NHL Rumor Mill – December 11, 2024
Check out the latest on the Rangers, Stars, and Canadiens in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
WHAT NEXT FOR THE RANGERS?
THE SCORE: John Matisz cited ESPN’s Emily Kaplan recently mentioned hearing four New York Rangers – forwards Kaapo Kakko, Chris Kreider and Reilly Smith, and defenseman Ryan Lindgren – could be trade chips. Her report came Friday after the Rangers shipped Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks.
New York Rangers winger Chris Kreider (NHL Images).
Matisz also cited Rangers general manager Chris Drury telling reporters his club wasn’t opposed to making other moves. However, he wanted to let the dust settle a bit after everything the struggling club has been through over the past couple of weeks.
THE ATHLETIC: Arthur Staple wondered what Drury’s next move would be after the Rangers lost to the Seattle Kraken and Chicago Blackhawks.
Staple wondered if the players had tuned out head coach Peter Laviolette. He claimed a league source told him Laviolette was safe. However, things can change quickly. Staple believes changing coaches would shift the blame for the club’s recent difficulties behind the bench rather than on it.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A coaching change could be all Drury has left if the losses pile up and he can’t get decent returns for those rumored trade chips. No one’s going to throw him a lifeline in the trade market.
WILL THE STARS GO “BIG GAME HUNTING” TO REPLACE TYLER SEGUIN?
DAILY FACEOFF: Jeff Marek believes the Dallas Stars will go big game hunting to replace sidelined forward Tyler Seguin. He believes that GM Jim Nill will be aggressive with his salary-cap space as the club is in “win-now” mode.
Pursuing a big-ticket player means giving to get, and that could mean parting with a good young player like Logan Stankoven, Mavrik Bourque and Lian Bichsel.
Marek speculates Nill could wait until after the 4 Nations Face-Off in February in case Jake Oettinger gets injured in that tournament. The Stars goaltender has been selected to play for Team USA. Marek can also see Nill looking for toughness among his checking lines, suggesting Mathieu Olivier of the Columbus Blue Jackets as a trade target.
Marek’s colleague Colby Cohen suggests Nill pursue Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri and defenseman Rasmus Andersson.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Stars could accrue over $6 million in cap space by the trade deadline without having to place Seguin and his $9.875 million cap hit on long-term injury reserve. Nevertheless, it’s expected Nill will put Seguin on LTIR and use those savings to bolster his roster for a Cup run next spring, most likely targeting pending free agents on non-contending clubs.
The Flames probably won’t part with Kadri and Andersson if they’re in playoff contention by the March 7 trade deadline. Of the two, Andersson could be the more likely to move. He’s signed through next season with an AAV of $4.55 million and a six-team no-trade list. That’s assuming Flames GM Craig Conroy believes Andersson could prove too expensive to retain or intends to test the market in 2026.
Meanwhile, Kadri’s contract is a potential stumbling block. He is signed through 2028-29 with an AAV of $7 million and a full no-movement clause. He told reporters during training camp to pump the brakes on the trade rumors that dogged him during the summer.
CANADIENS STILL SEEK RIGHT-SIDE BLUELINE DEPTH
RG.ORG: Marco D’Amico reports the Montreal Canadiens continue to seek an upgrade on the right side of their defense corps. David Savard is their only consistent right-shot rearguard but he’s UFA-eligible this summer and could be moved by the March trade deadline.
The Canadiens were linked to David Jiricek before the Columbus Blue Jackets traded the young blueliner to the Minnesota Wild. However, the Habs were concerned about his foot speed, hockey sense and defensive positioning. The Jackets also preferred sending Jiricek to a Western Conference team.
It’s believed that the Canadiens were among the clubs kicking tires on Jacob Trouba before the Rangers shipped him to the Ducks.
