Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – May 28, 2023
The latest on the Hurricanes, the Flyers are willing to entertain offers for Carter Hart, and the possibility of the Blackhawks and Canucks swapping first-round picks in the Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup.
LATEST ON THE HURRICANES
THE NEWS & OBSERVER: Luke DeCock believes the Carolina Hurricanes are running out of chances with their current group to win the Stanley Cup. After another disappointing postseason, they could have one final shot at it before difficult roster decisions must be made.
Core players such as Sebastian Aho, Martin Necas, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei and Teuvo Teravainen will need new contracts next summer, and Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin the year after that. Meanwhile, some changes could come this summer with Jesper Fast, Jordan Staal and goalies Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta slated to become unrestricted free agents on July 1.
Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas (NHL Images)
DeCock speculated Hurricanes management could decide to peddle Teravainen this summer if they’re unlikely to re-sign him. They could also perhaps sell high on Necas or Jack Drury, who both struggled in the postseason. There are also lingering questions regarding their overall roster toughness.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Hurricanes have plenty of salary-cap space ($24.1 million) to retain players like Staal and Andersen on affordable short-term contracts. Meanwhile, they could go shopping for a scoring forward with size and grit via the trade or free-agent markets.
SPORTSNET: Ken Wiebe wonders if the Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets would become trade partners if the latter attempts to shake up their “core four” of goalie Connor Hellebuyck and forwards Mark Scheifele, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Blake Wheeler.
Pyotr Kochetckov is the only Hurricanes goalie under contract for next season. Hellebuyck has one season left on his contract with a manageable $6.167 million cap hit. He’d unlikely be a long-term fit but that might not be a deterrent for a team in “win-now” mode.
Scheifele, meanwhile, doesn’t necessarily fit into the Hurricanes’ defensive-zone commitment. Nevertheless, perhaps Rod Brind’Amour could be the type of coach that inspires Scheifele to play a 200-foot game. The 29-year-old center will also be motivated as he’s also a year away from UFA status and will want to ensure his value remains high.
Wiebe listed Necas, Teravainen and Pesce as possible Hurricanes trade chips as well as top prospect Scott Morrow and their 2023 or 2024 first-rounder.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Weibe isn’t saying that the Hurricanes and Jets are talking trade. He’s merely looking at which members of the Jets core might be available and of potential interest to the Canes. We’ll learn in the coming weeks whether these two clubs intend to have trade discussions.
We can’t rule out the possibility of the Hurricanes rolling the dice on stars with a year left on their contracts in their quest to win the Stanley Cup next season. Whether Carolina GM Don Waddell is prepared to go that route remains to be seen.
FLYERS COULD ENTERTAIN TRADE OFFERS FOR HART
PHILLY HOCKEY NOW: Chuck Bausman cited Flyers general manager Daniel Briere telling Philadelphia sports radio 94.1 WIP that he’s open to trading goaltender Carter Hart.
“Most likely, Carter will be our goalie for the future, but I’m not in a position to turn down anything,” said Briere. “I have to listen.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hart was considered among the rebuilding Flyers’ few untouchables so that’s a significant statement by Briere. However, he didn’t say that he is trading Hart but only indicated that he’s willing to entertain offers.
Those offers, however, will have to meet what will likely be Briere’s high asking price. He’s not going to just give him away. I daresay he’ll want at least a first-round pick and a top prospect in the deal.
Someone could step up and overpay to get Hart. However, I think he’ll be returning to the Flyers crease this fall.
COULD THE BLACKHAWKS AND CANUCKS COMBINE ON A DRAFT PICK TRADE?
THE PROVINCE: Patrick Johnston recently took note of The Athletic’s Scott Powers indicating the Chicago Blackhawks would love to move up into the top-15 in this year’s draft order. In addition to the first-overall pick, they also hold the 19th overall pick.
Powers indicated the Blackhawks are willing to package second-round picks with the 19th overall pick. He suggested the Canucks as a trade partner as they hold the 11th overall selection.
