NHL Rumor Mill – October 14, 2022
Will the Oilers pursue a trade for Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun? What’s the latest on Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin and Leafs winger Wayne Simmonds? Find out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
COULD THE OILERS PURSUE CHYCHRUN AT THE TRADE DEADLINE?
THE ATHLETIC: In his recent bold predictions for 2022-23 for the Edmonton Oilers, Daniel Nugent-Bowman believes they’ll make a splash at the March 3 trade deadline. He claims they have had varying degrees of interest in Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane and Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun.
Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun (NHL Images).
Given their salary cap constraints, Nugent-Bowman believes the Oilers will need to give up a salaried player such as Jesse Puljujarvi or Warren Foegele to make the dollars work. Nevertheless, he felt this is the season where they should bring in a player of the caliber of Kane or Chychrun.
In a recent mailbag segment, Nugent-Bowman was asked what the Oilers might have to give up to acquire Chychrun. He doesn’t see the Coyotes retaining part of the blueliner’s contract given he’s signed through 2024-25 with an affordable $4.6 million annual cap hit. He also doubts they’d have much interest in Puljujarvi.
The return would have to include defenseman Philip Broberg but that would be almost a non-starter for the Oilers. Nugent-Bowman also has concerns about Chychrun’s injury history. However, he feels comfortable in parting with Broberg in order to acquire the Coyotes rearguard provided he has no chronic ailments.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Chychrun’s been a fixture in the rumor mill since last season and will likely remain so well into this season. His injury history, however, is a cause for concern that is holding up a possible trade. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently observed, teams are reluctant to meet the Coyotes’ high asking price in part because of Chychrun’s previous injuries.
GOPHNX.com’s Craig Morgan recently rattled off Chychrun’s list of ailments. In his six-year NHL career, he’s had surgery on both knees, shoulder ligament surgery, ankle surgery to remove a bone spur, two wrist surgeries and at least one concussion. Morgan believes that’s why interested general managers will want to see him play this season before committing to a trade.
UPDATES ON DROUIN AND SIMMONDS
TSN: Darren Dreger provides an update on Jonathan Drouin, who was scratched from the Montreal Canadiens’ season-opening lineup. He’s been dealing with some issues, including a bad flu that held him back during training camp.
Drouin is expected to return to the lineup any day now. Dreger said the winger has had open communication with head coach Martin St. Louis, who assured him there is a fit for him in the lineup.
Dreger added the hope is Drouin can play his way into a meaningful role this season and perhaps improve his trade value before the March 3 deadline.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Drouin is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in July. His cap hit for this season is $5.5 million and he carries a three-team no-trade list. The Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan recently speculated Drouin is likely to be shopped at some point this season.
Chris Johnston reports Toronto Maple Leafs winger Wayne Simmonds remains in limbo after clearing waivers on Monday. He still wants to play and would prefer to stay with the Leafs. However, something would have to change within the roster such as injuries or something in the salary-cap picture for him to rejoin their lineup.
Simmonds is being patient and is skating with the Leafs’ injured players. He’s open to being traded, preferably to a contender.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Simmonds could be waiting for a while. The Leafs let it be known last weekend that he’s available to be traded. They aren’t concerned with the return but want to do what’s best for him. Despite an affordable $900K cap hit this season, there haven’t been any takers thus far.
LOL. “GOPHNX.com’s Craig Morgan recently rattled off Chychrun’s list of ailments. In his six-year NHL career, he’s had surgery on both knees, shoulder ligament surgery, ankle surgery to remove a bone spur, two wrist surgeries and at least one concussion.”
And some will argue that this does not render him as “injury prone.” Give me a freaking break.
Wow, I didn’t realize Chychruns injury history was that bad. If I was a GM I wouldn’t touch him with a 10 ft pen.
