NHL Rumor Mill – July 6, 2024
Check out the recent Canadiens and Ducks speculation in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
SPORTSNET: Eric Engels reports the free-agent market is thinning for the Montreal Canadiens if they intend to go that route to add a scoring forward. Daniel Sprong (18 goals) and Tyler Johnson (17 goals) are the highest-scoring players in the market.

Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes (NHL.com).
Engels believes the Canadiens could go the trade route if they’re seeking immediate help or a player who can help them now and in the future.
The Canadiens have lots of draft capital to use as trade bait. General manager Kent Hughes said they can use it to trade for an existing player or to move up in the draft. They hold two first-rounders in the 2025 draft.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Engels noted it’s a long summer and expects something will shake loose that makes sense for Hughes. The Canadiens GM has a history of making significant moves later in the offseason. He was involved in the three-team trade that sent Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Aug. 6, 2023. Hughes also acquired Sean Monahan on Aug. 18, 2022.
THE ATHLETIC: Eric Stephens wondered if Anaheim Ducks GM Pat Verbeek has a big move up his sleeve following a quiet start to the free-agent period.
Sources told him they made big offers to Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault before they signed with the Nashville Predators. Stephens believes years of losing have prevented Anaheim from being a destination of choice for UFA talent.
Stephens believes the rebuilding Ducks must add a difference-maker to take the club higher, like Toronto’s Mitch Marner or Carolina’s Martin Necas. They can afford to pull off a seismic trade, possessing plenty of salary-cap space, a solid stable of promising youngsters, and roster players who can help teams win now.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Ducks acquired winger Robby Fabbri from the Detroit Red Wings and defenseman Brian Dumoulin from the Seattle Kraken since Stephens’ article was published on July 1. Neither player will significantly improve this club next season or beyond. It remains to be seen if Verbeek is planning a major acquisition to accelerate the rebuild.
With all the supposedly picks and young talented players in their system when is Montreal expected to be relevant? The fan base has given them a long leassh to rebuild the culture of the organization!
Sr, unlike the first 12 team in the following link – 5 of whom are currently in a cap-deficit situation – Montreal is among the more affluent teams when it comes to the ability to take on decent, term players from any team having no choice but to resort to a pure salary dump to comply
https://puckpedia.com/teams
Sr,
Fans in Montreal continue to give the team a long leash, this only the 3rd draft for this administration because they are doing it right.
The culture is being established, young guns are being signed to favorable long contracts, development is more important than rushing players.
There’s a core of young guys being groomed to make the Habs and there’s another boatload of picks next year.
The accent on making the playoffs but on building a multi year Stanley Cup contending franchise again.
Do you have the confidence that your coaching staff is experienced enough to handle it when as you say becoming a contending franchise again?
Sr,
I have a lot of confidence in the coaching staff and the management team.
The evolution of the young guys is clear to the eye as is the game of the young reclamation projects .
One might thing the coaching staff revitalized Monahan’s game.
I’ve watched lots of Habs hockey over the years, witnessing 12 Stanley Cups and I don’t yearn for the “good old days”.
This young team is refreshing, fun to watch, they have no quit and are playing the game the “right way”.
It all decides on what you say by doing it right! Vegas and Fla. did it a much different way than you are describing! Trades and LTIR!
Sr,
By I’m referring to the culture of the team and the development of young players to play the “right way”
From what we have seen from past teams that tore down their teams to do a full rebuild (and depending on how bare the cupboards were of prospects and if you include the tear down year where everything must go), after picking about 4-5 times in the top 10 of the draft, if all goes well within 4-5 years after that, you should expect a young and different team that will be able to challenge for a playoff birth.
Doing things right unfortunately takes time and no one is in a rush to fail. Team rebuilding is fun to watch, fan or not.
And that assessment, which is a sound one Ron, underscores the philosophy that the rebuilding team had better have a good, knowledgeable management team making the decisions during the rebuild.
Otherwise you wind up like Buffalo, now in their 13th year in the wilderness, followed not too far behind by Ottawa at 7 – and counting. Nor do I see an imminent change in Anaheim’s fortunes (6 and counting).
Detroit, at 8, appears finally to be about to escape the drought.
Ron, I agree with your time line but I don’t think it is fun to watch at all.
After a great draft day nothing since. I’m ok with the nothing since, as I don’t want something done for show.
But the two good picks this year don’t show up for at least another year, which is what I think the fan base in Montreal will tolerate before becoming more vocal.
