NHL Rumor Mill – October 4, 2023
Check out the latest on Alexis Lafreniere, the Oilers’ goaltending, Patrick Kane, Marc-Andre Fleury, a couple of Leafs’ trade candidates and more in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Stan Fischler and Stefen Rosner with a roundup of trade and free agent rumors this week. Among the notables:
Alexis Lafreniere’s struggles with the New York Rangers don’t seem to be letting up and it might be best for both sides to part ways soon. The 21-year-old former first-overall pick should still fetch plenty in a trade and he could be a good fit with the Montreal Canadiens.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Rangers have tried playing Lafreniere on right wing during this preseason (and in previous seasons) but the results have been underwhelming. It’s still too early to hit the panic button as general manager Chris Drury could prefer seeing how he performs in the upcoming regular season.
New York Rangers winger Alexis Lafreniere (NHL Images).
Nevertheless, Drury’s patience could run out if Lafreniere doesn’t improve as the coming campaign progresses. The Canadiens could be among the interested clubs though they’re going to give 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky as well as Rafael Harvey-Pinard plenty of looks as their middle-six left wingers. Still, Habs president of hockey ops Jeff Gorton could contact Drury if Lafreniere became available. Gorton drafted Lafreniere while serving as Rangers GM in 2020.
There will be clubs willing to bet on Lafreniere benefitting from a change of scenery and an opportunity to earn full-time second-line minutes in his natural position at left wing. However, his trade value for the Rangers will suffer if his play shows no sign of real improvement.
The onus is going to be on Stuart Skinner to backstop the Edmonton Oilers into the Stanley Cup Final. If he struggles this season, however, Oilers GM Ken Holland could be forced into the trade market. Jack Campbell cannot do the job full-time despite his $20 million contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Skinner played well enough last season to become a finalist for the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year but he wilted under the heat of playoff pressure. Meanwhile, Campbell struggled through his first season with the Oilers but played well spelling off Skinner in the postseason.
Campbell has solid stats in previous playoff competitions with a career 2.28 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. If he can wrest back the starter’s job this season, maybe he can carry them to the Final.
For now, the Oilers’ goalie situation remains a question mark. If Campbell and Skinner both struggle this season, Holland could have a difficult time finding a suitable short-term starter by the March trade deadline.
It’s possible Patrick Kane could end up with the Rangers this season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I wouldn’t rule it out but their limited cap space will make it difficult to outbid other clubs.
Maybe Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois is thinking about Marc-Andre Fleury now that Andrei Vasilevskiy is sidelined.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Fleury isn’t going anywhere. Even if he agreed to waive his no-movement clause, his $3.5 million cap hit is too expensive for the cap-strapped Lightning to absorb. The Wild have no reason to peddle Fleury. He’ll serve as Filip Gustavsson’s backup and mentor for the coming season.
The Athletic reportedly has Calle Jarnkrok or T.J. Brodie getting traded this season by the Toronto Maple Leafs to relieve their cap issues. The Anaheim Ducks are one reported destination.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Brodie currently skates alongside Morgan Rielly on their top defense pairing so I doubt he gets shopped. Jarnkrok is their utility forward on their checking lines. He’d be the more likely trade option but the Leafs could consider other cost-cutting choices.
The Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks are supposedly talking.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I wonder if Shane Pinto or Mathieu Joseph are the subjects of their conversations. The Senators are believed to be peddling Joseph to free up cap room to sign Pinto.
Yeah…. Fetch plenty is both vague and quite optimistic.
Weaponizing cap space. Wonder what it takes to move Joseph or jarnkrok?
@ihate
good points.
but why not trade Kreider next summer before he ages out? he scored almost every goal in the playoffs but was lazy on almost every goal against in game 7….
he has value and with othmann+cuylle coming up need to make room
Imo the better play is to move Panarin to free cap and increase playing time for youth and balance the team better. Will miss Breads points and offense generation % but 3 more seasons means Laffy get stunted and Cuyle and Othman get stunted from not having a roster spot chance until Cuyle is 25 and Othman is 23
Rather keep Kreids even though I didnt want to sign him to the extension
Here is why. Trade Kreids and now Zibby has no winger he has playing chemistry with. Also 11 m cleared Ian better than just 6.5 cleared.
