NHL Rumor Mill – June 20, 2023

by | Jun 20, 2023

NHL Rumor Mill – June 20, 2023

Updates on the goalie trade market plus the latest on Senators winger Alex DeBrincat and Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.

LATEST GOALIE TRADE MARKET SPECULATION

THE ATHLETIC: Pierre LeBrun reports Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, Anaheim’s John Gibson, Philadelphia’s Carter Hart and New Jersey’s Mackenzie Blackwood could potentially be traded. “We’ll see how those scenarios play out especially closer to the draft in Nashville next week,” he wrote.

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (NHL Images).

Hellebuyck looms over everything given his status as a Vezina Trophy finalist. Complicating things is he’ll be seeking a deal comparable to Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy on his next contract. The 30-year-old Hellebucyk is a year away from unrestricted free-agent eligibility.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Hellebuyck camp has informed the Winnipeg Jets that he’s not interested in signing a contract extension with them. The Jets will understandably want the best possible return for him in the trade market. His willingness to sign an extension with his new club will affect how big that return might be.

LeBrun also acknowledged recent trade speculation about Nashville’s Juuse Saros. He indicates that Predators general manager Barry Trotz isn’t shopping the 28-year-old netminder. It would take a significant offer to pry Saros away from the Predators.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I believe Trotz will retain Saros if he’s retooling the Predators roster rather than rebuilding.

UPDATE ON DEBRINCAT

DAILY FACEOFF: Mark Larkin lists six potential trade destinations for Alex DeBrincat. The 25-year-old Ottawa Senators winger is a restricted free agent who’s a year away from UFA eligibility. He informed the Senators that he was not interested in a contract extension with them and provided management with a short list of preferred trade destinations.

Larkin listed the Carolina Hurricanes, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues as landing spots for DeBrincat. He also examined why the winger would be a good fit with those clubs as well as the difficulties each could face to acquire him.

DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: Bob Duff cited TSN’s Craig Button suggesting DeBrincat (a Michigan native) would be a good fit with the Red Wings. Duff wondered if the Senators would trade DeBrincat to a division rival.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: If the Red Wings made the best pitch, yes, I think the Senators would ship DeBrincat to Detroit. That being said, their preferred option would be out of the Atlantic Division and preferably to the Western Conference.

The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reported the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators and Vegas Golden Knights are believed to be on DeBrincat’s trade list along with the Red Wings and Panthers. He lacks no-trade protection so the Senators could ship him anywhere but the preference here is likely to send him to one of the clubs on his list provided they’re willing to sign him to a contract extension.

Of the teams on Larkin’s list, the Wings seem the best fit in terms of cap space and depth in tradeable assets. The Predators could be an intriguing option given new GM Barry Trotz’s willingness to explore the trade market for a scorer.

FLAMES COULD CASH IN WITH HANIFIN

CALGARY HOCKEY NOW: Steve MacFarlane believes there should be a good market for Flames defenseman Noah Hanafin given the 26-year-old’s age, experience and accomplishment.

Recent reports suggest Hanifin isn’t interested in signing a contract extension with the Flames. He’s a year away from UFA status. MacFarlane suggests a trade seems in store with the draft approaching.

MacFarlane thinks the Flames defense corps can handle trading Hanifin. He envisions MacKenzie Weegar being elevated to their top pairing alongside Rasmus Andersson next season. With Oliver Kylington returning for next season to skate alongside Chris Tanev, the second pairing remains solid.

Hanifin’s departure could make it possible for the Flames to add more dynamic offensive talent either from an existing player or a prospect coming to Calgary in a trade package.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 20, 2023

by | Jun 20, 2023

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 20, 2023

The latest on Adin Hill, Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta, some possible candidates for the 2023 Hall of Fame class, plus updates on Conor Bedard and Matvei Michkov in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

THE ATHLETIC: Pierre LeBrun reports Vegas Golden Knights playoff hero Adin Hill would like to remain with the club he backstopped to the Stanley Cup. The 27-year-old goaltender is due to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill (NHL Images).

