NHL Rumor Mill – April 29, 2024
What next for the Capitals following their first-round elimination? What’s the latest on the Sabres and Canadiens? Find out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
WHAT NEXT FOR THE CAPITALS?
ESPN.COM: Kristen Shilton looked at what the offseason might hold for the Washington Capitals following their first-round playoff elimination.
Shilton wonders if Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan will embrace a full-scale roster rebuild. She pointed out they must prioritize building up their scoring depth and adding to their defense corps.
THE ATHLETIC: Shayna Goldman also weighed in on the Capitals’ potential offseason plans. She also wonders if they’ll maintain their retool or consider a rebuild.
Management could feel there’s a chance for one last run with the club’s aging core, especially with up-and-coming players like Connor McMichael, Hendrix Lapierre and Aliaksei Protas getting some meaningful games under their belts.
The Capitals don’t have much salary cap space or roster room to make additions via free agency. They could consider a trade similar to the one that landed them Rasmus Sandin last year.
Going the rebuild route would mean shedding some veterans but that won’t be easy given their contracts. T.J. Oshie ($5.75 million) is signed through next season. Tom Wilson would draw interest but not at $6.5 million per season for the next seven years. John Carlsson’s $8 million AAV over the next two seasons is a hard sell.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Ovechkin era is winding down and it would be tempting to either add veterans to the lineup in the hope of making a final playoff run. They could also embrace a full-fledged rebuild. Neither option, however, seems likely.
No one believes the Capitals have a realistic shot at the Stanley Cup. Tearing everything down for a rebuild would risk setbacks in the development of those young players.
The Capitals exceeded expectations this season by qualifying for the postseason. That could provide MacLellan with the justification to continue the retooling process. That means continuing the transition away from the aging veterans while giving the kids more playing time. He could bring in affordable young assets with potential via trades like he did with Sandin. He will likely keep promoting promising youngsters from his farm team.
Buffalo Sabres winger Jeff Skinner (NHL Images)
LATEST SABRES SPECULATION
THE ATHLETIC: Michael Fairburn recently looked at some decisions that will define Lindy Ruff’s first offseason with the Buffalo Sabres.
They must figure out what to do with Jeff Skinner. The 31-year-old winger’s production declined this season. If they keep him, they’ll have to surround him with better linemates or convince him to accept a lesser role.
Skinner has three years remaining on his contract with an average annual value of $9 million. He carries a full no-movement clause. If he agrees to waive it, no one will want to take on his salary. Buying him out is an option but it would cost $1.4 million against their cap for next season, followed by annual cap hits of $4.4 million and $6.4 million. After that, it drops to $2.4 million annually for the final three years of the buyout.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: They’re stuck with Skinner for the remainder of his contract unless they can swing a trade where they retain half of that cap hit.
Fairburn believes general manager Kevyn Adams must add a veteran third-line center to kill penalties and win faceoffs, a top-six forward who is tough to play against and at least one fast, tenacious bottom-fix forward.
Adams could find it difficult to address those needs via free agency. Instead, he’ll likely have to go the trade route. Forward Peyton Krebs could be used as a trade chip. The 23-year-old is a restricted free agent who needs to turn the corner in his development.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Fairburn pointed to Adams’ shipping Casey Mittelstadt to the Colorado Avalanche for Bowen Byram as an example of the type of trades he could make this summer.
SUGGESTED TRADE TARGETS FOR THE CANADIENS
TVA SPORTS: Kevin Dube and Benoit Rioux wondered if Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes will attempt to add another promising young forward at this year’s draft. In the 2022 draft, he acquired Kirby Dach from Chicago and brought in Alex Newhook last year from Colorado.
Dube and Rioux suggested five forwards who might fit that profile. They include Buffalo forwards Jack Quinn and Peyton Krebs, New Jersey’s Alexander Holtz, Los Angeles’ Arthur Kaliyev and the New York Rangers’ Kaapo Kakko.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sabres are moving Quinn but could part with Krebs as noted above. Holtz, Kaliyev and Kakko surfaced in this season’s rumor mill. Kakko seems the least likely of that trio to be available as the Rangers don’t want to risk giving up on him too quickly.
