NHL Rumor Mill – May 13, 2025
In today’s NHL Rumor Mill: the latest Avalanche speculation and an update on the Islanders’ search for a new general manager.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: In his latest mailbag segment, Aarif Deen looked at what offseason moves could be in store for the Avalanche.
If the Avalanche fail to re-sign Brock Nelson, they might get into the bidding for Sam Bennett if the Florida Panthers center becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Speaking of Nelson, Deen isn’t against the Avalanche signing him, but suggests they should look at better options if they’re available.
Deen also wondered if the Avs might move one or two players to free up cap space for other additions. He suggested a forward like Ross Colton or Miles Wood as a trade candidate. He also pondered whether they could shake up the second defense pairing of Josh Manson and Samuel Girard, perhaps to make room for a UFA blueliner like Ivan Provorov.
Colorado Avalanche forward Martin Necas (NHL Images).
Martin Necas’ future with the Avalanche could get interesting if contract extension talks don’t go well this summer. He has a year remaining on his current deal with a cap hit of $6.5 million.
Deen doesn’t see the Avs going into next season without an extension for Necas. He raised the possibility of them trading the 26-year-old forward if contract talks should stall.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It will be an interesting summer for the Avalanche.
They must do something about the second-line center position by re-signing Nelson or finding another option through a trade or a free-agent signing. Promoting Charlie Coyle into that position is not going to address that issue.
Colton and Wood have been mentioned before as trade candidates. Wood had three seasons left on his contract with an average annual value of $2.5 million and a six-team no-trade list. Colton has two more years with an AAV of $4 million and a full no-trade clause until July 1, when it reverts to a modified no-trade.
Girard surfaced occasionally as a trade candidate over the past two years. He’s got two years left with an AAV of $5 million and a nine-team no-trade list. Manson has a year left with an AAV of $4.5 million and a 12-team no-trade list.
It seems unlikely that the Avalanche would trade Necas after acquiring him from the Carolina Hurricanes in the Mikko Rantanen deal in January. Then again, few folks foresaw the Hurricanes shipping Rantanen to the Dallas Stars at the March trade deadline, so we can’t dismiss the possibility of Necas getting dealt if he and the Avs fail to agree to an extension.
THE SCORE: Josh Wegman cited a report by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun indicating the New York Islanders plan to interview Jarmo Kekalainen, Marc Bergevin and Mathieu Darche for their vacant general manager position.
Kekalainen is the former general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, while Bergevin is the former GM of the Montreal Canadiens. Darche is the assistant GM and director of hockey operations with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Islanders fired Lou Lamoriello as GM and team president last month. However, he’s reportedly expected to remain in the organization in some capacity.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kekalainen and Bergevin have GM experience, but Darche might be the better option for the Isles. He’s been with the Lightning since 2019 and helped them win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021.
Kekkalainen sounds like terrible idea and Bergevin only slightly better
I see Kekalainen as better than Bergevin but Darche is the man for the Isles. An older veteran GM would just be more of the same. A veteran team who will always make or miss the playoffs by a few points. Darche would take the time to retool, rebuild a still thin prospect pool and slowly build toward a contending team.
Agree both should be and are at the bottom of a really deep barrel…these two should never even be considered for an NHL team. These hires would be like the mess they have in Vancouver from ownership, Rutherford and down to Alvin…what a mess!
Kekkalainen had his blind spots, but the Jackets deep prospect pool is his doing. So is the strong and still developing core the Jackets have. Maybe he’s not right for the Islanders, but he’ll be a GM for someone in the next few years.
Ya, I thought he did a good job overall too Paul.
The big decision that didn’t work out – to go for it when he thought/knew that Panarin and Bobrovsky were leaving. Vs trading them for assets. But I would suggest every team would have done that especially one that hadn’t experienced much playoff success up to that point.
Not a Bergevin fan, I didn’t see a coherent strategy. I thought the offer sheet on Aho didn’t make sense as Carolina could easily match. Looked desperate. I also thought a rebuild should have happened sooner vs trying to hang on. They got lucky in the bubble IMO, rode Price’s last hot streak.
I think hiring veteran GM’s makes sense. Most intelligent people learn from the mistakes they make, and everyone makes them. Why wouldn’t you want a guy who has already made them and is less likely to repeat them? I guess the key is finding out if they have learned from them or not. Darche has also been around a while, but it’s different when the buck stops with you.