Yeah George O I guess I didn’t realize his extensive injury history? I don’t follow Coyotes that close! But what I have seen of him, he’s really good. I understand I guess why some teams are reluctant. I wouldn’t mind him on the Avalanche, never can have enough of those tough defenseman IMHO but as you and Lyle point out a lit of question marks? GO AVS!!!!!
George, up to his usual self. All high and mighty with his opinion obviously the correct one.
Look when one is injury prone the injury tends to be repetitive. There is nothing in Chychrun’s case of listed ailments that clear show that if he continues to play he will continue to receive an injury at a greater rate than other players.
A bone spur may not even be the result of an injury and that could very well been removed to prevent future injuries and allow the joint to retain full motion. Preventative.
The rational for the other surgeries would need to be evaluated as well.
All these seem cirucmstantial and nothing tells me he will suffer the same in the future.
but oh yeah. He’s been hurt alot. there fore he will be hurt alot. got yah. sound reasoning.
Stick it your sanctimonious ear Jeff. Clearly I am not the only one who feels the way I do – read the effing posts, including Lyle’s comments! You got a bug up your arse about me? Fine. Could not possibly care less. But show me where “injury prone” is defined as the same injury repeated. Just one link.
Talk about high and mighty.
Here – read this:
https://blog.geneplanet.com/being-injury-prone-what-does-it-mean-and-what-can-you-do-about-it#What-does-it-mean
George is fine you want a couple careful not to trip over their own egos try the Bobbsy twins Paul & B. Separated at birth Case closed.
I don’t understand the reluctance to see a clear pattern by some.
Chychrun isn’t the 1st player to be plagued by injury. His history is pretty clear, and not a small sample size.
Some players just can’t stay healthy (overall) during their careers.
Lemieux
Lindros
Neely
Bure
Stamkos
The entire Pittsburgh penguin roster.
The list goes on and on. What will it take for some to see the obvious? 15 year career of missing 25% of games? 6 years isn’t enough?
can you stop being mutty, Jeffrey?
I seriously think Chychrun to Edmonton would be a mistake. The injury history is just not worth the risk. Especially with what the Yotes want in return.
They need a good tough shutdown D more than Chychrun.
Artsy19 – have to agree totally there – just as he’s not worth the risk in Ottawa at the return demanded. Where Arizona is concerned, it’s not as if retaining him – unless a team is willing to fork over what they demand – is going to help them become a a much-improved team over the next 3 or 4 years. And if his injuries continue they face the possibility of having a liability on their hands that no one wants at ANY price.
I should add that I don’t believe that last part will actually happen simply because there’s always some GM somewhere who will bring him in under the hope that he somehow gets past the repeated dings, But no one is going to do it at the current price at the risk of having a liability on their hands while the 2 1st rounders, top prospect and roster player blossom on the desert down the line.
That’s the sort of trade that gets someone lumped in with the Feesters and Milburys.
I agree. I Chychrun for Broberg is a non-starter for me. After yesterday hearing that the Flyers may be looking to trade Travis Sanheim and looking him up, he would be an interesting acquisition for the Oilers. Puljujärvi plus a prospect/ draft pick would be a good starting point.
Just dealing with the Coyotes is a huge risk. Until just recently, just like the Oilers of old the Coyotes had a habit of bringing in their top prospects into the NHL too early. Chychrun is one of those prospects. Which could be a contributing factor to his injury history.
Kevjam. Sanheim signed an 8 year extension with full ntc 1st 4 years. Looks like he’s a keeper in Philly
8 years!! But he’s injury prone. Dumb.
Agreed. I wouldn’t do Chychrun for Broberg straight up. Broberg is coming along just fine.
I don’t see any team trading for Chychrun until the trade deadline at earliest, and then only if he’s injury-free and playing well this season. Even at that I’d be very wary of him and would probably take a hard pass.
If anyone wanted Simmonds wouldn’t they have simply claimed him off waivers? That includes the 3 teams on his no-trade list.