“We’re obviously going to give it the big college try to get him signed in Vegas,” said agent Gerry Johansson. Hill is completing a two-year, $4.35 million contract.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Cap Friendly shows the Golden Knights with around $3 million in projected cap space for 2023-24. They’ll get an extra $5 million in wiggle room if goalie Robin Lehner remains on long-term injury reserve for next season.

LeBrun also reports the Carolina Hurricanes are in negotiations with pending free-agent goaltenders Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon and general manager Don Waddell indicated they wanted to keep their roster intact for another shot at winning the Stanley Cup next season. They also have promising Pyotr Kochetkov but LeBrun noted he has one more season of waiver exemption.

TORONTO SUN: Lance Hornby believes the only shoo-in for the Hockey Hall of Fame’s class of 2023 is Henrik Lundqvist. That could open up an opportunity for long-overlooked candidates such as Alexander Mogilny and Curtis Joseph.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Other notables former NHLers who might get a shot this year include Henrik Zetterberg, Pierre Turgeon, Keith Tkachuk, Rod Brind’Amour, Sergei Gonchar, Butch Goring and Tom Barrasso.

NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: Connor Bedard has been named the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Player of the Year for 2023. The 18-year-old center of the WHL’s Regina Pats is expected to be chosen first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the upcoming NHL Draft.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Intrigue continues to swirl about KHL winger Matvei Michkov. A source close to the teams selecting in the top 10 of this year’s NHL Draft said that the Washington Capitals have “seriously aimed” to choose the young Russian with the eighth overall pick if he’s still available by that point.

Michkov is under contract for the next three seasons with KHL club SKA St. Petersburg. He was told not to speak with NHL teams who have asked to meet him. That sparked speculation that he’s trying to manipulate the draft to maneuver his way down to the rankings to play for a certain team. It’s assumed that the club could be the Capitals.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I don’t know about manipulating the draft but I will commend Michkov for drawing some media attention toward himself in the lead-up to the draft.

GOPHNX.COM: Craig Morgan cites multiple sources claiming the Arizona Coyotes are mulling several sites for a new arena in the Phoenix area. The potential locations are in Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale and on Salt River-Maricopa Indian Community land.

SPORTSNET: Former NHL player Mike Peca will be joining the New York Rangers’ coaching staff. He’s spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Rochester Americans.

NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: Former Vancouver Canucks head coach Travis Green will reportedly be hired by the New Jersey Devils as an associate coach. He’ll replace Andrew Brunette, who was recently hired as head coach by the Nashville Predators.

BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: The Bruins signed goaltender Brandon Bussi to a one-year, two-way contract for 2023-24. The salary at the NHL level is $775K.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bussi’s new contract could stoke recent rumors suggesting the cap-strapped Bruins could trade Linus Ullmark or Jeremy Swayman to free up cap room for other signings.










Why the Bitterness Toward the Golden Knights?

by | Jun 19, 2023

Why the Bitterness Toward the Golden Knights?

It’s been a week since the Vegas Golden Knights won their first-ever Stanley Cup.

They’re the seventh team since 2000 to win their first Cup, joining the Tampa Bay Lightning (2004), Carolina Hurricanes (2006), Anaheim Ducks (2007), Los Angeles Kings (2012), Washington Capitals (2018) and St. Louis Blues (2019).

The Golden Knights also became the fastest expansion team to win the Cup by doing so in their sixth season, breaking the record of seven seasons set by the 1973-74 Philadelphia Flyers.

Vegas Golden Knights – 2023 Stanley Cup Champions (NHL.com).

Their fans are deliriously happy over their franchise’s success, bouncing back from missing the playoffs last season to win hockey’s hold grail. It also comes five years after the club stunned the hockey world by reaching the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural campaign.

Nevertheless, some fans of other teams took to social media to express their bitterness toward the Golden Knights following their Cup win.

Most spouted tired conspiracy theories claiming the Golden Knights benefited from an expansion draft supposedly rigged in their favor by league commissioner Gary Bettman.

Others claimed the Golden Knights cheated by keeping sidelined captain Mark Stone on long-term injury reserve until the playoffs when the salary cap no longer counted, enabling them to add Ivan Barbashev, Jonathan Quick and Teddy Blueger at the trade deadline.

All of this, of course, is sour grapes.

