NHL Rumor Mill – March 16, 2021
Check out the latest on the Predators, Canadiens, Islanders, Blackhawks, Jets and Capitals in today’s NHL rumor mill.
PREDATORS
THE ATHLETIC: Adam Vingan reports Pekka Rinne wants to retire as a Nashville Predator. The 38-year-old goaltender is in the final year of his contract and could be in his final NHL season but the thought of joining a contender as a rental player hasn’t crossed his mind. He indicated as of last week there haven’t been any conversations with management regarding his future. He has a modified no-trade clause in which he submits 10 potential trade destinations before the start of the season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Vingan also noted last month’s report by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicating the Predators prefer Rinne finish his career in Nashville. Even if the veteran goalie wanted to be traded his declining performance probably wouldn’t attract many suitors.
Nashville Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm (NHL Images).
Speaking of Friedman and the Predators, he said yesterday on his “31 Thoughts” they sought a “Muzzin-like package” of two prospects and a first-round pick for Mattias Ekholm. He said the Boston Bruins and Winnipeg Jets were in but received conflicting reports about the Montreal Canadiens’ interest (stick tap to “NHL Watcher”).
Friedman also questioned if the Toronto Maple Leafs would be in the Ekholm bidding as that would give them three lefties on their blueline with Jake Muzzin and Morgan Rielly. He also considered the Philadelphia Flyers as a wild card because of the effect it would have upon their expansion draft protection list.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Bruins, Jets and Canadiens have the cap space to acquire Ekholm. The Leafs can’t do it unless the Preds retain part of Ekholm’s cap hit. Even then, they might have to move out a player to clear sufficient cap space. The Flyers won’t be the only club concerned about how acquiring Ekholm could affect their expansion protection lists.
CANADIENS
THE ATHLETIC: Arpon Basu noted the Canadiens could get some salary-cap relief to pursue a player at the trade deadline by placing sidelined defenseman Ben Chiarot on long-term injury reserve. The problem, however, is uncertainty over how long he’ll be sidelined. He’s listed as out six-to-eight weeks. If it’s the former he’d return before the end of the season, meaning the Habs would have to clear cap space for his return. If it’s the latter, he’d return after the regular season ends on May 8.
TVA SPORTS: Renaud Lavoie suggests Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Gudbranson could be a good trade target for the Canadiens. He wouldn’t have to be quarantined for 14 days and would bring a measure of toughness and shot-blocking to their roster, “and he speaks French very, very well.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A player who speaks French very, very well is the last thing the Canadiens should look at if they’re trying to bolster their roster. Gudbranson is a right-side blueliner skating on the Senators’ third defense pairing. The Habs need help on the left side of their top-four pairings, hence the rumors linking them to Ekholm.
ISLANDERS
THE ATHLETIC: Arthur Staple listed Buffalo’s Taylor Hall, New Jersey’s Kyle Palmieri and Columbus’ Nick Foligno among the pending UFA forwards of his suggested trade targets for the New York Islanders to replace sidelined captain Anders Lee. The Isles recently place Lee on long-term injury reserve, allowing them to exceed the salary cap by the equivalent of his $7 million annual average value.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello will take his time to consider his options before the April 12 trade deadline. It helps that his club is currently the hottest team in the league and jockeying with the Florida Panthers for the lead in the overall standings. He could pursue a rental forward to replace Lee or consider a more affordable option and look at adding a veteran defenseman.
Staple also included some players with term left on their contracts like Nashville’s Filip Forsberg and Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell. However, I think the asking prices for those players will be more expensive than for rental forwards.
BLACKHAWKS
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Ben Pope listed 10 players the Blackhawks could target if they wished to use their LTIR space. They could afford to take on another $21 million in LTIR space for this season and still have quite a bit of space for next season too.
Pope suggested using some of that space to take on another team’s bad contract and get some draft picks and prospects in the deal. His suggested targets include Vancouver’s Loui Eriksson, the Islanders’ Andrew Ladd, Edmonton’s James Neal or Carolina’s Jake Gardiner.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blackhawks are exceeding expectations this season by hanging on for a playoff spot in the Discover Central Division. GM Stan Bowman could have room to take up Pope’s suggestion and have enough to acquire an affordable depth rental player. It’ll be interesting to see what he does with that LTIR space.