Ihate, it would be next to impossible to trade Panarin now. Huge cap hit, he’s hitting 30 and has a full NMC
Howard I agree. Just remarking what makes more sense from a cap and organizational sense. I fully recognize his movement clause crushes all flexibility
IMO
Rangers need to move lines around to allow better development. Kreids and Zibby have chemistry but stunts youth growth
Try
Panarin/Zibby/Chytil
Laff/Trocheck/Kakko
Kreids/Goodrow/Wheeler
Trochecks two way game will help Laffy and Kakko and 2nd line duty will give more playing time for the kids. Allow Laffy to ply the LW that made him a top draft pick. Clearly the Rangers aren’t using him correctly. He found success with Canada as LW yes?so let him play there He is probable best playing the 2lw with Trocheck and Kakko as the 2rw for now
Kreids and Wheeler can drive 3rd line offense and allows Chytil top line minutes he clearly deserves. Filip is very noticeable on the ice. Panarin and Zibby are fast skilled guys and Fil would be better top 1RW than Laffy
3c duty for Goodrow is more inline with his salary and again keeps a defensive center mindset while having two offensive players on his wing that can play down low and cycle the puck.
Run those lines for a bit and if’s it fails
Then offer Laf and Kakko for Zegras and something. Move Zegras to 3c and bring up Cuyle and Othman as his wingers going forward.
Ryan Nugent first 182 games he has 78 5v5 points.
Lafy in his first 181 games has 95…….
RNH is a much better skater.
Not sure where you saw this, but Lafreniere only has 91 total career points in 216 games.
But I am rooting for him to get a chance as a top LW for an extended period of time. Having him and Kreider on the same line is redundant for the style they play around the net.
@foley
my bad math adding the games played!
I can’t see Zegras for both Laf and Kakko since he scores more than both. Drury would be looking at K. Miller and choice of those two for his most talented player and only 22 yrs old, also Ducks need D and Verbeek would threaten Drury if he offered that deal.
Ducks do not need D. Zellweger and Mintyukov will be regulars next year if not sooner plus they have Drysdale returning from injury this year.
Those should be their top 3 D for the next decade.
Apparently my fellow Ranger fans are watching different games than me. Not sure what anyone has seen from Laf that makes you bash Kreider and think Laf would be better if given the opportunity? So, trade Kreider or Panarin and what happens if Laf turns out to be a bust? Honestly, Cuylle has been better than Laf in preseason. Laf invisible. Kakko is the only “kid line” guy I keep. Not high on either Laf or Chytil, who is in his 6th season? Is it just forwards Rangers don’t develop, cause dmen and goalies seem to do fine.
Root for Lafy as a Rangers fan.
One LW in front of him is 7th in goals over the past 2 seasons and the other LW is 12th in points over the past 2 seasons. You cannot remove either off Powerplay unit #1…. and if the kid has regular powerplay time he would have 60 points+ …odd situation to be buried by two of the top LWs in the league to start your career
Take out Kreids PP goals and I think Laffy has more 5 on 5 goals. Someone correct me if I am wrong please.
Easier to slide Laffy up and kreids down 5 on 5 and add Laffy to pp1 playing left side like jack Hughes and really rotate to other side to set up Zibby or Bread for one timer across or In slot.
Move Trocheck to pp2 slot with Chytil Kakko wheeler and kandre Miller. Leave troubadour to pk only.
More room for growth for Laffy doing that and balances experience to be able to actually use two units to develop team better.
Everyone seems to bag on Laf for not being able to play RW but don’t forget Bread said hard pass to playing RW and Kreids didn’t succeed either at RW when’s paird with Bread and Zibby
Not Laffy s fault here
Laf first line LW, bread 2nd LW, Kreider 3rd LW with Kreider on the top PP unit. Kreider’s d vs the Devils in round 1 is enough to give him less minutes. Center stay where they are unless it isn’t working. If Laf fails with Zib as his center it’s probably time for a change.
dead horse topic for me sorry…. chris kreider’s game does not matter which side of the ice he is on. most of his goals are on a rush or standing in front of the net. he does not setup people off the leftside of the ice etc.
the kid has good vision and sliding Kreider to RW seems like an obvious move….