As noted there is still a lot of time before the season starts but I rate the Habs chances of making the playoffs as minimal. If that is so, the fan base will start to squeak, loudly.
LJ, as I post elsewhere, I don’t think Ottawa has done enough to propel into a serious playoff contender. Nor has Montreal or Buffalo or Columbus (Detroit is the exception).
BUT, I do think almost all have improved to the point where the race to the wire will be among the most competitive we’ve seen in years and that, when the season is done, the two WC teams will both need somewhere near 98 points to qualify, and those behind them won’t be far behind. It will be exciting … and I think Habs fans will understand and revel in the building potential.
I appreciate your optimism, George.
And agree with your prediction.
But I am not going to buy NHL center ice until 1/2 price kicks in – and if the Habs are still within a broom handle’s length of a playoff.
Mitch Marner – “difference maker”
Maple Leafs Playoff Results – hold my beer.
Rinse and repeat 8 times.
Difference maker, good one.
Ron, I guess we all have a built-in aversion to certain teams – and for an infinite variety of reasons (I certainly do), but I do think you are being unfair to Marner.
Lord knows I’m no fan of the Leafs, but my reasons have nothing to do with the players – or their cap hits which, in the final analysis, could have been rejected by the management. Can’t blame any player for that.
If any team could find a way to free up enough cap to take on his deal they’d have one of the best play-making wingers in the game. The stats bear that out with career 82-game averages of 28g 63a 91 pts. Over a point a game. And in 57 playoff games the same ratio appears with 11g 39a 50 pts – even with the given increased checking attention that arises in playoff hockey.
George,
Marners a good player, very good. However referring to him as a difference maker is a stretch.
Difference makers earn that moniker in the playoffs and Marner has never shown any hint of being a difference maker in crunch time.
Well, I’m not sure what more h e could do than almost a point a game in playoff hockey where. without exception, the players that can statistically hurt you the most automatically are assigned the best checkers from among the opposition. And these are usually the best at that in the league, otherwise their team might not even be in the playoffs.
Cap ramifications aside, I think any team near or probably in a playoff situation with Marner in their line-up would become all that more difficult to defend against.
Would he – or Necas – be a difference-maker in Anaheim suddenly becoming a playoff team? No, I agree with you there. That IS a stretch given that they were 40 points out of a WC slot and their roster deficiencies run a whole lot deeper than just the addition of one 90 point producer.
But he could – and likely would – be a difference-maker on a closer team like St. Louis, Detroit or NJ.
For the reasons you state George, I see no sense in trading Marner. Him, Nylander and Matthews are still in their prime, and when Tavares comes off the books after this coming season a lot of $ is freed up for the Leafs to go get a good goalie and meaningful depth.
Just about every Cup winner gets secondary scoring, often from unexpected sources. The Leafs haven’t gotten that yet, so as you point out this isn’t just on Marner. That can come if Treliving holds his nerve and re-signs Marner.
Re; MM & The Leafs
At this point it looks like the Maple Leafs hold on to Marrnier and try to do a reasnable extention with him @ 8X$11.M Max….$$ set up before the the end of Januaray🤔
However if they leave it to the Trade deadline,
M.M. has them over a barrel … leaving them not much time to trade Marner .. Then they go Public and say he is on the trade block and has turrend down a Contract @ 8X$11.M Max….$$
Then when John Tavares contract is up at the end of next season they move on from him
and
Make Austin Mathews the Captain and continue to re-shape the team from there, they will have $28.M in cap space to get a good 2nd line centre and add one more good d/man and add from thereâť“
This may also stop them from trading all there picks every year, they also have a couple of good prospects in the Farm that could well make the team in the next 12 to 18 months….🤔
I don’t think Marner will sign a 8 year deal with only a 100 grand raise. I’m thinking the lowest would be the same as Nylander and that’s probably a stretch.
I don’t think Marner is going to accept less money ($11 x 8) than Nylander was given ($11.5 x 8).
Offer Marner the same as Nylander.
If he rejects the offer then leak it to the media and fans who will be merciless and make Marner pay over the coming year for his rejection of a fair offer!
At that point he and his camp may well come to Leaf management and ask for a trade.
George O
Very good observations about Marner regarding his performance in the playoffs.
One other thing to consider it the fact that playoff games are called differently than regular season games and penalty calls are hard to come by.
@Allan
Strong observation !