Some of it comes from so-called “traditionalists” who can’t stand to see Sun Belt franchises winning the Cup. Some of it emanates from supporters of teams in the midst of lengthy Stanley Cup droughts.

It’s true that the NHL changed the expansion draft rules for the Golden Knights. Those rules stayed in place for the Seattle Kraken’s draft in 2021.

The slim pickings in previous expansion drafts left the new teams struggling for years as league doormats before they could build into playoff contenders. It wasn’t a smart way to draw supporters in those new markets.

Building fan support and growing the game in non-traditional markets is the point of expansion. It boosts the league’s hockey-related revenue and improves its visibility in the ultra-competitive North American sports market.

Everyone knew that the rules for the 2017 expansion draft would force established teams to expose better players. Nevertheless, some of those clubs – the Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild – made questionable trades with Vegas to protect other players.

That’s how Shea Theodore, William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith and Alex Tuch wound up becoming invaluable players for Vegas in their early years. It’s how they got a franchise goalie during those years in Marc-Andre Fleury. They were among the players who helped the Golden Knights reach the 2018 Stanley Cup Final, forming the basis of a core that became a solid playoff contender for the following three seasons, including two more trips to the Western Conference Final.

When that draft was completed, however, no one at the time pointed to their roster and said, “This is a team that’s going to be a Stanley Cup Finalist in their first season.”

The Golden Knights were expected to be competitive in their NHL debut season but nobody predicted they would reach the playoffs, let alone march to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. Postseason contention was projected to be three or four years away. Not even team owner Bill Foley, predicting his club would win the Cup by 2023, expected his team to have such impressive success in their first three campaigns.

Fortunately for the Golden Knights, they had an experienced, shrewd general manager during the expansion draft named George McPhee during the expansion draft. He’s now their president of hockey operations.

Of those original “Golden Misfits”, as they were self-dubbed, only six remain – Smith, Theodore, Karlsson, Brayden McNabb, William Carrier and playoff MVP Marchessault. The rest of their roster was built largely on trades by McPhee and his successor Kelly McCrimmon.

Drawing on existing talent, draft picks and their prospect pool, McPhee and McCrimmon acquired Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Alec Martinez, Chandler Stephenson, Ivan Barbashev, and playoff hero Adin Hill.

Nobody gifted those players to the Golden Knights. They acquired them fair and square, just as they did with their original gang of misfits in the expansion draft. If anyone’s at fault, it’s the general managers of those rival clubs who got lured into bad trades.

As for the supposed “cheating” of having Stone on LTIR for the season, this goes back to Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov missing the entire COVID-shortened 2020-21 season recovering from offseason hip surgery only to return to action in the 2021 playoffs and help his club win the Stanley Cup.

This complaint goes back even further, to the 2014-15 season and Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane missing the final two months of the regular season with a broken collarbone, returning for the Blackhawks’ postseason march to the Cup.

In those cases, the Lightning and the Blackhawks garnered cap relief with their high-salaries stars on LTIR that was put toward loading up the roster for the playoffs. The Golden Knights drew on the precedent set by both clubs.

In each case, those teams had to prove to the league that those players could not be cleared medically to play until the postseason. It’s still a legal loophole in the collective bargaining agreement. General managers don’t like it unless, of course, it’s their teams that benefit from it. Don’t expect to see any change to that rule anytime soon.

If you’re a fan of a club that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup in years or decades and you’re upset over the Golden Knights winning hockey’s holy grail, your frustration is aimed in the wrong direction.

Instead of dreaming up wild conspiracy theories or baseless accusations of cheating, perhaps you should be demanding more from the folks who are running your team.

Maybe the fault lies with years of mismanagement and incompetence that has kept your team out of the playoffs or hamstrung their ability to become more than a marginal contender or prevented them from winning more than a playoff round or two.

Let the Golden Knights and their fans enjoy their moment. In today’s salary cap world, they’ll face the same difficulties maintaining a Stanley Cup contender as most of their predecessors.

At some point, the Golden Knights’ core players will age and management will have to replace them. Cap constraints will one day see them lose talent to free agency or cost-cutting trades. The ongoing pillaging of their shrinking prospect pool for short-term gains could prove costly over the long term.