D’Amico pointed out the difficulty of finding a suitable defenseman in the trade market during the season. The Habs might have to look to this summer’s trade and free-agent markets to address that need.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Free agency won’t yield much. The most notable options are 39-year-old Brent Burns of the Carolina Hurricanes, long-time Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, and Neal Pionk of the Winnipeg Jets.
Marek can suggest Olivier, but the Jackets front office has begun contract extension talks with him, so I think Nill would have to overpay to get him.
The Habs don’t need an experienced RHD wo won’t be there later in the rebuild.
They don’t need a Jiricek who is back in the AHL
There are young RHD being groomed, if and when they arrive a decision will be made on who to keep and who to trade.
Defensive help can come in the way of coaching and Andrei Markov should be considered. As a player he raised the game of his partners who got big contracts under his tutelage.
The Habs did him wrong by not signing him to 10 games to reach the 1000 plateau.
The General is a fan fave in Montreal, got a standing ovation this past weekend while sitting in the fan seats.
As a player there was grumbling about him not treating rookies well….. but truth is he made them excellent players.
I too liked Markie, and agree he made others better: think Komisarek.
But he was also notoriously uncommunicative, and as you point out treated rookies poorly. They are the ones who need help, and I cannot envision how that translates into help.
As for Trouba to the Habs, what a joke. He’s not worth 8 million a season at this stage in his career if he ever was. His cap hit would tie up way too much $. Talk about throwing out wild ideas.
If the Habs are short right hand D, why trade Savard? It’s not like the Habs need more draft picks. They have 9 picks in the first and second rounds alone for the next three years.
Markov turned down a contract with the Habs because he wanted more money. There’s way too much revisionist history on Marky’s departure from the Habs, and his play in the KHL proved he was way past the ability to play at an NHL level.
As for Markov as an assistant coach, how do we know he can coach? He was a great player, but can he coach? He was known for being a quiet guy, and his comfort with speaking English would likely hamper his ability to coach young players.
Last night Games..
I watched the Flames & Preds game for 1 hr, and kept looking back over the 2nd & 3rd periods….before the Oilers game started with Tampa Bay that came on at 7.pm
The Flames made the Pred’s look Bad, They are suppose to be the Re-building Team hear….
Howverer
The Preds could not get the Puck past Flames Backup tender Dan Vladar….⁉️
A Quote from Preds GM…on TV last night..❗️🤔
if we dont turn this thing round… I’m going to Start this Re-tool SOONER than Later The GM Said at the First Intermission.
Now the Preds are in Last place 32nd in the NHL….
I see Major Trades happing in Early January,
They already have 3st & 2 nd picks in the 2025 Draft,
and
thats Before they start trading players out,
So What do you think are they Worth…..
Steven Stamkos…?
Jonathan Marchessault..? i think Boston
for a 1st pick and Good Prospect✔️
Ryan O’Reilly..?
UFA,.. Gustav Nyquist..?
RD, 35 yr old Luke Schenn.. are in big demand…?
Quote from Trotz:
“(Filip) Forsberg, (Roman) Josi, (Ryan) O’Reilly, (Brady) Skjei, and of course Stamkos and Marchessault, they are here,” Trotz said. “They aren’t going anywhere. And (Juuse) Saros. But everybody else, I might pull out and put in a young kid.”
Not sure they can do much. If they do sell it will probably just be a pending free agents like Nyqvist.
Schenn to the Nucks.
foleyd7
Last nights Quote from Trotz,… He did Not Name Names…
However.. How long is a Re-Tool,❓ 🤔 3-4 years
Looks like a Re-build is +7 Years…
look at the Sen’s Sabers,Red Wings, Ducks, Sharks to neme a few…
Do these 5 guys want to sick around as Bottom dwellers for the next + 4 years, I Really dont thik So…..
1/ Steven Stamkos
2/ Jonathan Marchessault
3/ Ryan O’Reilly
4/ Gustav Nyquist
5/ Luke Schenn 35 yr old
Smith, Kakko and Lindgren won’t bring in much. If the Rangers expect to get a return for Kreider that’ll help them immediately it would likely have to be an off-season deal.
