NHL Rumor Mill – January 17, 2023

by | Jan 17, 2023 | Rumors | 58 comments

Changes are coming for the Canucks plus the latest on Erik Karlsson, John Klingberg, Jakob Chychrun and more in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.

CHANGES IN STORE FOR CANUCKS

THE PROVINCE/THE ATHLETIC: Ben Kuzma and Harman Dayal. reports Jim Rutherford, the Vancouver Canucks president of hockey, indicated big changes are coming for the roster during a press conference on Monday to address the state of the franchise.

We have to do major surgery,” said Rutherford. He declined to call it a rebuild but felt it would be a retooling.

Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Rutherford’s toeing the company line with that comment. Team owner Francesco Aquilini is reportedly dead set against rebuilding the roster.

He indicated that the club is stuck right now with contracts that they can’t move. “Until we move those out, or until they expire, it’s going to be hard to make changes. He also warned that some of the changes won’t be popular.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kuzma believes that last comment refers to team captain Bo Horvat. The 27-year-old center is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in July and has become the subject of trade rumors after reportedly rejecting the Canucks’ contract offer earlier in the season.

Rutherford said the Canucks offer to Horvat was fair up to what he’s done in 2022-23 but it’s under market value for his performance this season. The center is on pace to score over 50 goals for the first time in his career.

It’s believed the Canucks can’t or won’t exceed J.T. Miller’s seven-year, $56 million contract in their dealings with Horvat. He could end up shopped by the March 3 trade deadline if the two sides fail to reach an agreement on a new deal.

Kuzma and Dayal both believe overpaying for Horvat will make it difficult to re-sign pending UFA winger Andrei Kuzmenko. Rutherford said they’ve recently opened contract talks with the 26-year-old winger.

Canucks fans hoping for Rutherford to trade Miller and re-sign Horvat are going to be disappointed. Rutherford pointed out the value of retaining players such as Miller. He also wasn’t concerned about how his contract could affect the Canucks over the long term because of the anticipated rise in the salary cap in the near future, which he believes could reach $90 million to $95 million. In the short term, however, Dayal pointed out that Miller’s deal is already having an impact on the Canucks because it’s hampering their efforts to re-sign Horvat.

Dayal also reported that Rutherford is willing to consider buying out contracts if they can’t move them via trade. While they can provide some short-term relief, Dayal noted that they come at a future cost, pointing out that a buyout of Oliver Ekman-Larsson would leave dead cap space on the Canucks’ books until 2031. I think Rutherford could be looking at someone with a year or two left on their contract like defenseman Tyler Myers.

Kuzma also wondered what Rutherford’s plans are for Brock Boeser. The winger’s agent has permission to speak with other clubs but his lack of production and league-wide salary-cap problems make it difficult to move Boeser’s $6.65 million cap hit.

Rutherford didn’t address Boeser’s situation but made a general statement that a player’s performance dictates his trade value. Even then, Rutherford indicated that a contract could still be tough to move if an interested club lacks the cap space to acquire him.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Rutherford might have an easier time moving Boeser if he agreed to retain part of his cap hit. However, that’s a scenario he reportedly doesn’t want to do. It’s my belief the earliest Boeser gets moved is in the offseason when clubs have more cap room to work with and a greater willingness to make significant trades.

Talking about his trade plans, Rutherford said that he won’t necessarily seek draft picks in return. Instead, he prefers bringing in young players from other clubs that didn’t work out with their entry-level contracts and giving them a second chance.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kuzma speculates the Canucks could target someone like the New York Rangers’ Alexis Lafreniere. Dayal, however, is skeptical whether that’s a workable strategy, suggesting recent reclamation projects like Ethan Bear, Travis Dermott, Jack Studnicka and Riley Stillman haven’t done much to improve the club.

Rutherford didn’t say much about the future of head coach Bruce Boudreau as rumors swirl that he could be replaced by Rick Tocchet. He admitted he’s spoken with some potential coaching candidates going back a couple of months. “All I can say is Bruce is our coach right now,” said Rutherford.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hardly a ringing endorsement or a vote of confidence for Boudreau by Rutherford. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman observed, it appears Boudreau will remain the Canucks coach until they’ve found a suitable replacement.

RUMOR TIDBITS FROM FRIEDMAN’S LATEST “32 THOUGHTS”.

SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman believes the Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks had “legit conversations” about Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson. However, he doesn’t think it got to the point where it got to Karlsson.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I think Friedman means that it didn’t reach the point where the Sharks felt talks reached the stage where Karlsson would have to be asked to waive his no-movement clause to go to Edmonton.

Friedman also said he felt last summer that there was a high probability of Anaheim Ducks defenseman John Klingberg ending up with the Oilers. The blueliner was interested in Edmonton at the time but the salary-cap pieces couldn’t fit. Friedman no longer expects Klingberg will join the Oilers but expects he’ll be moved by the March 3 trade deadline.

Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin is only interested in a trade that will improve his club or provide him assets that he can use in another deal. Friedman isn’t sure Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun would make sense for the Wild as a potential replacement for Matt Dumba given their salary-cap concerns after this season.

The Ottawa Senators are considering rental defensemen. It would give them an opportunity to evaluate someone they’d like to re-sign plus they want to finish as strong as possible for their players and their fans.







58 Comments

  1. “The Ottawa Senators are considering rental defensemen.”
    So George, Klingberg or Dumba?

  2. What about Seth Jones availability ?

    • None of the above, thanks. Are they insane? Not one of those will suddenly put them back in the playoff hunt … but it could bump them up a few notches and so completely out of the Bedard Sweeps.

      In that Top 11 Cap expenditure list I post below Ottawa would currently sit between Calgary and New Jersey at $58,646,714. Any of Klingberg, Dumba or Jones would move the needle well up the list and only serve to demonstrate how dumb they are.

      Their playoff hopes are dead in the water. Tank for God’s sake – then can Dorion, who’s blown the re-build, along with gum-worrying Smith and his minions.

  3. Such a bushleague move by Vancouver in their handling of Boudreau while he is their active coach.

    • @foleyd7 . I so agree . I listen to the whole press conference yesterday . Rutterfurd does not sound like he has a clue in what they are doing. From the Person injury right through to I have no idea who to trade . Van is looking like a bigger joke than Arizona these days and that is tough to do.

      • The worst thing for a pro sports franchise is a meddling owner. Let the people who know what they are doing do their jobs.

      • Hi Swany… Pens fans suffered through Jimbo not having a clue

      • Hi KevJam

        Re “The worst thing for a pro sports franchise is a meddling owner. Let the people who know what they are doing do their jobs.”

        Worse than that…. A meddling owner partnered with a prez if Hockey Ops that does NOT know what he is doing; and continuously throws people under the bus

      • True. Rutherford is finding out that retooling is harder when you don’t have a player named Crosby on it. LOL

      • Hi KevJam

        You lost me after “Rutherford is finding out ”

        That’s the point….Rutherford doesn’t find out…. He’d clueless LOL

      • @Kevjam, apparently even with a superstar it’s not easy. Look at Edmonton.
        I’d say there are more inept than Arizona and Vancouver.
        Then again, McDavid is McOffence, no defence. But, again, they have Driasaitl who has offence and defence. A halfway competent GM and coach should be able to put that team in the top 5 every year.

      • @WestBrantKid,
        You could say that, but it doesn’t mean you are right. 😉

    • agree strongly. between UFA to be captain and that extremely light D-core how much goes on Bruce?

      • I am forever grateful for the Cup he brought to Carolina, but boy did Rutherford leave us a mess, too.

        Took the team nearly 10 years to recover.

        I think he’s excellent at bringing a good team up to great, but I wouldn’t let him anywhere near a re-build.

    • foleyd7

      I agree.

      I think Boudreau should beat them to the punch and quit. Didn’t seem to hinder Nauruce from getting another job?

      • ^^ Maurice

    • My biggest problem was, and I am paraphrasing ” I like Bruce and we are friends”. With friends like that, who needs enemies?

  4. For the most part, when looking at cap expenditures, we have been considering what % is spent on the Top 4, 5 or 6. I thought I’d look at it from the aspect of half of each roster for those teams currently seen as playoff-bound – i.e. the top 11 cap hits for each (most teams strive for the 23 max with the 23rd being a back-up goalie, none of whom factor into the Top 11). In calculating it I have not included permanent LTIRs (e.g. Weber, Seabrook, etc.) but have included those on IR/LTIR who are expected to play again.

