NHL Rumor Mill – April 25, 2020

by | Apr 25, 2020

NHL Rumor Mill – April 25, 2020

More Alex Pietrangelo conjecture plus some recent Devils speculation in today’s NHL rumor mill.

THE LATEST ON PIETRANGELO

STLTODAY.COM: In his latest Q&A live chat with his readers, Jim Thomas was asked how the St. Louis Blues could free up sufficient salary-cap room to re-sign team captain Alex Pietrangelo, who becomes an unrestricted free agent in the off-season. He feels the most likely scenario is trading goaltender Jake Allen and buying out the final season of veteran forward Alexander Steen’s contract.

What can the St. Louis Blues do to free up salary-cap space to re-sign Alex Pietrangelo? (Photo via NHL Images)

Thomas doesn’t consider buying out Justin Faulk as an option, in part because it would be more costly to the Blues for much longer than buying out Steen or Tyler Bozak. He also speculated the re-signing of Marco Scandella means at least two players must come off the current roster to re-sign Pietrangelo and doesn’t see Jaden Schwartz being moved in a cost-cutting deal.

If Pietrangelo wants the biggest possible deal, Thomas speculates the blueliner could move on. Despite the possibility of a flat cap next season, he feels there will be enough teams willing to pay big bucks for Pietrangelo. Thomas doubts the Toronto Maple Leafs will be among them, as they have over $76.9 million invested in next season’s cap payroll.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pietrangelo wants to stay in St. Louis and the Blues want to keep him, but he also wants to be paid what he considers fair market value. Reports throughout this season suggest that’s over $9 million annually.

If he’s unwilling to come down from that or the Blues can’t free up sufficient cap room, he’ll be playing elsewhere next season. Unless the Leafs shed a considerable amount of salary, he won’t be coming to Toronto.

DEVILS

NORTHJERSEY.COM: Abbey Mastracco believes the New Jersey Devils could attempt to bring in a short-term veteran winger or two to bridge the gap until those in their farm system are ready to join the roster.

THE ATHLETIC (subscription required): In a recent mailbag segment, Corey Masisak suggested the Devils could attempt to add an impact defenseman in the off-season. He thinks they’ll try to do that via the trade route, like the New York Rangers last summer when they acquired Jacob Trouba from the Winnipeg Jets. If they shop one of their first-round picks, Masisak felt it could be for that impact blueliner or a first-line winger.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs are two cap-strapped clubs the Devils could target in the trade market. The Lightning might be forced to part with winger Alex Killorn or Ondrej Palat to re-sign Mikhail Sergachev. Leafs wingers Kaspari Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson could be available, but Toronto would have to include something else if they want the Devils’ third first-rounder.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Killorn and Palat have no-trade protection and probably won’t waive it to join a rebuilding club. Kapanen and Johnsson lack such protection and would be more viable trade options.

 

 










NHL Rumor Mill – April 9, 2020

by | Apr 9, 2020

NHL Rumor Mill – April 9, 2020

Off-season questions for several Atlantic Division clubs in the NHL rumor mill.

THE SCORE: Josh Wegman recently posed one off-season question for each NHL Atlantic Division club. Among them:

Can the Boston Bruins afford to re-sign defenseman Torey Krug? (Photo via NHL Images).

What will the Boston Bruins do with Torey Krug? The 28-year-old defenseman is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. He’s averaged 53 points per 82 games in his career. Krug is earning $5.25 million annually on his current contract but could receive upward of $7 million per on his next deal. The Bruins have over $22 million in salary-cap space but have other free agents (including winger Jake DeBrusk) to re-sign.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Krug hinted earlier this season he wants to stay in Boston and was open to a hometown discount. I assume that could mean around $6.5 million annually. That would push the Bruins’ to nearly $68 million invested in 18 players, leaving around $13 million to re-sign (or replace) DeBrusk, Jaroslav Halak, Zdeno Chara, Matt Grzelcyk, and Anders Bjork.

General manager Don Sweeney could use DeBrusk’s lack of arbitration rights to sign him to an affordable short-term deal, which could free up sufficient space to re-sign most of the others. Still, it could be a tight fit if the cap remains at $81.5 million.