JETS
SPORTSNET: Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff isn’t ruling out making another trade this season if the fit and the dollars are right. In January he shipped Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic to Columbus for Pierre-Luc Dubois and a draft pick.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Recent conjecture linked the Jets to Nashville’s Mattias Ekholm, Columbus’ David Savard and Vancouver’s Travis Hamonic. One of them could be coming to Winnipeg in the near future. Hamonic said he’d like to stay with the Canucks but that could depend on where that club sits in the standings by deadline day. He’s slated to become a UFA this summer.
CAPITALS
THE ATHLETIC: Tarik El-Bashir reports the Washington Capitals are doing due diligence in case the opportunity arises between now and the April 12 trade deadline to add a goaltender in a dollar-in, dollar-out trade. They have no projected trade deadline cap space because they’ve already allocated the relief it gained from placing Henrik Lundqvist and Michael Kempny on LTIR.
Hi all
Leafs chances of making playoffs is now the start of every conversation.
Why you ask?
Freddy has a pulled groin.
Will be announced today.
Will miss a lot of time.
Can jack Campbell assume the pressure?
You think losing Freddie is going to affect the Leafs’ chances of making the playoffs??
Gudbranson is exactly the type of player the Habs don’t need. A lumbering D-man who brings no offense. Too much of that already. And I frankly don’t care about how well he speaks French. It’s bad enough they seem to always want a coach who speaks French. Let’s not extend that to the players as well. I’d love for the Habs to roll the dice and pick up Ekholm, as long as the price isn’t ridiculous.
Howard, within certain elements of the media “he speaks French” is about as common a reason for a possible trade/signing as is “he was born in the GTA …”
Right on Howard, Gudbranson is exactly the type of player the Habs don’t want.
Same goes for Mike Reilly, good skating, size that tempts people but he has such a low hockey IQ that he belongs in the AHL.
Ekholm is what the Habs could use, I just don’t see the asking price, and I doubt the Preds would go for what I’d give, Mete or Kulak and a 2nd.
Are those two players even considered nhl players outside of Montreal? For Montreal to land something like him, you’ll need a lot more than that, sorry. It will have to start with something like Suzuki or something like him. Press need scoring, offense and Mete isn’t good enough, in that regard to make it worth it for the Preds.
Ron Moore,
you just love trolling.
which part of I doubt the Preds would go for what I’d give didn’t you understand?
Muzzin like deal is two prospects that haven’t graduated to the NHL yet and a late 1st rounder not Suzuki plus.
Troll somebody else with your multiple accounts.
Forget a D-Man, I want a Ryan Getzlaf.
A big centerman that win draws, play the PK, play PP if required, brings SC winning leadership & can work with the two youngsters on their faceoff skills. Plus it would take a lot of pressure off of Danault.
The Duck have to retain a large amount of salary & probably take some back. The thing the Habs have that the Ducks may be interested in is draft capital. 1 1st, 2 2nds, 3 3rds, 3 4ths & 3 5ths. Any combination of three or four picks could be enticing to the Ducks.
Maybe looks something like Getzlaf a 6th rder this year & next for Evans or Lehkonen & Byron, a 1st, 2 – 3rds, a fourth & a fifth all this seasons draft.
Renaud Lavoie is not a highly respected journalist.
Tends to blab it out as it comes, imo. The comment about Gudbranson”speaking French very, very well” makes us all look like nationalist idiots. And, yes, Weber is slow enough. As Lyle said, what we need is a puck-moving leftie.
Hanfan30
I’d say Ron Moore is closer ti what the Preds wound accent than your offer of spare parts and a lottery ticket.
Here is what the Preds would take from MTL based on what LA got for Muzzin
1st round pick
Ryan Poehling
Cale Fleury.
Ekholm is a top 4 defenceman thats 6’4 215lbs. Can play the PP, PK, and 20+ minutes a night.