But with him clearing waivers, the new team can have him wait in the minors, call him up for a couple games and send him back down. Rinse and repeat.
Yeah, Simmonds wants to be traded to a contending team. Who’s going to be the one to tell him that contenders are contenders because they have solid rosters and have no need for washed-up, banged-up former stars with nothing left in the tank.
Also, I think teams might prefer trying to find a way to do a dollar for dollar swap for Simmonds, if at all possible. Not only are most teams are right up against the cap already, a trade means they don’t use an extra contract spot on him, because they’d be sending one of theirs out in return.
He also just may not be wanted at this point in his career; not sure!
Re “dollar for dollar” swap – good point Paddy. Maybe not where Simmonds is concerned … but I can see that coming into play if a serviceable player was put on waivers and the team seeing a need for him couldn’t manage it without moving out a similar cap hit.
there are various reason why a team would rather make a trade for a player rather than claim them off waivers.
Of these could be to preserve their position in the waiver wire and to attempt to off load a contract they do not want.
so no a team may not simply take a guy off waivers if they wanted him and they may very well prefer to trade for him.
George O, if they claim Simmonds off waivers they have to add him to their roster and keep him there. Otherwise he has to re-enter waivers to be sent down.
By waiting for him to clear waivers, since Toronto will be willing to let him go for “future considerations”, the acquiring team will be able to send him back and forth between the AHL and NHL for a month before he would need to clear again. That month (less now) buys them time to see if he fits while not losing him to waivers if they want to send him to the ‘A’ for conditioning or to learn a new system.
Thanks WestBrantKid … makes sense now. I wasn’t up to snuff on the in and outs of waiver claims
Someone’s been paying attention! So right. Also to note, it’s such a minor player/role that the urgency is just not there.
IMO. Chychrun to Detroit. They have assets. They have cap space. They’re ready to turn corner from rebuild to competitiveness.
At what price Slick62?
Hmmmm…Detroit has a nice prospect pool, especially left shooting defensemen, so why would they consider giving up assets for an injury prone left shot defenseman, when adding him would not make Detroit Cup contenders ? Doesn’t make sense to me.
Lago. Detroit has 3 LD currently on roster that’ll be ufa’s at seasons end. If Stevie Y is comfortable with his future health, I can see him making a trade. He dealt Droin from Tampa for a Sergachev. Don’t need to be instant contenders, but rather build towards it.
Arz is going to get stuck with Chychrun. Marion Gaborik comes to mind. I would target JJ Moser off that squad.
I don’t think we will see a trade until near the 10 game mark
@George
Thankyou on the Chychrun update !
I will get on the Bat- line to Dubas or No- Shanaplan , let them know !!!
Chychrun deal is off the table
Players of interest though for the fellow comrades
Dynamic Duo – Muzzin and Holl
What a pair for the Senators, relieve the team of their defensive difficulties
Kill 2 birds with 1 stone – Relieve the Leafs of their comical dual as well !!
All kidding to the side – People are ribbing me already in Toronto ‘s goaltending ..
My reply is – Muzzin and Holl are a goaltenders nightmare
Yeah, maybe Ken … but neither could do much about Murray not lifting his glove hand just an inch or two higher fast enough on at least two shots that went in … maybe arguably three
Or what about suggesting they find jobs in the hockey world? They clearly tell you all you need to know after just the first two regular season games. I guess they also know what the team will look like come playoffs too.
If Toronto wants to do the right thing for Simmonds,
Move him to Boston for Foligno. He can replace Foligno on the third line.
Toronto can then send Foligno to the minors.
Deal works for Boston, not so much for Toronto; but hey at least they be doing the right thing.
Eichel was an apparent damaged piece of goods who brought Buffalo a nice haul.
Much is being made here with tedious repeats of Chychrun’s injury history like there’s a discovery of a hidden defect.
Arizona would be trying to dump him if they thought he was damaged goods. The high ask and consideration makes it obvious that his talent and contract override the so-called fears.
