would absolutely pull the trigger on OEL for Matthews. It’s just not a strength of theirs. They have a glut of forwards, not d. I think this will only be a problem if Edmonton wins the lottery, because most teams would love to get their hands on Strome, Domi, Dvorak etc.
with RNH a cap issue for EDM do they flip Cowen and say Kadri for him?
Cowen is only suitable as a buyout candidate or rental. As I understand it – To qualify his RFA rights after next season a team would have to offer him a 10% raise. His back-loaded contract pays him a whopping $4.5m next year, meaning a $4.95M qualifying offer. Highly unlikely he be worth that kind of money. So you can pretty much guarantee he will be a UFA this summer (bought out) or next (not qualified). This is another way contracts can turn toxic under the current CBA.
funny that i hear you guys say it’s a poor draft….i hear that while there is no generational player, it is a deep draft….i like Puljujarvi over the others and i rate Jost 5th….there appears to be plenty of good kids knocking…not great past the 10th but otherwise decent enough….
tkachuck would be anther player of intrest to Arizona