Daryl,
I made it clear that I doubt the Preds would accept what I was willing to pay.
On the other hand the Preds will protect, Josi, Ellis and Fabbro with a good chance they’ll lose him in the expansion draft.
Muzzin like is two prospects who are still in the AHL 2 years later and a late 1st rounder.
The comparable would be Jacob Olofsson, Joni Ikonen and late 1st rounder. Fleury and Poehling have all ready played more NHL games than Sean Durzl and Carl Grundstrom.
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS
Matthews
Marner
Nylander
Tavares
-42 Million locked up in 4 players
How do you fill out the rest of the roster – 16 players-at 40 million remaining
Tavares is dead wood , pie in the sky at 11 million per year ..
He will have to eventually be Bought out …He is not the player he once was -Aged dramatically
Nylander is very traceable
Take a Look at any other team in the NHL and do the same thing I did, with their 4 highest players
U will recognize -WOW – It’s not even close
Boston’s for example – 26 million tied up with their top 4 players !
56 mil – remaining to fill out their roster
There is no way in “H” Leafs can compete with this present setup , let alone WEAK goaltending !!!
Edmonton has 25 mil tied up with 2 players , but both Elite hockey players , not a Boat anchor on the back end , in Tavares
And how are Boston and the oilers doing??
Ken
We get it. You’re not a Leafs fan. Matthews and Marner are elite. Any team in the league would take them.
Compare the BOS players you mentioned if they signed their contracts at the same time as the Leafs players. It’s not a fair comparison considering all the BOS players you mention signed a few years before the Leafs players and the cap was lower.
Tavares was signed as a UFA. You always pay more for UFA. Plenty of teams were willing to pay more. Was it a good idea? Probably not.
Look at how well the Oilers two elite players are doing? They’ve been rebuilding much longer than TOR.
dead wood, anchor? I believe you have your definitions confused. Ericsson @ $6
Skinner @ $9
Hall @ $8
Johansen $8
Praise $7.5
Players not contributing or in the lineup are what would be classified as an anchor.
Overpaid by a couple million is a different subject. In that case probably half the league is over paid by a couple million.
Can’t argue with that logic. So true.
Against one of the Hasn’t anchor contracts (Price, Weber), I’d take Tavares, anytime.
Ken, Boston hasn’t been that team for awhile. as of recent yes Trent Frederic will fight anyone and it’s one of the reasons they claimed Tinordi off waivers.
Personally i like Toronto and Montreal team. I kind of put Freddie Anderson in the same sentence as Tuukka Rask; which is can he win the Big one?
Toronto defense with Reilly and Muzzin and i’ve previously said i like Holl, he was the best dman against Boston the last time they meet.
Matthews game in my opinion is alot closer to McDavid then some in the media are willing to admit. He has added the element of physical play that he didn’t have before. NO he doesn’t have McDavid speed or creativity but he doesn’t need to because he has something McDavid doesn’t have and that a shot.
Montreal is built for playoff success, there defense is good!
Who Knew! Jeff Petry 11g 25pts +15 he leads all dman with 11 goals and second in +/- only to teammate Joel Edmundson with +26
If Montreal can get a little more offense they will be tough to beat.
Ken this argument you’re making is older than you. Yes there’s a lot tied up for those players, players producing at or close to a point per game? The fact that there are a ton of other over paid players, players that are not even scoring 60pts getting more or the same as Nylander.
As a fan of my team, I think I know more about its weaknesses and strengths as well as how the stack up to others. So to hear nonfans talk about what my team should do only sounds like what they shouldn’t do. Trading from their forwards will only leave them less deep there, you guys are big on fill up that hole even if we create another one.
As far as I’m concerned, anyone who not Muzzin, Brodie or any of the top 4 forwards that are not good (so we’ll keep ‘em) is available, the only thing I would be wary of trading away is any potential cost controlled assets that you could plug in to your line up with minimal loss in team production. This is a year where teams that are close to being legit contenders not pretenders like say, the Habs, should make a decent push to get them over the top.