Yeah, right … silly us thinking that GMs are beyond making bad decisions.
Eichel had ONE injury that he felt (correctly as it seems) could be alleviated by the surgery HE wanted. How the heck can you compare that to someone who has had 7 significant injuries in 6 years to 6 different parts of his anatomy?
Just for us uninitiated bozos, at what stage would YOU consider a player to be injury-prone?
Easy now, George. Your not wrong in the slightest. He’s just grinding your gears.
Chychrun is an oft injured second pairing defenseman, who has a decent offensive upside. Something doesn’t smell right with ARZ even trying to move him,unless Armstrong knows something we don’t. I wouldn’t touch him personally.
Ottawa won’t need him. Edmonton won’t need him.
Seattle could use him. Philly could use him.
The question is, how many assets will he eventually cost?
Yeah, you’re probably right ShoreOrrPark. Another counter-argument that got me a week or so back was that maybe his injuries have to do with the fact Arizona is a bad team and so uses him a lot.
Say what? Ottawa has been a bad team for the past 5 seasons during which Chabot was averaging 35-39 minutes a night! Yet, except for a game or two here and there along the way, it hasn’t resulted in repeated trips to IR. Nor do I see any other Arizona player going down to the same extent as Chychrun and for a variety of reasons.
The league, over the years, has had an endless stream of otherwise good players who just couldn’t avoid missing significant chunks of almost every season, with some coming to mind being Sammi Salo, Simon Gagne. Andre Markov, Rick DiPietro, Ryan Murray, Sheldon Souray, Teemu Selanne, Sergei Gonchar – and I’ve likely missed a number.
man george you feel strong about this don’t. I hope you can sleep at night with knowing how much I disagree.
nothing in Chychrun’s history convinces me he is prone to reinjury or prone to receiving injuries at a more significant rate than his peers of same age.
Bod stuff just happens.
as for Eichel. I will use him as an example of how people base their beleifs on conjecture. many didn’t want to trade for eichel. yes as you say it was one injury. it was a recurring issue. Which made it an injury prone situation that could be rememdy with a proven solution that no one wanted to believe because, get this, it was never done in an NHL athlete.
Like why not go burn the woman at the stake for sneezing before bad things happen. that kind of reasoning always seemed sound.
There goes George.
Opinions differ be a little less sensitive.
Then name some current players who have missed 27% of their team’s games since joining the league and who have been out with as many diverse injuries as has Chychrun. Go ahead – I’ll wait.
In the meantime I could not possibly care less what you think – but for the record, yes I feel what Arizona is asking for Chychrun is absurd and yes, I believe he is injury prone. And I will keep stating that opinion when the subject is being discussed. You can keep stating your belief.
If never the twain meet … who the F cares?
George I would say that another injury prone player that missed most of his career would be Lupul when he was on any of his teams. Great player who was out of the line more than in.
Still an effective player when played but it wasn’t something you can rely on him being ready to go day in and day out. Not exactly what you want.
Certain players know how to take hits and where on the ice you need to keep your head up. I feel that some players are a bit wishy-washy on fitness routines or lack the awareness to avoid injuries or high risk plays/hits.
The debate should be would a player like Chychrun be worth having in your team or not, warts and all.
Ron, I’ve been consistent in saying Chychrun could be a worthwhile acquisition for any team … but NOT at the cost of 2 1st rounders, an established player and a top prospect. That is just absurd and a ticket to the unemployment line for any GM agreeing to the demand.
Then the Habs should take him for Caufield, straight up!
There ya go.
Johnny Z…
🇨🇦 Cole “the Goal” Caufield…is going to be the Next Guy Lafleur in Montreal….👍 just watch this young kid, watch him text time on TV or if your at a game the new Coach
Martin St. louis has him flying they are conected 100% he had 2 goals but he could of had 5 goal’s against the leafs in the opener🤔✔️
I’m not a Habs fan… but this kid is very exciting to watch
But he’s injury prone. Gotta watch that.