The best place for Kakko is right where he’s at. I have no idea why he is even in the rumor mill. He’s been one of their best forwards this year and has looked solid at center.
I think they need to further experiment with him at center. He’s a solid possession guy which is what NYs grossly lacking.
Howard would call Boston on Kreider ! Would probably wave NMC to go home!Krieder and Lindgren forCarlo and Geekie!
Kreider not going anywhere. His cap hit alone is more than Carlo and Geekie. 2 players that NY has no use for. Kreider on pace for another 30 goal season.
Johnny Z, and Howard
JZ,
Oil could do with him too…..RD, Luke Schenn👍
Howard,
Both of these two are UFA’s Smith and Lindgren
for 2nd rd picks….❓
I think Kakko is getting better each year..
18 goals in 22-23, he had 13 last year in 23-24
and 4 so far this Season, he could go somewhere and get 30 Goals next season…..😂
Trading Trouba was a no brainer. Had basically become an 8m 3rd pair dman. And they had his replacement in rookie Mancini. Getting Vaakenainen in deal could trigger a Lindgren trade. IMO, I’d shop K’Andre Miller instead. He probably has more trade value and is an rfa with arbitration rights. Lindgren is ufa, and slight chance they can get him on a cheaper short term extension. Can always let him walk. Smith is a rental. Hasn’t exactly been the answer to ongoing 1st line RW conundrum. Kakko has been part of arguably Rangers best all around line. Only way they trade him is he’s part of a deal for a legit scoring winger.
Quick question for those that follow the Rangers:
Who says NO–Drury or Armstrong
Kyrou and Perunovich for Kakko and,Lindgren
IP
\
Armstrong.
100% Armstrong
Kreider had 8 goals in first 13 games and 2 in the past 10. Mika has 5 goals in his past 37 games or something close to that. guys wearing a letter yes are expected to help lift the team. these guys just play with each other
Really disappointed at the Bruins letting Regula get snatched up by another club (Oilers via waivers) without giving him a shot. Last year, the only preseason game Montgomery played him in resulted in a shutout by Bussi, which is a big complement for the d-men. Regula led the AHL in plus minus last year, and yet Montgomery always when to his college buddy Mitchell whenever there was a call up need. This year Regula, was injured in training camp so he didn’t get a shot, which resulted in a deferred assignment to the AHL, having to go through waivers now. Now they lost him, makes me angry how Montgomery and Sweeney didn’t give him a chance. He should be in the NHL for Boston and Lohrei should be in Providence learning how to actually play defense and be harder on pucks. Don’tget me wrong, Lohrei is a good prospect, but no one wants to talk about the fact that he is weak defensively and is not yet a reliable NHL d-man. Regula on the other hand, learned the trade in the AHL, and should have been given the shot in front of Lohrei. Yeah Lohrei is an LD and Regula is a RD, but one of the other d-men could be shifted around to make it work (Wotherspoon can play either position). Disappointing.
Lindsay after watching Peeke last night,the Bruins could use a 3rd pair RD!
Lindsay,
Really happy the oil picked him up, looks like a Big shut down Guy…
i think he needs a full year in the minors with a good d/coach to help him reach his potential….?
The Oilers will need to be patient with Regula because he missed the entire season thus far. As such, these first few weeks will be like his training camp, so if the Oilers only few him as a short term solution to injury issues, he won’t be a good fit. I think he will need a couple of months to round into form and catch up with everyone else. Ideally he wouldn’t be playing every night, but often enough to gradually come up to speed. Then later this year you will have a better idea on what you got. Ideally, he would stick with your club as a 7th d-man this year, rotate in and get some development time, and then be a regular 3rd line next year.
Moral of the story…teach your kid to shoot Right and to play defense. Stopping goals pays well on the Right.