Not to sound like Pengy, but I’ll be ecstatic if the made a trade that involved Rielly and kerfoot. That over $8M of players you can bring back while losing some redundancy.
Mike Reilly back to the Habs from Ottawa to fill in for Chiarot. Affordable puck mover and Montreal is familiar with his game. I have a suspicion Gudbranson will re-sign with Ottawa.
fergy: Reilly was a # 7 D in Montreal before they improved their D. He is no better than Ouellet, and at a par with Mete.
As for the Habs reaching out for Ekholm, forget it. Bergevin has said repeatedly he would not sacrifice the team’s future for an immediate fix.
The Habs can’t afford to give up an every day roster player than another team would want, and I don’t see Nashville settling for “futures.” Would that be Caufield? Would it be Guhle? No thanks.
Absent another injury to a top 4 D, the Habs will stand pat. I will be surprised if we don’t see Cale Fleury soon.
LJ, agreed on Reilly. As far as MB not willing to sacrifice future assets, not so sure about that. The cupboards are full, as you guys say.He just held a press conference in which he insisted on the lack of space cap, IF Chiarot comes back before the end of the season.
Ekholm has a season left after this one, he’s more than a rental. I could picture Bergevin going for it, if he could add a, say, Byron , to the deal.
To Mtl : Ekholm
To Preds: a 1st, Byron, Struble, Fairbrother.
Don’t know Preds’ cap situation, though. Just daydreaming.
Jets need a serious upgrade over Morrissey. Too many holes in his game. Eckholm would be a nice add, bring some grit and also capable offensively. Would hate to part with a 1st, maybe a 2nd and Vesalainen.
Islanders caught a huge break when Tavares picked the Loaves … Dubas should be calling Bob Murray about John Gibson but you gotta give to get … a package of Gibson and Josh Manson would go a long way and make the Loaves not so top heavy … I would think that Toronto would be all-in as they say …
Manson’s already missed a lot of time this year with an oblique injury and currently he’s shown as “out indefinitely …”
George What’s your assessment of the Sens season? You see them more than I do and I trust your opinion.
I thought that they would take a step this year.
Perhaps the second half will be better.
PS Call me Bill
Hey Bill – as I said a week or so back, my expectations were to see them basically show improvement – which they clearly did not do for the first 10-15 games.
In retrospect, what I failed to consider were the effects of a) not having played a meaningful game in almost a year b) having a shortened training camp with no exhibition games, and c) the unwise decision to incorporate some questionable veterans like Coburn, Paquette, Galchenyuk and Josh Brown in a roster that was experiencing an almost 50% turnover and expect team cohesion. Add in Murray ‘s inconsistency in net and the bottom line is, it can’t be done.
However, since they jettisoned some of the foregoing, had Stepan go down to injury and shunted a couple of others to the sidelines – and began playing their best young prospects – including Daccord in net – they are showing signs of developing. The progress of Batherson, Norris, Zub, Paul and a couple of others has been encouraging in recent weeks and I’m hoping they can find a way to give both Formenton and Logan Brown some decent minutes before the season ends.
Came across this & why would the Bruins do it…..Bruins are giving Bjork & a 2nd for 33 year old B Ryan for 3 months (UFA)
Guess they got to print something to keep busy
RED WINGS GET
LW – ANDERS BJORK
LD – JARRED TINORDI
2021 SECOND ROUND PICK
BRUINS GET
RW- BOBBY RYAN
LD – MARC STAAL
Staal to Habs
ds: I recall chatter that Staal did not want to go to the Habs before he signed with Minnesota. He is rumoured to have said he wants to go to a contender and I doubt he sees the Habs as any more attractive now.
Joe if Stall waive his NMC i make that trade.
Bobby Ryan is a goal score also has size. His 6 goals would but him 5th in Boston.
Which, as far as Detroit is concerned, means we get a 2nd and two throwaways for Ryan/Staal. Neither Tinordi or Bjork would be protected in the expansion draft. Detroit has 4 forwards younger than Bjork with more points than him in less games. He is of little to no value.
