Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – July 17, 2022
Did the Flyers attempt to move James van Riemsdyk in a cost-cutting trade? Will the Rangers have sufficient cap space to get into the playoff rental market at the 2023 trade deadline? Could Lars Eller become the odd man out in Washington? Find out in the Sunday NHL rumor roundup.
WGR 550: cited Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli discussing the Philadelphia Flyers’ attempt to shed salary last week by shopping James van Riemsdyk. The 33-year-old winger has a year remaining on his contract with an annual cap hit of $7 million.
Philadelphia Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk (NHL Images).
Seravalli believes the Flyers were attempting to make some room to take a run at signing Johnny Gaudreau, who subsequently ended up with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He felt there were five or six teams (including the Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings) asking for a significant piece to be included with van Riemsdyk, such as a first-round pick. In the end, the Flyers decided against it.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: There was talk leading up to the recent NHL draft that the Flyers were trying to move van Riemsdyk. With almost all the top talent now gone from the free agent market, it seems unlikely they’ll be trying to clear the veteran winger to make room for a significant addition this summer.
Keep an eye on van Riemsdyk during the upcoming season. The Flyers could attempt to move him at the trade deadline if they’re out of the playoff chase by then.
NEW YORK POST: Larry Brooks believes the next challenge for Rangers general manager Chris Drury is ensuring he accrues sufficient cap space over the course of 2022-23 to get into the playoff rental market at the 2023 trade deadline.
Anticipating the Rangers’ cap space at just over $2 million when the season opens, Brooks projected they would have around $9 million in accrued cap room at the trade deadline in February. If managed properly, he thinks Drury would have enough for a big-ticket rental such as Chicago Blackhawks’ winger Patrick Kane or Vancouver Canucks center J.T. Miller.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s still a long way between now and the 2023 trade deadline. Something could come up to bite more deeply into the Rangers’ accrued cap space. It will be a challenge for Drury, and every general manager on a potential playoff contender in 2023, to ensure they’ve got enough room to make additions to their rosters by the deadline in the hope of staging a deep playoff run.
WASHINGTON HOCKEY NOW: Sammi Silber reported the Capitals’ addition of Dylan Strome could create a potential logjam at center, particularly if Nicklas Backstrom returns from hip surgery at some point in the coming season.
With the club also looking at giving promising Connor McMichael a larger role, Silber speculated it could make Lars Eller the odd man out. They could try to shift him to left wing but that could also cause congestion there with Alex Ovechkin, Anthony Mantha and Marcus Johansson filling three of those spots.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Eller, 33, is due to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. He carries an affordable $3.5 million cap hit and lacks no-trade protection.
@Lyle
I dont think moving Eller would be very hard with his salary and versatility if comes to that.
Ds
I would agree
Avs could use Eller when they miss on Kadri. (sic)
I agree that Eller would be easy to trade. Good third line center on a reasonable cap hit. I don’t see him shifting to the wing. The Habs tried it once and he didn’t feel comfortable there. If Strome works out and Backstrom is able to come back, Eller will indeed be the odd man out. He’ll either be traded or allowed to walk as a UFA.
Brooks basically using info he saw on twitter about how NY will accumulate cap space by putting waiver exempt guys on AHL roster in between games. Only question mark on team is who will be with Schneider on 3rd pair. I don’t see Drury making same mistake he did last year by signing Nemeth. They’ll go with 2 of Lundkvist/Jones/Robertson. Barring major injuries, their roster is pretty much set. With addition of Trochek, I don’t see Chytil ever cracking top 6. He’s in last year of deal with 2.3m cap hit and Could be trade bait at deadline. Now is time for Kakko, Laf and maybe Kravtsov to step up and add scoring. Plenty of other wing prospects behind them.
@Slick
All depends where the coach plays Laf, Kakko, Chytil….3rd line minutes for any player only has a certain ceiling of points to be had
ds. I’m not in the camp that they’re not getting put in position to succeed.
They’re in unusual position where they’ve been on roster since they were teenagers. I don’t think Chytil ceiling is much higher. He’ll probably end up on wing but not much room with this team. Kakko has kind of been snake bitten. Seems like whenever he seems to be turning corner something happens. Injuries and Covid has slowed his progress. Laf is fine. He’s youngest of this group and I think they’ll play him in top 6. Curious to see how Kravtsov does. Big bot with lots of skill. Make or break camp coming for him.
@slick
I prefer Chytil on the wing…. shooting and less responsibilities
@slick
I prefer Chytil on the wing…. shooting and less responsibilities
Well said Slick62.
I am hoping even with Trocheck in the lineup that Chytil excels and takes another step forward this year.
That’ll be a good thing for the Team and will afford even more options for Drury at the deadline.
Flames should take on JVR with a sweetener- I wonder if they are just scratching out Johnny and changing the names on the Tkachuk proposal . Might as well and if not accepted move him for the best available . Can’t be nothing at the end of the day.
Moving JVR wont be easy. 7 million for a one dimensional player is a lot.
“If” the Flyers fall out of contention. Good line, lol. The Flyers are already out of contention.
No direction, no apparent plan either. Fletcher needs to go and hire someone to clean up his mess.
Petry traded :
Did Dubas know Petry was available?
Old? check
Slow? check
Defensive Liability? check
Soft? check
Did Scooby have his phone on? Or do the dumpsters in Ottawa get poor reception?
Harry Potter missed a perfect opportunity to unload his 2023 1st round pick.
Can you add a key to decipher this garbage.
No key necessary Jeff. It is just the daily bile dump from the guy without a good word anybody, Mr Julliebean.
Actually my friend I posted just yesterday that I thought Harry Potter getting Janrkrok and Aube-Kubel signed were both good moves.
But hey, dont let your opinion get in the way of fact or truth.
Have a fantastic day.
Yesterday:
Ron Jull on July 16, 2022 at 11:30 am
No clue what the Leafs are doing but the Janrok and Aube-Kubel signings are good ones (except the term on Janrok, 4 years is too long).
Both pretty good on the forecheck, defensively responsible and can kill penalties.
Scooby could have done worse.
Seems pretty positive, complimentry and accurate to me.
I don’t get the Harry Potter thing. Harry is a winner.
Hahaha best thing I read all day.
“Missed opportunity to unload 2023 pick”
Lmao !!!
Slow? Defensive liability? If you only watched him last season when the Habs were a dumpster fire and his domestic situation was a mess then I understand your assessment.
But Petry’s a top 4 D in almost any NHL team. He isn’t a Hab anymore, Ron, so goodbye and good luck but he is a good player. And I think players on any team deserve their due. Perhaps you might reflect on the trade for Petry versus McDonaugh, who was effectively given away.
Ron your so intelligent with your Leaf comments, I’m sure you could be a GM some day.
I noticed that, Ron, well done. Do you think Dubas could get Philly back on track? He might be available in the spring.
BCLeafFan,
Maybe a Leafs/Flyers GM trade, lol.
Incompetence for incompetence.
At least Dubious has some front line players. Flyers have JVR, lol.