    Washington – $68,566,667 – 7F 3D 1G
    Tampa Bay – $68,025,000 – 5F 5D 1G
    Toronto – $67,543,116 – 7f 3D 1G
    New York Rangers – $66,476,191 – 7F 3D 1G
    Florida – $66,283,334 – 6F 4D 1G
    Nashville – $65,816,143 – 6F 4D 1G
    Dallas – $65,400,000 – 7F 3D 1G
    Colorado – $65,175,000 – 4F 6D 1G
    Winnipeg – $64,909,523 – 6F 4D 1G
    Edmonton – $64,850,000 – 7F 3D 1G
    St. Louis – $64,100,000 – 6F 4D 1G
    Carolina – $63,785,250 – 6F 4D 1G
    Vegas – $63,250,000 – 7F 4D
    Los Angeles – $61,600,000 = 7F 3D 1G
    Boston – $60,629,167 – 6F 4D 1G
    Pittsburgh – $60,100,175 – 7F 4D
    New York Islanders – $60,050,000 – 7F 3D 1G
    Calgary – $59,050,000 – 7F 3D 1G
    New Jersey – $58,533,333 – 6F 4D 1G
    Seattle – $55,066,666 – 7F 3D 1G

    • George: Interesting comparison between Tampa and Toronto. Tells me that Tampa gets more out of their bottom half of the line up than Toronto does. On the top half, tells me that Hedman and Sergachev make a bigger difference on D than any other team’s big two D. And then there is Vasilevskiy …

      It will be interesting to see what happens to the team which goes out early. It will tell Tampa that they have peaked and are regressing.

      For Toronto, what will Matthews make of an early departure by the Leafs? Does it say to him that if he wants to win the Cup he has to move? Does a long run tell the Leafs they need to spend whatever it takes to hold onto Matthews – meaning maintaining the cap imbalance on 4 forwards?

      • LJ

        Do not forget that comparing Tampa’s salaries to Toronto’s salaries must have an asterisk…Tampa has the luxury of No state income tax so it’s not exactly a level playing field when it comes to salary. I believe Ontario has a very hefty income tax on professional athletes.

        Fact is the big 4 forward salaries everyone likes to talk about are all market value. It also seems that other teams that spread the money around are behind the Leafs in the standings so it’s obviously not an exact science.

      • You got it Daryl. All such issues must be taken into account. My purpose in compiling the list is merely to show comparative spending on roughly half of each roster listed.

        A really weird one is Minnesota. Counting the $6,371,794 for each of the Parise and Suter buy-outs, they spend $62,168,588 on their Top 11 which puts them between Vegas and Los Angeles. But looking at their current top 11 active players they pend $53,875,000 which puts them well out of the above list.

      • But having said that, Daryl, what you also have to keep in mind is – all teams have to spend within the cap limits set by the league (in U.S. funds), so what you fork over to your Top 11 players in terms of the cap dictates what you can spend on the bottom 11.

        And the varying tax systems, which give some an unfair advantage in who they can interest in signing (and I doubt we’ll ever see the league put some convoluted system in place to try and even the field) have nothing to do with decisions by those GMs who decide to spend upwards of 82% of their cap on their top 11 players.

        Take Seattle for example. Currently they sit 2 pts back of Toronto and 1 back of TB. And their highest paid player (cap-wise) is the goalie Grubauer at $5,900,000, For both Toronto and Tampa Bay you have to go down through 5 players on each before you get to someone paid in that range. And, in total, Seattle spends 67% of their cap on their Top 11 players, meaning they have 15% more than Toronto and Tampa Bay to focus on their bottom 11 players.

      • George and Daryl – Texas, Tennessee, Nevada, and the state of Washington also do not have a personal income tax so it isn’t just the Florida teams with that advantage.

      • Lj, you make the assumption that Tampa is better than Toronto.
        That list is current, not past. The Leafs are currently well ahead of Tampa in the standings, and head-to-head.
        You also seem to think that Tampa beating the Leafs in the playoffs is a foregone conclusion. Tampa barely beat them last season, when Tampa were the favourite, and there was arguably some luck and some one-sided bad/missed calls in that series.
        Side note: Speaking of bad/missed calls, people like to hand-wave the officiating thing, but I believe it because I see it. And I see why, too. The money is in US markets. For example, Dallas going deep will bring in more money than Edmonton going deep, therefore I believe that calls would favour Dallas in that series. Games are controlled by timing of calls, too, not only quantity. I see game momentum being controlled by officials. For this reason I believe that no Canadian team will ever win another Stanley Cup.
        Back to the point, if you go back over the last 5 playoff exits by the Leafs you’ll see they aren’t that bad. Boston was always favoured. Tampa was favoured. The loss to Montreal looked really bad at first, but they went on to the final, so that wasn’t just Toronto choking, it was a hot goalie, which everyone and their dog always says Price is capable of. The loss to Columbus was bad, but Columbus’ goaltending duo was amazing, and those teams were even in the standings, not to mention it was a 5 game series.
        Looking at it as 1st round exits is putting the worst spin on it, whereas if looked at individually, it’s not that bad, but very disappointing.