By that stage, maybe your team will finally get their act together and end their long Stanley Cup drought.










NHL Rumor Mill – June 19, 2023

by | Jun 19, 2023

NHL Rumor Mill – June 19, 2023

A look at some teams that might be interested in trading for Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.

POTENTIAL TRADE DESTINATIONS FOR ERIK KARLSSON

SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: Sheng Peng speculated over 10 possible trade destinations for Erik Karlsson.

The 33-year-old Sharks’ defenseman’s representatives recently met with Sharks management. Both sides agreed to try and find a trade that would be acceptable for Karlsson.

San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson (NHL Images).

All of Peng’s selections are either contenders or on the cusp of winning. He assumed the Sharks will retain between $3 million and $5.75 million of Karlsson’s $11.5 million average annual value in each of the remaining four years of his contract.

Four of Peng’s trade destinations – the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs – have previously shown an interest in Karlsson.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Oilers lack the cap space plus they acquired Mattias Ekholm at the trade deadline. I don’t see them in the bidding for Karlsson now.

The Panthers have about $10 million in cap space. Even with the Sharks retaining salary, I don’t see them having a serious interest or the depth in tradeable assets (draft picks, prospects, young NHL players) to make this happen.

Karlsson maintains a home in Ottawa and would probably welcome a return to the rising young Senators. Whether they pursue him depends on whether prospective new owner Michael Andlauer would approve of such a move. Even then, general manager Pierre Dorion might be leery of overpaying to bring an aging Karlsson back to Ottawa.

The Leafs’ previous interest occurred under former general manager Kyle Dubas. Assuming new GM Brad Treliving would also pursue Karlsson, I don’t see them having sufficient long-term cap space and the necessary assets to pull it off.

Peng included the Buffalo Sabres, noting their rumored interest in Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Buffalo Hockey Now’s Michael Augello lists several good reasons why he doesn’t think Karlsson’s fits with the Sabres. I will add that their priority is landing a reliable starting goaltender and perhaps a shutdown defenseman.

The Dallas Stars need more firepower on their blueline.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: They also need the cap space to do it. I don’t see general manager Jim Nill getting into bidding for Karlsson.

The Detroit Red Wings are an up-and-coming team that doesn’t have as much NHL-ready young talent on their blueline.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Wings have the cap space and the depth in assets to make this happen. General manager Steve Yzerman has yet to make a major acquisition to help his club, sticking to his rebuilding plan. Maybe he’d be willing to do it for Karlsson if he was a few years younger. I don’t think he’s willing to commit to four years even if they got him at 50 percent of his salary.

The Los Angeles Kings are full of right-handed rearguards but they lack the dynamism of Karlsson.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Peng admits the Kings seem to be a long shot. They already made their big blueline move by acquiring Vladislav Gavrikov at the trade deadline and signing him to a contract extension. Most of the recent Kings trade rumors focus on Winnipeg Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Peng includes the New York Islanders on his list.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Nope, sorry, I don’t see Isles GM Lou Lamoriello wanting any part of this. I’m well aware of Lamoriello’s stealthiness in the trade market but this type of move doesn’t seem like something he’d do. He seems more focused on bolstering the scoring punch among his forwards. I also don’t think Karlsson would waive his no-movement clause to join the Isles.

The Seattle Kraken round out Peng’s list.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I’ve previously mentioned the Kraken as a possible destination. They’ve got over $20 million in cap space. Even with a new contract for Vince Dunn taking a healthy bite out of it, they could still have enough for Karlsson at a reduced AAV. They’ve also got a growing pool of prospects to draw on for trade bait.

General manager Ron Francis has avoided making a big splash in the trade market, saving those moves for free agency. He probably won’t deviate from that plan this summer.

I’m not saying that a Karlsson trade is impossible. I don’t doubt that there are teams looking into it. One of the clubs on Peng’s list might be able to work out a suitable deal with Sharks general manager Mike Grier, perhaps involving a third team to make Karlsson’s AAV more affordable.

What I believe, however, is it will be difficult to do, especially with so many clubs carrying limited cap space for next season.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 19, 2023

by | Jun 19, 2023

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 19, 2023

Oddsmakers don’t favor the Golden Knights’ chances of repeating as Stanley Cup champs, Valeri Nichushkin is expected to rejoin the Avalanche, the latest notable draft news and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee headlines.

