NHL Rumor Mill – October 25, 2022

by | Oct 25, 2022 | Rumors | 25 comments

Questions facing the Canucks and the Islanders as they stumble from the gate in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.

THE ATHLETIC: Harman Dayal pondered several options as to what Vancouver Canucks management will do to address the club’s poor start to this season.

One could be making an early-season trade. Those tend to be risky but Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford had success with such moves in his previous job as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau (NHL Images).

Dayal admits these Canucks face too many problems to be resolved with just one trade. While shopping Bo Horvat or Conor Garland for a top-four defenseman signed beyond this season sounds good in theory but if such an opportunity were available it would’ve happened by now.

Another option could be replacing Bruce Boudreau as head coach. During an interview with Hockey Night in Canada last Saturday, Rutherford indicated the club had a bad training camp, poor habits and a lack of structure. However, the Canucks are already paying former head coach Travis Green for this season and could be reluctant to add Boudreau to that list.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canucks are a mess. Granted, they’ve had defensive issues since last season but they look nothing like the club that staged an impressive second-half turnaround following Boudreau’s takeover.

Dayal got the impression from Rutherford’s HNiC interview that he’ll remain patient despite the issues he pointed out. However, he also felt Rutherford’s patience could only last so long.

Replacing Boudreau would be easier than making a trade with so many teams carrying little or no salary cap space to start this season. Boudreau was inherited by Rutherford, who could prefer bringing in his own guy if things don’t soon improve regardless of the financial implications.

I’m not calling for the Canucks to fire Boudreau. It would be, as Dayal suggested, that they’re just not a good team. Still, that move could be the easiest route for Rutherford if he feels changes are needed fast.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Adam Proteau believes the New York Islanders still have plenty of time this season to qualify for the playoffs but their disappointing start could lead to changes if they don’t reverse their fortunes.

If the Islanders’ performance doesn’t improve, Proteau wondered how many teams could start lining up to take players under contract beyond next season off GM Lou Lamoriello’s hands. He also pondered if Lamoriello might use some draft picks to acquire impact players or how long the Isles GM will continue to wait to make a significant move.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lamoriello replaced Barry Trotz as head coach with Lane Lambert plus he tried and failed to land a scoring forward this summer to bolster the Isles’ anemic offense. Still, apart from acquiring defenseman Alexander Romanov, he mostly stuck with the same roster he had last season, betting they would bounce back from what was a difficult 2021-22 campaign.

So far, there’s no indication the Islanders are poised for a rebound performance this season. Like the Canucks, Lamoriello would also face a difficult time making a significant trade with so many clubs in salary-cap hell to start the season.







25 Comments

  1. A lot of clocks are ticking in Vancouver right now, from Boudreau right down through the line-up. Most of it thanks to Benning.

    Many chuckled when Dorion gave up a 3rd round 2022 pick for Travis Hamonik, but he looks pretty good on that second pairing alongside Jake Sanderson. He’d also be better than 3/4 of what the Canucks are trotting out there right now with Hughes and Dermott on the shelf.

    As for that 3rd round pick, I believe they subsequently dealt it away in another trade.

  2. Smith. Carlo. Studnicka. Reilly
    For garland. Horvat and schenn

    • Carlo is damaged goods, good luck in trading him!

      • 2 3 weeks playing good hockey. Is all it would take

    • And you thought my trades were bad, you’ve been sniffing that airplane glue again?

      • Trade was

        Sarcasm. Read the definition in websters

  3. I like Boudreau and I loved what he did with the Canucks last season. That said, although he offered a new voice and an emotional lift, that addressed only one of the team’s issues. Boudreau is a motivator, but the Canucks desperately need defensive structure. They also need more talent on the blueline. What’s frustrating is that they have some key pieces already: A star goalie, an emerging superstar (Pettersson), a skilled, gritty and versatile forward (Miller) and an accomplished faceoff man/third-line centre (Horvat). Maybe the new management will have things rolling by the time Miller’s contract expires.

    • The old geriatrics such as Lamiorello, Rutherford, Boudreau should be in front of their TVs in retirement homes…they were past their prime 10 years ago…at this time of inclusiveness and diversity its time younger women and men to pick up the slack

      • A lot of truth there Don O Ray.

        Since his first head coach job in 1992-93 at Muskegon in the IHL, Boudreau has been with 10 different teams, 2 in the IHL, 1 ECHL, 3 AHL, 4 NHL and his average tenure has been 3 years before his act wears thin.

        His teams have missed the playoffs 4 times, lost in Round 1 13 times, lost in Round 2 4 times, lost in Round 3 1 time and lost in th e finals 1 time (AHL).

        He’s won 2 titles – in 1998-99 with Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL, snd in 2005-06 with Hershey of the AHL.

        The deepest his teams have gone in the NHL was in 2014-15 in Anaheim when he lost in 3 rounds.

        His top award was the Jack Adams which came in his first of 5 season with Washington in 2007-08 – they were eliminated in the 1st Round.

        Personality-wise, it’s hard not to like the guy, and he’d be a great addition to a TV crew – if they could be sure he would park the blue language at the door.