      • Wetbrantkid:

        The key players from each team have been pretty much the same for both teams the past several years. It takes a particularly rosy view to say multiple first round loses aren’t that bad, along with the implication that the teams are about equal, given that Tampa has won the Cup two years and gotten to the final the third year in the last three years.

        That said, I made no such assumption based on this year’s regular season. I speculated about what each team’s fate might be about an early playoff departure – it surely has to be so for one of them.

        You are correct that luck is a factor and at some point even if by sheer luck Toronto has to win a first round series.

      • Hi WestBrandKid

        Re “The Leafs are currently well ahead of Tampa in the standings,”…. That is actually not true…. Only 2 points up; but Bolts have 2 games in hand…. Bolts have a better winning percentage

        Not looking forward to meeting Bolts round 1

      • Also another fact of those early exits by the Leafs, “all the key players” on the Leafs were in the first, second, third, forth, season in the league, not 10 or more years playing in the league like the teams they lost to.

        If you can’t see a difference, well…

    • Great work George!
      I’m actually very surprised how close the top teams are.

      • Thanks WestBrantKid. I hoped it would spark dialogue/debate. So much focus has been on how much of their cap Toronto and Edmonton are spending on 4, 5, 6 players yet, when you look at half the total rosters, Toronto is less than Washington and TB, less than 1 million more than NYR, Florida and Nashville, while Edmonton sits 10th in the grouping, barely above St. Louis, Carolina and Vegas.

      • ds

        As the late, great Pat Quinn once said “it’s hard to make chicken salad out of chicken s**t”

        I would guess that the room is divided and once one of Horvat or Miller is gone things will change drastically. Not necessarily for the better.

      • George O

        Great work on the Top 11 pay scale for teams.
        It is interesting to see how teams divvy up their cap and how it’s working for each team in the standings.

  5. What are the fans of Vancouver saying?

    The reports i’ve been listening to including HNIC are saying Rick Tocchet is the next coach of Vancouver. Not so fast?

    The handling of Tanner Pearson?

    Retool but wanting to keep JT Miller who turns 30 in March.

    Is it even possible to move OEL, without a sweetener or two

    • Arizona moved OEL without a sweetener. In fact, Vancouver sent a 1st and a 2nd round picks plus two expiring contracts to Arizona in that trade. LOL

    • Hi Caper,
      i know a couple of Canucks fans and they are not happy about the continued 10 yr Mess in Vancouver….

      The General felling is team owner Francesco Aquilini
      has his hands in the opperation, seams to be completely dysfunctional set up.

      Think Trevor Linden,👌
      Linden was Very well liked in Vancouver…He was the Perfect person to Run the Canucks, Smart, knows the Game, knows the city Very Popular the whole setup….
      But he stood up and told Aquilini what the problem was
      FA did not like it then he was Gone…..it Shocked Vancouver & Fan base. When it all started ownership wanted then coach Desjardin gone, and Linden wasn’t having it, it all when down hill from there

      The Rumer’s are its All Aquilini way or your out
      Thats why its been such a mess for so long, managment have more than likly signed a no disclosure in the contrace so they can say anything bad about the Owner & Team Regarding
      A Meddling Owner, ❗️❗️

      There could be lots of players wanting out of the bad situation in Vancouver and most of them are not looking to be there for the start of a Long
      Re-build again and its not just the ones we are hearing about…..🥶 🤔

      • If anyone is curious where Vancouver fits in that list I posted above, they spend $63,810,000 on their top 11 – putting them between St. Louis And Carolina.

        Philadelphia, at $66,042,857 sit between Florida and Nashville, while Montreal at $57,585,000 fit between New Jersey and Seattle.

  6. Not being a Canucks fan and not seeing them play often, what is going wrong there? On paper, seems like they have a roster that should be competitive at the very least. Is this a dressing room issue? Could a coach like Torts come in and say, “play as a team or you sit”…. could be as simple as lack of confidence, from those first bunch of losses at the beginning of the season.