VEGAS HOCKEY NOW: Oddsmakers aren’t bullish on the Golden Knights’ chances of repeating as Stanley Cup champions. Vegas Insider has the Colorado Avalanche as the favorite to win the Cup in 2024 while the Golden Knights have the sixth-best odds, tied with the Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone raises the Stanley Cup (NHL.com).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: You don’t need oddsmakers to tell you how difficult it is in today’s NHL to repeat as Stanley Cup champions or for a defending champ to return to the Final.

Since 1990, only three teams – the Pittsburgh Penguins (1991 and 1992, 2016 and 2017), Detroit Red Wings (1997 and 1998) and Tampa Bay Lightning (2020 and 2021) repeated as Cup champions.

The Penguins and Red Wings faced off in the 2008 and 2009 Finals, with the Wings winning in 2008 and the Penguins the following season.

The Lightning reached the Final in three straight years (2020 to 2022), becoming the first team to do so since the Edmonton Oilers (1983 to 1985).

THE DENVER POST: Sources claim Valeri Nichushkin is expected to rejoin the Colorado Avalanche for 2023-24. The 28-year-old winger left the team before Game 3 of the Avalanche’s first-round series against the Seattle Kraken following an incident involving an intoxicated woman in his Seattle hotel room.

There was no criminal investigation of the incident and Nichushkin is not being investigated by the league. The winger has been out of sight since returning to Denver following the incident while the Avalanche have declined to comment.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Nichushkin and the Avalanche will have to face questions from the media about this incident at some point before the start of next season. It remains to be seen how forthcoming they’ll be about this situation.

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen admitted he’s received several calls from clubs wondering if he’s willing to trade his first-round pick (third overall) in the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft.

Kekalainen said none of the offers he’s received have convinced him to part with the pick. “I’m 99.9 percent sure that we won’t be trading the pick.”

SPECTOR’S NOTE: There were also reports last week of the Montreal Canadiens contacting the Anaheim Ducks (second overall) and San Jose Sharks (fourth overall) to gauge their willingness to trade their picks. Perhaps they were among those who contacted Kekalainen about his pick.

One of those clubs could be convinced to move their selection for the right price. Given how rarely those picks are traded, however, I’ll be surprised if any of them are moved between now and the opening round on June 28.

DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: Russian prospect Matvei Michkov avoided meeting with NHL teams and didn’t meet with them after KHL games this season. A gifted offensive winger, the 18-year-old Michkov is considered among the top prospects in this year’s draft and could be among the top-five picks.

Kevin Allen writes that Michkov’s actions have prompted speculation that he’s trying to manipulate the selection process to get to a specific team.

Allen thinks he could be angling to be chosen by the Washington Capitals (eighth overall) for an opportunity to play with Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Michkov also didn’t attend the NHL Draft Combine earlier this month. His agent claims his client will be in attendance at the upcoming NHL Draft.

Rumored character issues plus his lengthy KHL contract could prompt some teams to skip on Michkov, possibly making him available to lower-seeded clubs in the first round.

BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery admitted he didn’t read his players well during their stunning first-round loss to the underdog Florida Panthers. After rewatching the games, Montgomery said he could tell that the Bruins weren’t anywhere close to playing with the same tempo as they did during their record-breaking regular season.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Overconfidence plus injuries to some key players seemed to play a role in the Bruins’ demise against the determined Panthers. After setting the records for most wins (65) and points (135) in the regular season, Boston seemed to have Florida on the ropes after taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.

NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald disputed the notion that he believes in a salary hierarchy. This comes after he re-signed winger Jesper Bratt to an eight-year extension with an average annual value of $7.87 million, coming in just under center Jack Hughes’ $8 million AAV.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: In other words, Timo Meier’s AAV on his next contract could be higher than Hughes’ if he and the Devils agree to a new deal.










Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – June 18, 2023

by | Jun 18, 2023

Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – June 18, 2023

The latest on the Leafs, the Devils could shop Yegor Sharangovich and an update on the Oilers in the Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup.

