Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – September 19, 2021
Check out the latest on the Flames, Oilers and Senators in the Sunday NHL rumor roundup
SPORTSNET: Eric Francis recently reported Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving scoured the trade market this summer but couldn’t find many options to shake up his roster core. Treliving pointed out the difficulty in finding a trade partner to make a deal that made sense.
Calgary Flames winger Johnny Gaudreau (NHL Images).
Francis noted few Flames drew much interest in the offseason trade market. Johnny Gaudreau’s struggles over the past two seasons hurt his trade value, as did the hip injury that affected Sean Monahan’s performance last season. Several other Flames, including Matthew Tkachuk, also played poorly.
Outside of signing Blake Coleman, it was difficult for the Flames to attract notable free agents. Francis cited “the dated arena, winter weather, high taxes, the team’s lack of playoff success, the scrutiny in a Canadian market and a coach (Darryl Sutter) who scares some players off.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Treliving drew considerable criticism for what was perceived as his lack of effort to make significant changes. He didn’t make any excuses but it’s apparent some of those issues raised by Francis hampered Treliving’s offseason plans. It’s worth pointing out, however, the Flames had little difficulty landing Jacob Markstrom, who was last summer’s top free-agent goaltender.
Gaudreau is slated to become an unrestricted free agent next July and could become a trade candidate if he and the Flames fail to reach an agreement on a contract extension. A bounce-back campaign could draw interest from other clubs at the March trade deadline.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: David Staples points out the Oilers will have difficulty re-signing Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi next summer if both play well this season. The club will have limited salary-cap space for the foreseeable future with the flat cap and the big contracts of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Darnell Nurse, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman.
It’s hard to imagine the Oilers having enough cap space to re-sign Yamamoto and Puljujarvi. They could try to move out Zack Kassian and his $3.2 million cap hit but maybe they can’t. Staples expects they’ll have to choose one or the other.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Oilers have over $74.5 million invested in 16 players for 2022-23 according to Cap Friendly. They’ll need to find a suitable goaltender to share the duties with Mike Smith as Mikko Koskinen and Alex Stalock probably won’t be re-signed.
Moving Kassian in a cost-cutting deal isn’t impossible but it won’t be easy. Holland might have to include a sweetener (draft pick or prospect) to get someone to take the full value of his remaining contract. That will also depend upon his performance this season.
They will also likely put Oscar Klefbom ($4.167 million) on long-term injury reserve if he’s unable to return from the shoulder surgery sidelining him for the coming season. They could also attempt to move him to a team seeking an LTIR player for cap relief. Still, that might not be enough to keep Yamamoto and Puljujarvi.
OTTAWA SUN: Bruce Garrioch reports Senators center Logan Brown asked to be traded and changed agents in hopes of getting a deal. However, the club has insisted it’s not going to just give him away. With no value in the trade market, Brown signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Senators. He could get picked up by another club off waivers.
If he’s not dealt some time during training camp In that event most likely as part of a package deal), and unless he stands out in camp and lands a spot, Logan Brown will almost assuredly be plucked off waivers by someone,
I gather the order of waiver claims in that period will be based on last season’s overall standings (?) … so in that regard the first 5 in order would be Buffalo, Anaheim, NJ, Columbus and Detroit. I doubt he gets past Buffalo, given their situation.
Doubt he drops that far but with pens starting centers out early could see them picking up even if it’s a temp situation
He won’t get that far for sure.
We should trade for him instead of dreaming about a miracle, because he won’t make it that far with his size and potential and cap hit.
He shouldn’t be too pricey to get, maybe a 2nd rounder in 2023?
Logan Brown has a 2 way contract, 100K in the minors, which is where he will probably go after being waived.
He isn’t worth being claimed as he’d need to be kept on the roster till the end of the season at $750,000.
Once he’s demoted, clubs might be interested.