The Devils could use Holtz as part of the return this summer for a starting goalie. Kaliyev seems the most likely to be available as his playing time declined with the Kings this season. A trade to a new club might help him get back on track.
“ The Capitals exceeded expectations this season by qualifying for the postseason”
I wouldn’t read too much into Washington making the playoffs. The Metro is absolutely awful. Somebody had to make it. I cannot remember the last time a team with a -37 goal differential made the playoffs.
Maybe they sneak in again next year because I don’t see Pittsburgh, NYI’s , Columbus getting better. Philly and NJ??? Maybe. But even if they do manage another playoff berth, cup aspirations for Washington are grossly in the the rear view mirror.
Caps GM first has to decide if they think Ovie can get 42 goals next season…if so try to add another playmaker. I cannot imagine how Ovie will look past next season after witnessing that playoff series.
If 2024-25 is the Great8 swan song they can try to run him out with Strome again
Recently there have been threads on the pros and cons of Pittsburgh trading Crosby. Would Washington consider dealing Ovechkin if the right offer came along? Or do they absolutely “need” the Gretzky chase in order to sell tickets during what appears to be a looming re-build?
Re the Re;Builds
Buffalo, NJ, and the Habs start to come out of the re-builds 2 of the 3 make the playoffs❓….. and
maybe the Sen’s IF they can Fix the Goaltening and get a Real Starter….😳
Caps & Pen’s Go in to a Full Re-build at some point next season…❓
OV look like he was done… with Zero points in the playoffs and he looked Very Slow.
Sid gets traded out by the Pen’s at the 2025 trade deadline to play with #29…..
I’ve been hearing “this is Buffalo’s year” for about a decade. At this point, I’ve lost any faith in this organization. I’d be shocked if even the most loyal fan hasn’t as well.
Montreal was the at the bottom of the standings in the east (15th) I don’t believe this team goes from cellar to playoffs next year.
I think NJ could make that leap, but they have some work to do before they make the playoffs.
I’d put Detroit in next year and possibly Philly over Montreal and Buffalo.
I don’t believe Crosby gets traded, even though I believe it would be the right thing for the organization and the player.
The Crosby / Colorado connection ? I believe this is pure click bait type of rumor. Crosby more than likely signs an extension, and Colorado would have to move a big contract to accommodate Crosby.
Why try to figure out who makes the playoffs now when teams will have different rosters to start next season?
Will the Habs make the playoffs next year? Detroit missed the playoffs last year and I have no idea how they tied Washington for points, had more wins, and weren’t in the playoffs this year. For the purpose of this discussion, they effectively did make it.
Detroit’s improvement over the previous year, when they missed the playoffs by 12 points, came with the addition of two players: Kane and DeBrincat.
So dramatic improvements are possible from one season to the next.
Put another way, the betting odds at the beginning of this season had the Leafs at +900 on one betting site – second only to Carolina. Want some of that action now?
Some lame thing related to “regulation wins” LJ.
THAT needs to be fixed – Washington, a minus 26 on the season with one less win than Detroit gets in, while the Red Wings, a +6, do not.
They would have put up a much better showing than the Capitals while at the same time giving their young players valuable playoff experience.
Boston,Toronto and Tampa are still much better than ,Buffalo,Detroit,MontrealOttawa ! Those teams at the end of the day play just well enough to lose!
Well, it’s not that there is a science to it, but pretty rarely do teams go from 15th to 1-8.
Is Montreal adding 3 lines in the offseason? Doubtful. They went from 15th in the east (22-23)to 15th in the east ( 23-24)
Last year the same 4 teams in the Atlantic made the playoffs, and 3 of 4 in the metro. (Washington in NJ out)
So again, no science. But based on “likelihood “ it’s safe to assume barring major roster shakeups who will and won’t make the playoffs.
On the flip side, why bother speculating anything? Who will be traded , where fa’s may or may not sign etc.
Isn’t that 98% of what’s discussed on here?
Yes, much of the discussion is speculation, or opinion.