Johnston cited one source suggesting the Blackhawks could land the Canucks pick based on the scenario laid out by Powers. Another source told Johnston that they might be willing to entertain that scenario if they can move a contract in the deal.
The Canucks would like to move Tyler Myers, who has a year left with a $6 million cap hit on his contract. Johnston, however, suggested winger Conor Garland ($4.95 million cap hit through 2025-26) might be more enticing to the Blackhawks because he’s six years younger than Myers and still in his prime.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: To summarize: the Hawks move up to 11th overall plus they add a good roster player in Garland who has several years remaining on his contract. The Canucks drop down to 19th overall but add one or two second-rounders and clear nearly $5 million in cap space from their books.
That’s a very interesting trade scenario for those two clubs. It’ll be interesting to see if it comes to pass during the first round on June 28.
14th overall and Jeff carter for 19th and a second? Jeff always wanted to play for the storied hawks! 🫣
That’s actually a much better deal for Chicago to take. Only one year of Carter at just over 3 million then he’s off the books.
whats the cap floor situation in chicago?
The Hawks are like $20,500,000 under the cap floor currently. I believe the cap floor is $62,000,000 this year and they’re like $41,833,000 something like that.
Drury and 2 1sts and prospect for Hart and Atkinson??
Car gets young goalie to continue to grow with team for years.
Car gets a solid goal scorer when he comes back
Philly clears cap and gets assets to rebuild with
If not Atkinson perhaps Courtourier and then tinker offer a bit
Still think best scenario is for the Flyers to make a deal with LA. They have the prospects/draft picks we need to get our rebuild started.
Hart would fill a big hole in LA, plus we have other options for them and we could take petterson’s contract back to make the money work.
Not a bad option taking Peterson on and trying to rehab to flip following year.
But how many valuable 1sts and whatprospects?
LA won’t give up Clarke and prospects Philly takes need be 21 and under since their roster is minimum 4 yrs away from playoffs once they trade away vets.
Still a good option.
I think the Canes would be more interested in WPG, AZ or Calgary’s players than Philly’s. Helle, Connor and PLD would make the Canes hard to deal with and PLD ain’t winning a cup in Montreal for years.
Correction needed in the Luke Decock story. Jesper Fast is one of the Canes pending UFAs. Jesper Bratt plays for the Devils. Not that the Canes couldn’t use him.
Done, thanks!
I would love to see Carter Hart in Toronto , amongst a couple of others , it would have to be a 3 way deal , with prospects going back and Marner going to a contending team
Carter Hart is buried in Phillie , the team needs an intense rebuild , Briere knows that
I still think Hart is untradeable until the Hockey Canada thing clears him. He’s only playing because he’s under contract. The World Junior thing is a non-story in American media…but trade him to Toronto and see what happens.
To me either PLD or JT Miller fits the Canes game and situation. Even a 1 year rental of PLD?
I agree except PLD would have to be signed long term or likely a deal breaker. Miller is versatile but would to be better defensively for RBA which is possible.
PLD is the better choice as a player no doubt, but when you add that Miller is already signed and the asking price, whcih is lower, it not a bad trade for the Canes. Maybe Necas and the Canes first going to Vancouver?
Carolina had a pretty good year. Losing in conference’ finals to hot goalie in a bunch of 1 goal games isn’t a reason to worry. Having a healthy Svechnikov could’ve/would’ve made a huge difference. Will Pacioretty be back? Gardner?
I keep reading Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois, Winnipeg 1st and 2nd line Center men.
What’s Winnipeg options? They need centers an this isn’t a team going thru a rebuild.
If one or both are traded a center needs to come back in return.
Winnipeg may have to reach out to Sean Monahan camp and gage the interest. He could be an option for 2nd line center.
That will need a young unproven center coming back for Scheifele or Pierre-Luc Dubois if either is traded.
Monahan playing as a # 2 center is risky business, Caper. He has missed significant time in each of the last three seasons.
Riskier still if the Jets trade Scheifele, as it seems unlikely Dubois will sign an extension after this coming season.
Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois for Necas, Drury and a 2024 1st, more if PLD is a sign than trade with at least a 5 yr contract.