NHL Rumor Mill – November 5, 2024
In today’s NHL Rumor Mill, there’s speculation over Kirill Kaprizov’s next contract, the Blue Jackets could be worth monitoring in the trade market, and there’s interest in two Kraken forwards.
SPORTSNET: During Monday’s “32 Thoughts: The Podcast”, Elliotte Friedman said he felt that Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov’s next contract could place him among the league’s highest-paid players.
Friedman speculated that Kaprizov could be paid “in the Matthews/Draisaitl range”. He added that he felt the Wild star “is going to be one of the top-paid players in the league.
Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kaprizov, 27, is in the fourth year of his five-year contract with an average annual value of $9 million. He’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2026.
The Wild can attempt to sign Kaprizov to a contract extension next July. On Oct. 2, Wild owner Craig Leipold stated his club intends to re-sign him. “I will tell you nobody will offer more money than us, or longer (years), so all we have to do is prove to him that we want to win.”
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews earns an AAV of $13.25 million. Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl will start making $14 million annually next July when his new eight-year contract extension goes into effect.
The Wild can afford to pay Kaprizov that much on an eight-year contract. He’s their franchise player and the foundation of their efforts to build a Stanley Cup contender.
As Leipold pointed out their intent to win could be the deciding factor. If the Wild show no sign of becoming a contender by 2026, Kaprizov could take his talent elsewhere even if the Wild could pay him more for longer.
DAILY FACEOFF: Frank Seravalli believes the Columbus Blue Jackets are a club worth watching in this season’s trade market.
Seravalli claims Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell has informed teams that he’s willing to take on contracts that might be viewed as undesirable in exchange for assets. They have plenty of cap space to do so this season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Seravalli also said Waddell has received offers of players with three to five years remaining on their contracts. However, the Blue Jackets GM isn’t interested in taking on those type of deals. He’s probably more keen on those with one or two years remaining.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Julian Gaudio cited Seravalli reporting the Seattle Kraken has received calls about forward Brandon Tanev and Yanni Gourde.
Seravalli said the Kraken has too many forwards and must move someone if everyone stays healthy. Tanev and Gourde are checking-line forwards but don’t contribute much offense, something the Kraken needs as their offensive stats are slipping.
Gourde’s ability to play center or wing makes the Kraken reluctant to move him while Tanev could be a different story.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Gourde’s versatility and Stanley Cup experience with the Tampa Bay Lightning would make him more enticing for clubs seeking checking-line depth. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen if the Kraken are willing to move either forward at this point.
It’s interesting how Friedman is ‘just thinking’ about something – namely because the player is very hot right now – that is still two years away. And people wonder why we get so tired about hearing on and on about a player’s potential movement, in this case, the contract for what seems to be, years away.
Thank god there is nothing else to report on in the hockey world that we can discuss things that won’t happen for another two years! Great reporting!!!
Ron Moore
That’s funny!!! I hear you. Plenty of other things to discuss? How about Rantanen & Marner or Shishsterkin? We talk all the time about contracts as opposed to what is going on down on the ice. I don’t want to hear Rantanen contract talk either unless they are actually negotiating or their is some legitimate movement at hand?
The Toronto Maple Leafs made a surprise announcement Tuesday morning, revealing that Auston Matthews will miss their game against the Boston Bruins, and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
HORRORS! 😬
Are you sure you’re not looking at news from last springs’ playoffs?
Can you post a link indicating he’s day-to-day now?
https://www.nhl.com/news/auston-matthews-day-to-day-for-toronto-with-injury
Good news!
Thanks theSaint. Googled the Hell out it and the only thing that kept popping up was related to the playoffs last spring.
That’s so weird George! I went to NHL dot com and it was the first story.
Gotta update your Google, George! Or do you have the setting on “Antiquated News for Octogenarians”. 😉
LOL. Maybe that’s it Johnny Z. I’m stuck in a time warp!
Good news Ray, not really. Toronto has a better winning percentage without Matthews in the lineup than when he`s there. So, Matthews out might be the spark they need to get their sh^t together.
Teams looking for a top 9 forward’s ….🤔
-The Leafs, for robertson and a pick
-Hab’s, ?
-Pred’s need centre’s
-Sabres help on topm 9
The Oilers Adam Henrique the 3rd line centre who can also play wing there at $3.M for this season and next
i could see Henrique moved as a Trade to free up cap space lots of teams looking for top 9 forwards❓
Oilers Bottom six, Noah Philips had a good 2nd game, he could well be the 3rd line centre on the Oilers team…..⁉️
Nichushkin for Brock Nelson?
It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Staios was one of those making calls to Seattle re Gourde or Tanev … good defensive bottom 6 Fs are sometimes as hard to find and acquire as are goal scorers.
However, with the way Ottawa’s bottom 6 has been playing – and producing – I wouldn’t want to see him make a move that disrupts the chemistry that is clearly developing.
Leading the way there is former Hobey Baker winner (at Northeastern) Adam Gaudette who, until this season, has bounced around the NHL and AHL since being taken in the 5th round in 2015 by Vancouver.
From Braintree, Mass, he’s played in Vancouver, as well as Chicago, Ottawa (in 2021-22), St. Louis and now back in Ottawa where, after adding the missing defensive attributes to his game (he could always score, once potting 44 in Springfield of the AHL), has found a home on the 4th line centering Nick Cousins and Zach MacEwen.
To date, in 11gp, they have registered 9g 5a 14 pts and a cumulative +9 …. and it’s been a LONG time since we’ve seen an Ottawa 4th line doing that well – even just 11 games in.