Something like Malkin?
🇨🇦Habfan30,
I think Eichel is a Top line Centre…. But chychrun is a 2nd pairing Left d/man….⁉️ with Major Major injury Problems and Concerns over the past few years as listed above…..for most GM out there that are intrested in him it really something they look at
Arizona’s Ask is way to HIGH… most teams will wait till January to do anything with him to see how health he is.
I think the Ottawa Senators could be the front runners for him there d need help in the top 4?
I think Edmonton has light intrest, But Not For the young Broberg who is 6ft.3 & now bulked up to 215lb this year… His skating is Elite, the extra weight will help him out being more Physical and he russes the puck out the Zone very well, he will be there 2nd pair d/man in a year or 2 but he needs 5/6 month’s to a year more in Backersfeild
between him and Nimo those 2 will be the first call ups on d this year,
RD man Barrie could be the first Oilers d/man to get moved to a team that need offensive d Help before the trade dead line?
Oilers need a Big Physical RD man, maybe they move Nemo to RD…?
first forwards would be RW Pulijarvi & Winger Warren Fogele to be Traded… Carolina ..❓
The Oilers need a big tough Physical RW to play with Leon on there 2nd line
A Josh Anderson out of Montreal perfict fit he wants to go to a Cup contender for the next 4-5 years of his contract….👍
I mentioned Eichel in the sense he was seriously injured with no consensus on treatment and he still brought Buffalo a good haul.
Not past injury, not potential injury, actual serious injury and a demand for unproven or at least debatable surgery which in hindsight appears to have succeeded.
Chychrun on the other hand is not being unloaded or dumped by Arizona, in fact they want quite a bit for him.
Caps, ad hominems, ad nauseam statements don’t make an opinion, any more than just that, an opinion that doesn’t impact what any GM does.
George. Chychruns shoulder surgery was rookie season. Left knee surgery after offseason training injury between rookie and sophomore seasons. Right knee surgery after 2nd season. He was 19 when he had that last surgery. Injuries since then don’t seem as serious. I wonder if Arizona wasn’t as bad a team could he have possibly played more games. The 2 seasons before last he missed I believe 7 games? ( 2 Covid shortened seasons). I’m not going to argue whether he’s injury prone or not, but for a talented 24 year old who already has plenty of game experience, I’d say there’s a lot of upside there. Nice article here on him.
https://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/pro-tips/jakob-chychrun-is-making-his-health-a-priority-in-2022/
Thanks Slick62. Interesting perspective … and for the kid’s sake I sincerely hope you’re right. But here we are a couple of games into a new season (for some) and he’s still recovering from the latest injury and faces the prospect – when he is ready – of jumping into action after having missed training camp and however many games into the season.
That’s the sort of scenario that can lead to yet more health problems. As I say – I hope for his sake that they’re a;; behind him and that he can play the bulk of an 82-game season.
Would I take a chance on him at a reasonable ask? You bet. But not anywhere near what Armstrong is seeking.
Interesting they list a bone spur as an injury. It may have inhibited him but bone spurs happen with out injury. I guess the surgery was an injury? removing the spur would in my mind be something to prevent an injury and allow for freedom of movement. But heck what do I know. I’m still confused with the Jack eichel spinal conundrum Buffalo created.
The Habs could use an older D or two on a good contract to be placeholders for a year letting the kids develop a winning culture in Laval.
A Jason Demers or Jordie Benn for example would serve the purpose for the year.
there are various reason why a team would rather make a trade for a player rather than claim them off waivers.
Of these could be to preserve their position in the waiver wire and to attempt to off load a contract they do not want.
so no a team may not simply take a guy off waivers if they wanted him and they may very well prefer to trade for him.
Ondre Kase…text book. I think GM’s hope it won’t happen next time . For some players it always does .