        As a coach, it seems his initial success when taking over far exceeds his ability to last long in most stops.

        OldBlueDog has it right in his comment following below.

      • one would think the experiences gained from a long life would make one more qualified to do a job. Yet ageism seems the last acceptable form of prejudice.

  4. Been away…. business trip with extended vacation following.

    was able to see scores and hi-lights, but missed quite a few games. Had my daughter PVR the Leafs and Pens games , so got to see them when I returned.

    watched both games (Pens/Oil, Leafs/Knights) last night…. not good for either of my two fav teams. Fair start for Pens; then collapse defensively . Leafs completely dominated by the Knights. Samsonov kept it close

    Re ‘Nucks…. yes plenty of trigger happy fans ready to make moves…. yes crap start… yes 0-5-2. I don’t believe any change whatsoever is likely to have them as cup contenders; and they were already (before season started) in (at best) a bubble playoff projection.

    Tweak only if anything. More dramatic moves… could just make things worse and make things simmer longer; affecting long term (out years).

    Now, that said…. at 15 games if they are still winless…. something definitely has to be done.

    BTW— our first business stop on our trip was Phoenix….. got to tour Mullet arena….. one word…. ouch!!! Definitely NOT an NHL arena. This will be a nightmare for at least 4 years…. move them to Houston….. sell outs for 4 years!!!

    IP…. on our trip…. actually got to your fair state. Not sure where in Iowa you are; but we stayed in Dubuque…. liked it. I kept looking for a Blues sweater… couldn’t see one. I’m guessing you are from somewhere in Southern Iowa??

    Bruins fans…. great start to season …. and with no March!!!!

    Sens and Wings looking good. Bruins shining. Panthers plugging away; and I expect Bolts to surge soon. Habs have shown some promise (during a rebuild to boot!!!).

    Today…..A Bolts win by at least 2, parlayed with a Habs win by at least 3….. Leafs then last in ATL…. I don’t expect Leafs to stay down in the standings… but certainly not the start I was hoping for

    • Pengy,
      You better put your seat belt on because you probably haven’t seen the Sabres play yet! They are playing very good hockey.

      • Hi FF

        correct…. have not seen a Sabres game. See the standings. So….. they are for real?

        Seatbelt tightened!

      • Definitely watch out for Buffalo. I did get to see much of their win in Calgary….nothing cheap about it. The Sabers are big and fast. If their goaltending holds up, they will need to be reckoned with.

  5. I have never heard language like Rutherford used Saturday night. He literally fired Boudreau on national TV.
    If saying “had a bad training camp, poor habits and a lack of structure” is not a shot at the coaching staff I don’t know what is.

    I would bet the farm Boudreau doesn’t make it to Christmas.

    • Christmas is optimistic, How about U.S. Thanksgiving – if they haven’t shown signs of righting the ship?

      • Hey George your probably right.

  6. It would be a terrible mistake If Vancouver fires Gabby and promotes Bylsma.
    On the flip side, if Toronto could get rid of Keefe and bring Gabby in to lead their group after being let go by Vancouver, it could be the ticket they’re looking for.
    Bruce is an excellent coach and the Nucks are better than they’re showing

  7. If Boudreau is the coach of a team that is better than they are showing……why would any one hire him

    The Leafs already have a clueless coach.

    After taking a good look at Bufalo and Ottawa…..Shanahan needs to step and fire Dubas and Keefe….

    • 115 pts last season, a 60 goal scorer and a close loss in game 7. Time to clean house.

    • Old dog, time to cheer for another team by now, right? Yes the Leafs are off to a bad start and it’s pretty obvious, in much so that it’s pretty similar to last years start but with better goaltending.

      Please don’t get me wrong, they are playing way below what they should be and after 5 games they are one game over .500 which two losses came to tanking teams. Yes the Leafs are playing spoilers for the tanking teams. 🤪

    • In that event the question then becomes “who’s watching the Watcher who made the decisions in the first place?” A committee?

  8. Maybe the Nucks can coax Suban outta retirement.😁😜

  9. I feel like the Canucks are just a rudderless ship right now. A GM with no relationship to the coach. A coach who has one trick to motivate a team that no longer works so he looks like he’s just thrown in the towel instead of making adjustments. A captain who for all intents and purposes seems to have one skate out the door already. A defense that basically does nothing more than siphon all the money from the cap and a goalie that feels like he’s lost the touch. The only one that seemed motivated to do anything last night was JT Miller but it wasn’t enough.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a new coach and a soft rebuild very soon. They remind me a little of the Vegas GK in their weird heavy priced big name acquisitions that really did very little to improve the team.

  10. 🍁Re;the Canucks
    I dont think we will see Bo Horvat in vancouver at the end of this year.
    The Canucks need to address there Defence its just HORRIBLE

    Trade Horvat for a good 3rd or 4th paring RD /man,
    they need to add Good 2 d/men to there top 4,
    they have lots of d/men that can take up a 5,6,7 roll but nobody for the 3,4 th spots,
    Trade Big Tyler Myers, could be hard as he has a $6.M cap hit for 2 more years🤮

    keep OEL & Hughes, build from there,
    The Canucks have some nice pieces and a top young goaltender

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