Hey Daryl
The problem is , I am FROM Ontario, stuck with watching ‘crap” hockey. but Boston , I really like !
Boston COMPETE’S … there is NO way, a player can take a ‘cheap’ shot at 1 of their players, take the Washington – Bruins game , recently where Wilson did his thing and took out Brandon Carlo…
Boston will not tolerate this nonsense, they never have,,,,
Anyways, like most teams in the league, Carolina – whomever – top 4 players are in the 20 something million dollar range, fairly recent signings and performing well !!
LEAFS have been in the “doldrums” for “54” years !
EXCEPT, for the Wendell Clarke, Gilmour era, Boston Bruin like players…
The fish rots from the head down, poorly managed !
Even the ownership, Harold Ballard , Steve Stavros era was a JOKE !
Leafs could of had Gretzgy for a hometown discount and Stavros said, “he couldn”t afford it!!!
Ken, I agree with you in that TO lacks physicality. They don’t have answer to physical element of the game. The opposing teams take liberty on Toronto’s star players, and not one plyaer provide any push back or stand up to the abuse Mathews Marner Tavares every single night. Every single team that plays against TO, their strategy is to finish checks and basically to injure them. TO players, they all peel off when they have an opportunity to throw their body at the opposing player. At some point, you have to grow some balls and throw that hit. Can’t always be at receiving end, you’ve got to become an aggressor. Become the PREDATOR. Don’t ease off, finish the check, like in MORTAL COMBAT game…finish em. Dubas has no excuse this time around, you have to bring in size and aggression into the lineup, no more BALLERINAS skating up and down the ice doing triple axis and lutz. We need WARRIORS who can change the flow of the game with a hit or a fight, guys who can bail out a team during an in game FUNK. If anyone takes a liberty of Mathews or Marner, somebody has to come out the next shift and make a STATEMENT. I can’t tolerate bottom six skating up and down as if they are debuting for speed skating. For God sake, stop chasing the pucks unless you know what to do with it. Instead, throw the puck at the opposing team and use your speed to mount some momentum to throw a decent body checks, because that is what every other team is doing against the leafs, because they know the leafs are bunch a panzies, other than Mathews and Marner.
The Bruins are owned by likely the biggest cheapskate in the NHL…Jeremy Jacobs.
The Leafs had a decent team in the late 70’s and early 80’s and were dismantled by Ballard. McDonald, Sittler, Turnball, Salming, Vaive…
The Leafs started to turn it around in the early 90’s after they got Gilmour. Final four two years in a row.
In the Pat Quinn era they also went to the conference finals in back to back years.
Are you boasting about the recent history between the Leafs/Bruins where a veteran Bruins team took 7 games to beat a very young Leafs team…twice?
Remember your franchise decenceman that went to COL to get his Cup?
The North division will be interesting to watch. We are less then 4 weeks away from the TDL.
If you look at the North division standings this morning, Second place Winnipeg has 36pts and and 6th place Vancouver has 30pts.
Both Winnipeg and Montreal has games in hand both playing the fewest at 38 games.
The only team out of the race is Ottawa; does Ottawa have things that other Canadian teams want?
When April 12th rolls around and the Canadian Division still looks somewhat the same and the Provincial Government guidelines for quarantine are still enforced. Then what?
14 days could mean up to 7 games, you really don’t want to ship out a roster player while the new guy misses 7 games when your battling for a playoff spot.
Does this mean Canadian teams dealing outside their division will only deal prospects and picks?
Or a change of scenery player like Jake Virtanen?
Maybe over the next 4 weeks another Canadian teams falls out of the race.
Interesting to see how it unfolds.
Caper, not only will they miss games coming into Canada, they sit in a hotel room doing jumping jacks for 2 weeks.
Not ideal to then jump into an intense playoff race with a new team. How effective will he be? Especially older players.
Hello Ottawa.
I am a Leafs fan and proud to say it. However, I am honest about the reality we are in.
Having all this money tied up in 4 players is a thing. However, can easily figure out a solution.
Many would agree Marner and Matthews are the two most important.