    • The Canucks are the current poster boys for how not to run a franchise. They have an owner who refuses to re-build and apparently can’t leave the people he hired to do their jobs.
      They have Jim Rutherford who refused to extend Bruce Boudreau’s contract in the off season despite the amazing turnaround in the team’s fortunes after Boudreau’s arrival last year, and who has spent most of this year throwing his coach under the bus.
      They have a guy as GM who might as well be back in Sweden working from home.
      They signed JT Miller to a long-term extension knowing full well that Bo Horvat’s contract would be up this year and that they’d need to re-sign Kuzmenko as well.
      Their all-star goalie played poorly early in the season and then got hurt.
      They lead the league in one category, most leads lost or, put another way, most defeats snatched from the jaws of victory.
      The way this is going, I expect Bruce Boudreau to show up for the next home game with a paper bag over his head.
      Harold Ballard lives on in Vancouver.

  7. Nuks can. Move Boser. To nyr 1st and Kravtasov Horvat. To anyone And get a big haul. I would toss kuzmenko if he brings a 1st. Then try to resign in July. I would offer Quinn to join his brothers in NJ. For 1st 3rd
    Stillman and severson If severson won’t re up move him as well. That is 3 or 4 1st rd picks plus youth. Rebuild would be one and done

  8. if a team trades for a rfa before this year trade deadline does there salary count against the salary cap next year for instance gavrikov from blue jackets gets traded to oilers for a draft pick and puljarvi does puls count towards blue mjackets salary cap next year

    • Hi Norman

      As at now JP has zero Cap hit for next year

      Whatever his contract is signed for…. (And it could be a sign and trade or Jackets get him in trade and sign him)… that was s the Cap hit for Jackets next year

      If traded and no contract agreement can be made…. No cap hit

  9. Ottawa should not add any defensemen to their roster this year if it costs them a draft pick unless he has term left. And they should only add a true RHD, which everyone in the league is looking for.

    Sens aren’t going to make the playoffs so should not waste any capital on any moves for this year. Better to sign a UFA RD in offseason (Dumba, Severson), which they should have addressed this summer (hello John Marino).

    Only way a trade should happen is if it gets rid of players not wanted, being used, taking up wrong roster slot.

    So Formenton, Joseph, Zaitsev and either Sokolov or L. Thompson for Seth Jones?

    And I severely doubt they do any major moves or add any more money until the new owner gets on board. All of Dorians moves in the offseason were acceptable because they increased the (perceived) value of the club, especially when it came to getting Sens fans excited and back to the CTC.

    • Hi John,
      Most of this will depend on what they do with RFA
      Alex de Brincat, if they can re-sign him to a deal around the $8.M range to fit in with the rest of the young forward group….❓if Not Trade him for a starting Goaltender or 2nd pairing RD man🤔

      They have $17.M in cap space next year, that leave’s them $9.M if they trade $4.5M Nikita Zaitsev and a 2nd rd pick to AZ to get him of the books,?
      that will give them more cash $13.5M to go after there biggest needs,
      A Real Starting Goaltender and a 2nd paring RD man like Dumba who is a UFA in july that would be a nice 2nd paring with young Jake Sanderson
      After that they are Real contenders just like NJD….👌

    • You hit the nail on the head John

      • Yup.

  10. Hi Lyle

    Re Jimbo considering a Meyers buyout:

    “Rutherford could be looking at someone with a year or two left on their contract like defenseman Tyler Myers.”

    IMO, that would not be a good move…..

    Total cash savings from buyout….only $330 K; with only $670 K Cap savings (23/24) and also having to eat dead cap of $330 K in 24/25

    Best move for ‘Nucks (if Meyers allows it … can nix trade to 10 teams)….,

    Pay his SB on 1/7; then trade to Yotes

    Meyer contract, post SB payment is pure gold to Yotes…. They are haemorrhaging $’s and need cheapest way to reach Cap floor….

    Meyers carriers $6M Cap hit; but after SB paid and escrow accounted for…. Yotes only on hook for ~ $900 K cash…. $6 M cap for $900 K cash….That would be worth at least a 3rd to Yotes

    Aquilina is rich….Cap clearing more important

    Jimbo could get a 3rd and clear $6M in Cap

    I’d love to see Pens improve D now…. Jimbo could clear $6 M off of next year’s cap by ….