LATEST ON THE LEAFS

TORONTO SUN: Lance Hornby reports Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews is still expected to sign a contract extension. Matthews and his agent met in Arizona this week with Brad Treliving, the Leafs new general manager.

SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reported on Friday that he believes Matthews will re-sign with the Leafs. He felt the club will try to sign him to a maximum eight-year extension though he’s not sure how likely it is that Matthews will agree to a term that long.

Freidman believes there’s a sense of urgency on the Leafs’ part to get this done as soon as possible rather than have negotiations drag on through the summer so as not to adversely affect their long-term plans.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s rumored the Matthews camp envisions a three to five-year deal so the 25-year-old superstar can still cash in on another lucrative contract while he’s still in his playing prime. Either way, his next deal will likely exceed the league-leading $12.6 million average annual value of Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon.

Hornby also noted there are rumors suggesting the Carolina Hurricanes might trade Brett Pesce if they fail to sign the 28-year-old defenseman to a contract extension.

Toronto Maple Leafs winger William Nylander (NHL Images).

At $4.025 million, Pesce would be a welcome addition to the Leafs blueline but they’d have to trade a salary. Hornby suggested William Nylander, who would play a larger role with the Hurricanes than his current one in Toronto. The 26-year-old winger is a year away from UFA eligibility.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s believed the Hurricanes are intent on signing Pesce but there are rumors that the negotiations got off to a rocky start. It’ll be interesting to see how those talks unfold in the coming weeks.

I’m just spitballing here but I think the Hurricanes would be interested in a Pesce-for-Nylander swap if the Leafs were on board. The Canes have the cap space to take on the winger’s $6.962 million cap hit for next season.

Nylander has a 10-team no-trade clause starting July 1. If the Hurricanes are on that list, this hypothetical deal would have to go down by June 30 unless he’s willing to waive it for Carolina.

In other Leafs news, Hornby believes pending unrestricted free agents Alex Kerfoot and Justin Holl won’t be back. UFA forward Michael Bunting will have to accept a hometown discount to remain with the Leafs.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Elliotte Friedman believes Bunting has priced himself out of Toronto.

The Leafs would welcome back UFA center Ryan O’Reilly. However, many clubs will look to pay him more than the cap-strapped Leafs.

Hornby mentioned the Leafs could buy out or attempt to trade goaltender Matt Murray.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The preference would be trading him but they’ll have to package him with a sweetener or retain some of his salary to make it happen. Given his injury history, a buyout before the June 20 deadline wouldn’t be surprising.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: The Leafs reportedly aren’t close to a new contract for pending UFA defenseman Luke Schenn. It’s believed he’s seeking term and no-trade protection in his next deal.

COULD THE DEVILS TRADE SHARANGOVICH?

NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: James Nichols cited Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman wondering about whether the Devils could put Yegor Sharangovich on the trade block. The 25-year-old is a restricted free agent coming off a down year of 13 goals and 30 points following a 24-goal, 46-point performance in 2021-22.

Friedman said that he’d heard that “some talks picked up around him”. He indicated that someone told him not to be surprised if something went down here.

COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: Evan Rawal believes the Avalanche could be interested in Sharangovich if he hits the trade block. He pointed out how they’d landed players in the past such as Andre Burakovsky, Devon Toews and Alexandar Georgiev made available by other clubs looking to cut salary or in need of a change of scenery.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sharangovich is coming off a two-year deal with an AAV of $2 million. He’d be an affordable pickup for any club seeking a versatile middle-six forward in his mid-twenties with 20-goal ability. The asking price could be a second-round pick.

UPDATE ON THE OILERS

EDMONTON JOURNAL: Kurt Leavins thinks Kailer Yamamoto is in play this offseason. He believes the Oilers want to get an asset in return to clear his contract from their books. A buyout is also a possibility.

Leavins also anticipates that defenseman Cody Ceci will be back next season. He felt Ceci when fully healthy can return to being the player he was a year ago plus his $3.25 million AAV is a good fit for the cap-strapped Oilers.

The Oilers are unlikely to part ways with Philip Broberg. Leavins also dismissed the notion of defenseman Evan Bouchard signing an offer sheet with another club.