No one will take Tavares unless Leafs retain and no one wants to admit he was signed because he wore PJ and Ontario boy coming home. He was overworked in New York and tired early in his career and was clearly not worth 11 million.
Nylander is semi-elite and would be able to nab Forsberg and Ekholm with a 1st and maybe a prospect.
Andersen is to finish this year here and Campbell if not injured could carry this team and be the number 1 next year. If not you need two decent 1A and 1B and not invest so much into Goaltending and use money elsewhere.
Hyman needs to be resigned and Andersen money will pay for that.
The Leafs needs to move on from Nylander for the sake of getting some much needed parts to compete.
I think most fans of NHL hate the Leafs and I understand why. However, we can agree there are other annoying franchises in trouble as well – Montreal, Vancouver, etc
But, what sets Leafs fans in a new category is when people come on here and make silly statements like Marincin for Doughty, etc
Go Leafs Go!
On the Nylander I am sayinig – Nylander, 1st and prospect for Ekholm and Forsberg.
The way I typed it looks bad lol!
Forsberg (26) @ $6M for 2yrs plus Ekholm (30) @ $3.75M for 2yrs. Nylander (24) @ $6.96M for 4yrs (all contracts include this season).
Leafs have less than $150K in space, so they would need to include about $2.8M more. Is that going to be Kerfoot? Because he doesn’t move the needle (30gms / 4g & 9a w/ 10pim), although he seems to be the package every Leafs trade centers around.
Nylander is a drop-off from Forsberg, and is signed for much longer. So the trade off the bat is skewed.
It would have to be:
Forsberg & Ekholm for Nylander, Hyman, TOP prospect and at least a 1st round pick. And that is dubious, that TOP prospect would have to be a sure hit. Oh, and another contract as Toronto would still be over the salary cap.
bigphat – your right the cap needs work – but you can always work the cap as Dubas has done well on that.
At least I am not suggesting Marincin and Kerfoot for Forsberg and Ekholm lol!
Bottom Line, about Campbell – love the guy, he seems to be a great team-mate – but he does get injured and he has not yet proven he is an NHL starter.
Assuming Andersen leaves, a tandem sounds good but there could be a lot teams looking for upgrades in net.
Maybe Joseph Woll will develop into an NHL goalie this year and give the Leafs a home-grown guy for the future.
I think Caper’s nailed it – the North division could see a dogfight down the stretch which will help all the top teams get ready for playoff hockey. This division is better than some people think.
Nylander is a marshmellow just like his dad.
Soft, Charmin soft.
Mmmm s’mores! Nice thought provoking comment. You’re hockey IQ is off the charts!!!
The bruins look like a team that’s beaten before the first period begins.it might be too late to make a trade. This could be Sweeney’s swan song. They are gonna finally have to stop blaming the players and start looking at the top. if they can get a good second liner that can make all the difference in the world. Take the pressure off the first Line. As of the moment I can easily see the bruins resting near Buffalo at the end of the month. Watching the bruins play is the kind of like watching a full season Big Bang Theory in one sitting PAINFUL!!
It would feel like Christmas if Jeremy Jacobs finally….finally fires Sweeney & Neely
toss in Cassidy while you are at it- players have tuned him out
YESGUY – Hall is on a 1 year contract, Skinner was a bad signing at 9 million, but not 11 million..
I think some ofm your mentioned players are on LTIR- Leafs can rescue these contracts, as they have DEEP pockets, and relieve the other teams of their grief….
What do you really think Tavares would pull, in the open market, 3 Mil ,- tops- who in their right mind is going to even sign him, for that kind of money…
I would much rather , have Simmons. at 1,5 million, a player that shows up for work, and doesn’t show up. in his pyjama’s..
8 million dollars in lost cap space , with TAVARES, U can sign 2 Ekholms for that, with room to spare……
I just checked , LEAFS are on the hook, for 4 MORE YEARS, with Tavares, ALBATROSS contract!
YIKES, Batman !!!!!!!
Bottom Line
Wishful thinking!
UR not going to Ekholm and Forsberg for Nylander and a FIRST, notta chance…..