I’m prepared to give Tampa Mathieu Joseph back and Maads Soggard. They can make the money work on their end using LTIR and deal with it when Vasilevsky gets back. The thing is, Maads kinda has that Ben Bishop 2.0 feel. I’d want a pick or a prospect back.
With TB needing a goalie why not just sign Halak? Good enough to still play and I think he only needs 5 wins for a milestone. Good PR move and again good enough to split duties until Vasilevsky’s return
Thoughts?
Why not get one free off waivers cheaper? Someone like Jones who they would have a lot of familiarity with makes some sense too. League minimum easy to fit and bury.
As per Cap Friendly, with a 22-man roster, TB is currently almost 7 million over the cap. They don’t have any cap space to sign anyone. Yeah, they could put Vasilevsky on LTIR to get the cap space, but at some put this season he will need to come off.
Not necessarily , Tampa better than anyone know how to game the Cap…they had done it couple of years ago.
Kev, the $7 million over the cap includes Seabrook; Brent will be on LTIR the entire season. So Tampa is only $70k above the cap with a 22 man roster. Actually in better shape than Toronto.
Speaking of the Leafs, Spector noted “the Leafs could consider other cost-cutting choices”. Like what? Toronto can be cap compliant with a 20 man roster. Otherwise, trade Nylander, Brodie, Jarnkrok or McCabe with money out at least $1 million greater than money in.
IF Conor Timmins ($1.1 million) is placed on LTIR, they may be able to finagle the minimum wage earners to create a 21 player cap compliant roster.
So I guess every French Canadian player on the block will be rumored to the Habs from now on.
I still maintain that the Rangers haven’t given Lafreniere the proper chance to succeed. Signing Kane is not what they need now. They need to give Lafreniere and Kaako more ice time, especially on the P.P. Give them the opportunity to develop.
If Lafreniere is given the opportunity and picks up his game, he will obviously not be traded. If he struggles to start the season he may very well be put on the trade block. I could see Hughes and Gorton having interest. But the return wouldn’t be great.
Howard, the “every French-Canadian player to Montreal” rumor is much like “every GTA-born player to Toronto” chatter. Which is to be expected considering the huge fan base associated with both.
As for Lafreniere, it’s a double-edge sword in his case – if he gets off to a good start he likely stays in NY … but if he’s inconsistent again and does go on the block, that history will certainly lower the returns.
Also every Arizona-born all-star is always rumoUred to be on the verge of going to the Coyotes.
LOL. Yeah. Forgot that one
tb, you mean all one of them.
George, it seems we hear it more with Montreal than Toronto.
I’ve probably watched 90% of LAF’s games and to be quite honest I still can get a grip on him. I’m an Islanders die hard but I appreciate talent wherever it is.
The guy obviously has talent. He’s a bit slow, but not horribly so. I think that his problem is that he has no place in the Ranger line up. I also think that the coaching that he was receiving has been, shall we say “sub par”.
He looks confused out there. Maybe confused is too strong a word. Maybe uncomfortable is a better choice.
I don’t think that he will ever be a game breaker. But I do think, that on a different team, he could be a solid 30+ goal man with a shot at 70 points every year.
He’ll never develop into that player with the Rangers. Not unless one of their top six goes down for the season.
I do not think that it will benefit the Rangers to trade him. Whatever they get back won’t match what LAF will do elsewhere.
So both are kind of stuck with each other.
Hey George, if you hear anything about Bailey throw it up here for me. Thanks
Drouin is surely an apt reminder of the pressure of French speaking players playing in Montreal. That plus the fact that the Habs have enough reclamation projects and young players of their own to develop. And Laffy is better off elsewhere …
Apparently the Habs might sign JJ Frankie JJ if a transfer agreement is made with the NOSHO to get another French Canadian player on the team.
Laurence Leboeuf wants to go home.
Re; The Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks
A Trade,
The Sens send Mathieu Joseph and a 1st pick in 2025..
Or
The Wings 1st pick in 2024 the sens have to the Sharks…🤔
for a 2nd round pick one of the Sharks 2 they have in 2024
this would be a High Cost, but they need to clear cap space ASAP to get Pinto signed ….⁉️
and nobody is biting for the 2nd pick option
There are only 8 teams with cap space +$3.M that can aford it right now….
I could see the Jets getting in on Lafreniere. I do believe the Rangers are interested in Scheifele.
Lafreniere and Schneider for Scheifele.