To be clear, I am not suggesting the Habs have a realistic chance of making the playoffs next year. The improvement the Wings had was 11 points, from 80. The Habs are way back, 68 points. So yes, a long way from the traditional mark of 96.
I’m just saying that speculation on a team’s performance before we know what their roster is isn’t worth it. Let’s check in at the beginning of October for rating teams’ chances.
For now, speculation on who will win this year’s Cup would at least be based on teams who we know are in the playoffs.
Neither is speculating that Hanifin will go to Boston, Tampa or Miami for 6-8 months but we still do it.
Probably easier to paint next years playoff picture given recent history than it is to point out where a player lands, signs, re-signs or gets traded to in the future. Or who wins what series etc.
The reality is, things don’t really change that much year to year in the standings.
I wouldn’t bet my life savings on Columbus, Pittsburgh, Montreal etc. making the playoffs because recent history shows that’s less than likely. The playoff picture in the east hasn’t changed much in 4-5 years.
I initially saw a NYR-Dallas final … NY might still get there …. but Dallas seems to be in tough against defending champs – who I DO NOT want to see repeat …, but dammit, they could – they’re strong all over.
Add Ottawa to the “most likely won’t” list CaptainObvious … somehow, for some nagging reason, I just don’t see new owner Andlauer’s buddy, Staios, as having the necessary NHL experience and connections to pull off what is agonizingly essential for them to take that next step.
I feel your pain George. Ottawa is very much like Buffalo imo. They seem to have a lot of good pieces, yet just can’t seem to make that jump. I don’t watch a lot of either team, but when I do watch, (both) they seem better than they are in the standings.
Outside of giving Norris and Chabot too much too soon, the Debrincat trade / trade. I like what they’ve done. What are they missing?
What realistically brings them back in the fold?
I 100% believe Buffalo is a culture problem. Oreilly walks out the door wins a cup, Eichel walks out the door wins a cup, Mittlestadt next?
Is it the same story in Ottawa?
As for NY, I don’t like predicting playoff series when it comes to teams I cheer for.
I will say this, they definitely would have their work cut out for them to make it. I don’t love matchups between any of Carolina, and then Boston or Florida.
Special teams look great, 5on5 better. I’d feel much better if Fox was at the top of his game and Chytil back in the mix wouldn’t hurt either.
That’s as far as I’m willing to say! Lol
CaptainObvious, there’s no indication here that Ottawa’s weaknesses are related to a culture problem. When players like Stone and Karlsson were around, perhaps something like that were factors in their departure … but that was several seasons back and most of the current roster arrived long after they left.
Here, some of us think anyway, it’s been a combination of bad luck surrounding their consensus top C, Norris, and his chronic shoulder woes, lack of any meaningful offensive threat from lines 3 and 4, the need for perhaps 2 solid veteran D-men, and a coach who can instill a decent overall defensive system, including the pk, and at least get some sort of consistency of effort from game to game, especially when running into the teams below them in the standings after having just defeated the likes of a Toronto, Tampa, Edmonton, etc – which they did repeatedly throughout the season.
Scoring isn’t their problem. Over the season they scored more (255) than teams ahead of them like Seattle (217), Calgary (253), Buffalo (246), Philadelphia (235), Minnesota (251), Washington (220), St. Louis (239) and NYI (220), were the same as Pittsburgh, 1 less than (L.A.), 4 less than Winnipeg and 12 less than Boston.
The problem is, most came from lines 1 and 2 and 2 or 3 of their D.
Skinner done like dinner. Had a couple of bounce back years but looked like the player of old last season . What to do
Devils had an off year. No Hamilton for the most part , young D with no depth and poor goaltending . Handsome Jack needs to stay healthy.
I guess playing Mathews to get 70 was more important than rested and heathy. Same for Nylander . Most teams that were not fighting for anything were sitting their top talent
Caps..meh .
I think NJ needs more than goaltending and Hamilton back in the mix. Hughes staying healthy is a big ask!
But if he can, he is a terror. He pretty much single handed won that series against NY last year after being completely dominated the first 2 games of that series!
That series looked over going into game 3.