I am not being opinionated, but just stating FACT
Sandin,or Lilijren, a second, another prospect at least !!!!
No Ken that is not fact, fact is something proven and can be confirmed as such….what you stated is far from fact, except in your head. You stated what we all do here is state opinions…most are very poor and thought of as facts.
See below:
Fact, he’s better than most if not everyone on your team. See easy.
Ken – seriously here and not “trolling” – what makes you think Liljegren is going to entice anyone? In recent years we heard the same sort of proposals always involving Bracco – as if he was some kind of hidden jewel. Now he’s somewhere in Europe.
If Liljegren – who’s been a pro for 4 years now – had any attributes the Leafs find admirable, you’d think he’d have more than 11 games in the NHL.
Sandin, at least, has seen 29 NHL games – but again, neither he nor Liljegren are going to get you Ekholm AND Forsberg even in a package with Nylander and what would be a very low 1st round pick. Not a chance.
George, you’re right except Liljegren will be an NHL player, likely next year. Bracco was always on the bubble but Liljegren has developed and from all Marlies reports is their best defence man now. He’s also 21 years old.
With the Leafs?
Yes, George, with the Leafs. I’ll predict now that Sandin and Liljegren will be on the Leafs roster next year. Dermott is the guy who will likely be somewhere else.
Robertson will make the Leafs next year as well. The team will be a lot younger and, I think, better.
Two rookies on the top 6 D – that could prove interesting BCLeafFan, as Ottawa has already discovered to their dismay. And I say “Top 6” because there is little to no point in trying to get a young rookie D developed by giving him # 7 minutes. Even the 5/6 role is questionable in that regard.
Ken and bigphatbastard
Keep a couple things in mind here when comparing Nylander to Forsberg.
They score points at nearly the same rate. Nylander is younger and cost controlled for 4 more seasons. That has value. Most of Nylander’s contract has already been paid in real cash, not just cap hit. That has value. Forsberg will likely want a raise on his next deal. NSH won’t have to deal with that because Nylander is signed for two more years after Forsberg’s contract is up.
To suggest that the Leafs would need to put together a package of Nylander, Hyman, a 1st and a can’t miss prospect it absurd and you know it.
It’s one thing to dislike the Leafs but try to be realistic in your assessments/trade proposals using facts.
Is the Leafs roster perfect? No. Can it be improved? Absolutely. Nylander is their most tradeable asset…Reilly is next.
PLUS Nylander and a first
Ken – seriously here and not “trolling” – what makes you think Liljegren is going to entice anyone? In recent years we heard the same sort of proposals always involving Bracco – as if he was some kind of hidden jewel. Now he’s somewhere in Europe.
If Liljegren – who’s been a pro for 4 years now – had any attributes the Leafs find admirable, you’d think he’d have more than 11 games in the NHL.
Sandin, at least, has seen 29 NHL games – but again, neither he nor Liljegren are going to get you Ekholm AND Forsberg even in a package with Nylander and what would be a very low 1st round pick. Not a chance.
George,
take Nylander and Forsberg out of the equation but a Muzzin like trade means an equivalent to Sean Durzl, Carl Grundstrom and a mid/low 1st rounder (#22).
Liljegren, Sandin and a first, would be an overpay as compared to the Muzzin trade.
Sweeney/Neely.. there’s a trading period in the NHL but it doesn’t mean you have to wait until the last day of it to make a move or two … catch the free fall
Here’s A DEAL…
Drew Doughty makes 11 mil /year,,,, 3 years left, I believe…
Rob Blake , is on a rebuild mode …..
Leafs can alleviate the Kings pain and suffering, Tavares goes to L.A. plus a MAJOR sweetener or ‘2″,,,,
Drew Doughty would “Flourish” in Toronto, Tavares is a “Sunken” ship….
Now, that I think of it, Tavares probably has a NO trade clause in his contract, therefore I am NOT sure , how U fix this ACCIDENT REPAIR, other than BUY Tavares out !