All I know is I am better at my job than I was 10 years ago. Experience matters.
For the Isles, I wonder if there is a dark horse candidate (Kate Madigan, Dan Mackinnon-Devils) I think Isles fans would be OK with a partial rebuild/retool. They have some good players to build around
To me Colton and Wood have been big disappointments for the Avalanche. I thought we were getting the Colton from TB ? He seems like he is always injured and not coming up with those big goals in the playoffs like when he was with Tampa . Wood either injured or in the penalty box. I wouldn’t mind them moving Girard. Even though he was better this year, he gets pushed around. Manson, I like. Brings toughness and knows how to jump into the offense. Makes mistakes but he brings it, like his game. Nelson, I would like to retain but we could have used more production from him. Provorov not sure if he is the answer? But if they move on from Girard, he would be a welcome addition
Tommy boy,you have 2 of the top 10 players in the NHL today.Problem is the one that got away,is also in the top ten.
Sr, pretty short sighted on your part it seems. Anyone can say that now and the Avalanche had plenty of chances to beat Dallas despite Rantanen! Did you stay up all night for that insight?
Tommy boy interested in your evaluation of Necas,Coyle and Lindgren since they were acquired for the playoff push.I thought your GM did a great job resetting all the centers on your team.
Curious if Columbus keeps Provorov. He’s been a bargain after getting him in a trade where LA retained over 2m. Should get at least 7m per next deal. Blue Jackets have the space, could be more valuable to a team that doesn’t already have a Werenski.
Suppose Avalanche didn’t trade Mikko Rantanen and signed him to new multi year deal?
Rantanen haunting, suppose Avalanche didn’t trade Rantanen signed him multi year deal?
I’d hate to have to face the Hurricanes if THEY had been able to get him to sign.
Be ironic if Dallas meets Carolina in the finals.
Sounds like a plan …That’s who I have …
Years from now, when the book comes out. I’d love to hear the story about why Raantonen was traded.
I suspect conversations were had, numbers exchanged and Colorado made a call. A secretive call, but a decision was made. We can’t sign this guy. Lets move him. Quietly. Problem when you do that, what could happen is exactly how it played out. The athlete didn’t want to go where he went and another pivot had to happen. Additionally. I might have had a chat with (the defacto captain and leader) Nathan McKinnon. Clearly neither of those conversations took place again to maintain the secrecy of the deal that was being cooked up with NewJersey.
Imagine if Connor McDavid wasn’t going to sign again in Edmonton and Edmonton and Ottawa work out a secret deal to get McDavid to Ottawa (where he doesn’t want to go) and in return Ottawa gives up Tim Stutzle to unite a pair of talented germans, and a number of other picks and prospects. Then Ottawa suddenly has to pivot because Brady is mad, Leon is mad, Conner is flabergasted….Timmy is mystified. And the Sens have to try and get something for a player they payed heavily for but who now has no interest of playing for them.
Hey Dark G, some of the reporting is that Rantanen wouldn’t agree to a # that Colorado felt would allow them to be competitive with the rest of the roster. Trying to avoid what many Leaf critics or fans complain about. Too much money tied up in a few guys.
What we have heard nothing about is what did Rantanen and his agent have to say? Did his agent communicate what Colorado management was saying? Did Rantanen make it clear he really wanted to stay in Colorado? Would he take less to do so?
It takes both parties to agree, and we don’t know what was said between the agent and the team and Rantanen and his agent.
Perhaps his agent simply misread what the Avalanche were saying and assumed they would give in to his demands, because they usually do. Rantanen said he was blindsided, that suggests the communication between agent and player wasn’t very good.
But I’m guessing like everybody else.
Regarding GMs, one cannot overlook how a goalie can buy a GM time and make him look like a genius.
Lou had Brodeur and he was awesome till Brodeur retired and Lou was very mortal since.
Bergevin had Price and for years he did a “great job” till Price was injured and Bergevin became mortal.
While going with experience could be advantageous, looking outside the box like Montreal did with a tandem of Gorton and an agent, Hughes.
The game changes as players get bigger, stronger, younger and more independent and the role of GMs and coaches has to adjust and grow.
Rather than looking to retread NHL coaches it might be better to look to AHL and top end Junior and college to lead rebuilding young teams, Anaheim will probably second guess their choice of Joel Quenneville.