We’ll see
I don’t know. Both Buffalo and the Jackets are hurting down the middle & have plenty of cap space. Either one might be okay with spending a measley $750k to see if Brown can help. If not, they simply need not extend a qualifying offer and let him walk.
My thinking exactly. Since habfan30 didn’t take me up on my bet yesterday, I’ll make a similar wager here: if he’s placed on waivers he’ll be plucked off the list almost immediately.
Loser refrains from posting for 1 month.
Paul Bowles,
It’s possible but this guy can’t get a job on the Senators and they were unable to dump him.
Picking him up after being demoted means he could be sent back down instead of using up a roster spot if/when he doesn’t work out.
It gives much more flexibility.
Of course, Sportsnet has to come up with the old bugaboo of weather and taxes as an excuse. Neither of those factors played any role in the Flames failure to shake up their roster.
Firstly, don’t overlook that they picked up a pretty good forward in Coleman, who can contribute 20-25 goals per season. Secondly, taxes are higher in Quebec than in Alberta and Montreal weather is hardly tropical during the winter. And yet, that didn’t stop the Habs from adding a couple of solid free agents.
The real reason why the Flames weren’t able to pick up any further impact players was due to their cap. They couldn’t do so without moving either Monahan or Gaudreau. The way they played last year, it doesn’t seem like there’s any team who would give up much to pick up their contracts. And the Flames weren’t going to just give them away.
Yes Howard, losing all those games to Ottawa cost the Flames a playoff berth. They did beat the Habs a bunch and finished the season with 2 more wins than Montreal, but ultimately the Canadiens had more loser points. Montreal proved that you do just have to get in to go on a run.
Eric Francis is a hack. Johnny Gaudreau lead the team with 49 pts in 56 games which projects to be 71 pts in a full 82 games, and Monahan played most of the season with an injured hip. If he hadn’t tried to play through it and went on injured reserve like a lot of others his “decline” would less of an issue. I doubt Francis would notice.
stop making excuses for Treveling. if a good GM knows they need to shake up their team, they do so through trades and free agents.
BT overvalued and over played his hand in the trade market, and other than losing his long time captain to Seattle, and signing Coleman, it’s basically the same team that has underarcheived that last couple of seasons. Next, he’ll watch Gaudreau and Monahan bolt
You can’t blame the no-changes on the arena, city, Canada, or these other outside factors
Flames really need a management shakeup
The Flames added size /toughness with Gudbranson and Zadorov. I believe that is a Sutter request. Throw in Lucic and Ritchie and even Coleman to a degree…. I see where this is going. This fall don’t forget to turn your watch back …20 years!
I predict Flames will lead the NHL in majors
There is no taxi squad this year and there are a lot of decent players who will be waived on account of Cap or an abundance of riches.
I think there might be some gems.
As I mentioned earlier a player claimed on waivers has to remain on the teams roster for the year which is why you frequently see trades after demotion.
Logan Brown won’t be waived for cap reasons or on account of abundance of riches hence there will be much more attractive players to claim.
Once he’s in the minors, he’ll have some trade value for somebody.
Hi HF, it was indicated that Logan Brown took less than his qualifying offer by accepting the league minimum so that it would be easier for and more attractive to a team to claim him on waivers
Sparky,
You think?
His QA was around $860,000 which he could have signed, be waived and earn $860,000 in the AHL.
$750,000 isn’t all that more attractive for a player who won’t crack the roster, and will be available for $100,000 after clearing.
We’ll see
Speaking abundance of riches. Sens remain four mill below the cap floor…and continue to dick around some kid that embodies what Sens fans have been craving for a decade or more. Quibbling over bonus structure. Hell just charge me 14$ for my beer this year instead of 12$, remove that last Timmy’s from the concession so I have to buy your in-house crap and pay for his bonuses that way.
Cheap-not-Cheap
Smart spending.
Well, for a start Eric Francis knows next to nothing about hockey. Interest in Johnny is no different than Eichel. Treliving needs to go. If the Oilers can sign Hyman then others could come to Alberta as well.