Boy Wonder should be accountable for this “blunder”
By the way , Marner and Mathews could of been signed a year earlier, as per Mark Hunter, and I recall Marner asking for 8 Million per year, back than , not sure what Matthews was,,,
Marner’s Dad got involved, which was poor taste, Marner had a break out year, and sent everything through the roof!
Dubais has openly admitted to making mistakes !!!!
The mistakes are irreparable !!!
AlSO, Adam Keefe is not Rod Brind’Amour, or Joel Quenneville, as proof how their teams are performing…
Blake says no Fn way. Doughty is a legit Norris contender who helps mentor and protect the rookies coming up. That’s money well spent in my eyes.
Kings dont need Tavares who would be a 2c still in LA making more money than Kopitar, their 1 C.
Ken…are you using a rolled up bill or just doing bumps?
FD
U don’t like my trade proposal…
U figure out a way to get rid of Tavares insane contract, worst EVER…
Ken, I am not a Leaf fan but anybody who has ever done anything in this world makes mistakes. The only people that don’t make mistakes never do anything.
True that Spark
No way the kings make that move lol even video game trade wouldn’t make that move lol JT isn’t close to being worth the contract TML’s signed him too. Keep dreaming
George 0
I commented on an above proposal from ,,, Bottom Line , please cursor back…,.
I just tweaked the deal….
Re-adjust however U like…
Again, though , Sandin and Lilijren, 2 first round blunders !!!!!
Leafs have a Management and scouting concern….
Ken
How are Liljgren and Sandin 1st round blunders?
They’re trying to make a 1st place team. Liljgren is still only 21 and Sandin 20.
For comparison look at the last place team in the North division. Their “promising young D” is Chabot (24), ZUB (25) , and Wolanin (25) .
Defencemen take longer to develop.
Ron Moore – above
Review my comment ,,, U totally misunderstood..
If I had to pick a target for Montreal, it would certainly NOT be Gudbranson, for reasons stated.
Neither Ekholm – “two prospects and a 1st Round pick”? – see ya
Vatanen, maybe.
I would target Brandon Montour.
UFA
Plays both sides
Really good skater
Acceptable size
Has an O touch, although not seen since he hit Buffalo.
But I wonder if he speaks French?
rich
rr,
My target for the Habs would be Luke Glendening.
$1,8 UFA at the end of the season, 31y/o and a face off beast. He fills a need and could mentor the kids.
Probably get him for a 3rd round pick
Boston wants scoring what about
Duchene? Can never be “the man” but a LW with Krejci would do wonders for him and really create a 2nd line option
to NSH: Moore, Kase, DeBrusk
to BOS: Duchene
IHC You’re one of few guys on here that ever makes sense everybody else whines like a little boy child. “What does Sweeney have to offer?”They all whimper , you yesterday and today’ offered a view of what’s avail. Here’s other bargaining chips Beecher, Frederick getting tired TF’s act Providence is one of the hottest teams in the league there’s some measure of talent down there and even though I wouldn’t want to let him go you could get a lot for Matt or Halak. Swayman’s the goalie of the future. He’s been brilliant and without question should be starting tonight not Vlad the human sieve. Double digits against the bruins tonight .
Rick, in case you have noticed, you whine more than any Bruins fan on here. Sweeney sucks, Neely sucks, every other Bruin sucks. Bruin posters suck. Wah wah wah.
Duchene never wins anything and his over blown contract lasts forever. An oh yeah, he’s a whiner.
Pass.
Bruins have been good for more than a decade with a few bumps in the road, window is closing or has already closed (which is what I think). Keep the young guys, save your cap space. If they all of a sudden turn it around and get hot, then give Bergy, Marchand etc another go at it and chase someone at the TDL. Waste of an asset IMO, but I would be more than happy to be proven wrong.
Swayman should stay in Providence until he play more than half a dozen games don’t ya think?
Vlader deserves the start and I’m rooting for him.
Well said Ray!!
I smell a 7-6 Pens/Bruins game tonight ….. DFS stack this game multiple lineups
Joe
I’m good with 7-6 if it’s Pens winning in reg 👍
I like to wine with my cheese & crackers