    He’s (Jimbo) desperate for Cap space next year…. And more importantly Not in strong bargaining position now

    HexBurkie…. Hit Jimbo when he’s trade vulnerable….

    Dumo, CR, O’Connor

    For Meyers & Schenn

    Pens are rich…. If Meyers fails to impress at all….bury him; then…

    After they pay Meyers his SB; have Lebron give Meyers some signed swag/memorabilia to get Meyers to waive for Yotes [assuming the obvious that Yotes are on his list of 10] and trade to Yotes for at least a 3rd

    Worst case (for Pens)…. They upgraded D now (Schenn over CR …. Hello!!) and gained a 3rd at the expense of O’Connor

    Best case…. Meyers plays at a level he can; along with Schenn addition…. Pens D gets massively better, bigger, stringer; Pens get into playoffs and win at least one round; still with option of trading Meyers for a 3rd (to Yotes) in July; at a cost of O’Connor; AND still leaving Pens with their Pics in ‘23 (and possibly able to make a move on a 3C upgrade)

    One can hope

    • @ Pengy…. I love your ambition but don’t think Vancouver is giving up both Meyers and Schenn. Meyers is useless and expensive Schenn is steady and affordable…

      • Well ‘Nucks might get some bids on Schenn but per TSN , SN, and ESPN, they are keen in moving out Cap fir next year.,,, that’s Meyers

        And even though Meyers is not worth his weight in Cap; Meyers/Schenn is quite an improvement over Dumo/CR

        Did you see last nights game? If not, try and look up Henrique’s and Zegras’ goals…. CR is absolutely horrific on D… he’s approaching JJ levels…. At least JJ could block shots and had the size and strength not to be pushed around

        The fault basically lies with Sully for playing him;

        Pens better win the next 2 games

  11. Ottawa collecting rentals, why? Is Dorian unable to read the standings?

    • My point exactly. They go down that road it’s a last-gasp effort to try and save their own skins at the mgt/coaching levels. I think they’re gone either way but what scares me is that Dorion will do something stupid like that figuring he’s got nothing to lose (in the remote chance a move or two does get them into a playoff position he looks like a genius who’d be hard to fire … if it flops, he’s out anyway)

      • That is legitimately scary for Sens fans, dang.

  12. It says that VAN does not want to retain salary on Boeser.

    Why not trade Boeser for a young player or pick, retain salary with a condition that if Boeser starts to play to his potential the Canucks get “future considerations”?

    VAN should easily be able to acquire at least two or three 1sts at this TDL. Kick start the “re-tooling”

    • 6.6 million for two additional seasons of Boeser who after a few injuries might never surpass 25 goals in a season again…and this with him lining up with Elias, Bo or Horvat right now.
      he avoids contact too…. no contender is taking him

  13. “Hey Bruce don’t buy any green bananas “.
    After yesterday presser the pure definition of a lame duck coach. Why should I listen you will be gone shortly

    I think DJ not doing a great job in Ottawa either . Not the best D but still A lot of talent

    • @silver

      i agree DJ could have Sens pushing pace with their skill and legs….

  14. Bruins look like they have enough scoring when DeBrusk comes back …would like to see them get tougher and bigger when the playoffs roll in … wouldn’t mind seeing them add a tough Dman Luke Schenn which was mentioned on NESN.com and a big tough winger Nicolas Deslauriers

  15. so if im reading this right. trading gavrikov for jp and a couple draft picks and not resigning him for next year would not hurt blue jackets cap for next year. actually give them more cap space for next year. interesting

    • norman

      I don’t think anybody is giving up anything of significance for Puljujarvi.

      If CLB is trading Gavrikov they’re likely getting a 1st round pick or a highly touted prospect not a first round bust.

      • Hi Daryl,
        I can see some one offering up a 2nd or 3rd pick for Jesse…?
        He may work out very well playing for the CBJ with his buddy Patrik Laine… they play a simillar style and pace of game…🤔

        It could well be a 3 way trade..❓ with 3 similar players moving teams in and around the $2.5M to $3.5M Range ….

        I think we will see a High number of 3 way trades and a few deals where teams take on salary this year due to the low cap the teams are dealing with this year

        With the emergence of “Vin desiel” from Bakerfeild AKA (Vincent Desharnais) as a Defencive d/man
        Dont see the Oil doing a Big Trade now with a 1st rd pick, maybe the 3rd or 4th for a depth guy..⁉️