Wegman wondered which defenseman the Buffalo Sabres could move, and how they’ll acquire a second-line center. This year’s UFA market won’t address the latter. The Sabres have plenty of depth in right-side defensemen, including Rasmus Ristolainen and Brandon Montour. Ristolainen seems the most likely to be shopped, but he won’t fetch that second-line center.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Wegman feels GM Jason Botterill will have to get creative. With over $47 million invested in 10 players, Botterill must also re-sign restricted free agents Montour, Sam Reinhart, Victor Olofsson, Linus Ullmark, and Dominik Kahun.

He should have sufficient cap space to add a second-line center via trade. It might not cost him a defenseman if he targets a cap-strapped club looking to shed salary.

Citing a March edition of Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman’s 31 Thoughts, Wegman speculated over the possibility of the Florida Panthers breaking up their core. The club continues to struggle to reach the playoffs.

Wegman considers trading Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, or Aaron Ekblad as seemingly unthinkable, while blueliner Keith Yandle has a no-movement clause. Letting Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov depart via free agency might be as dramatic as it gets.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Defenseman Mike Matheson could be shopped. He surfaced in the rumor mill before the Feb. 24 trade deadline. The Panthers could revisit testing his value in the trade market during the off-season.

If owner Vinnie Viola wants to cut costs, Ekblad and Barkov lack no-trade protection. Unless those players want out of Florida, I don’t see them being moved.

Wegman pondered the possibility of the Montreal Canadiens attempting to sign another club’s top restricted free agent to an offer sheet. They have the cap space to sign someone like the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal or the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Mikhail Sergachev.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canadiens made a half-hearted attempt to sign away Sebastian Aho from the Carolina Hurricanes last summer. Unless GM Marc Bergevin is willing to make a truly mind-blowing offer, I doubt he’ll pry Barzal or Sergachev from their respective clubs. That’s assuming either guy is willing to sign an offer sheet in the first place.

How will the Tampa Bay Lightning get cap compliant? They have over $76 million invested in 15 players with five pending RFAs including Sergachev and Anthony Cirelli.

Wegman considers it unlikely Ondrej Palat or Tyler Johnson will waive their no-trade clauses. Winger Alex Killorn could become a cap casualty, as his full no-trade becomes a 16-team no-trade list following this season.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I agree that Killorn seems the likely trade option. It’ll be interesting to see how Lightning GM Julien BriseBois handles this situation.

Wegman wondered how the Toronto Maple Leafs will address their defense with their limited cap space. RFAs Travis Dermott and Ilya Mikheyev need to be re-signed, while UFA blueliners Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci must be replaced. He speculates they could shop a winger like Andreas Johnsson or Kasperi Kapanen as part of a package for a top-four defenseman, but it won’t be easy.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: If Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has no intention of shopping one of his top-four forwards (Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander), peddling Johnsson or Kapanen could be his only option to address his blueline situation.










Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – April 5, 2020

by | Apr 5, 2020

Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – April 5, 2020

Recent speculation about several of this year’s notable restricted free agents in the Sunday NHL rumor mill.

SPORTSNET: In his recent list of this year’s top restricted free agents, Luke Fox reported the following tidbits:

New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello recently said he’d match any offer sheet for Mathew Barzal. Fox expects the young center’s next contract will be a juicy one.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: How juicy will depend upon where the salary cap sits for next season. Barzal’s completing his entry-level deal and lacks arbitration rights. Assuming the cap remains at $81.5 million, the Isles have over $71.3 million invested in 18 players, with defensemen Ryan Pulock and Devon Toews also due for next contracts. A big raise for Barzal means Lamoriello must shed salary to make room for other signings.

Could Tampa Bay Lightning winger Alex Killorn become a salary-cap casualty this off-season? (Photo via NHL Images).

With Anthony Cirelli among several Tampa Bay Lightning RFAs to be re-signed, Fox speculates a forward such as Alex Killorn or Tyler Johnson could be a salary-cap casualty.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Bolts have over $76 million tied up in 15 players, with Mikael Sergachev and Erik Cernak the other noteworthy RFAs. Johnson has a full no-trade clause through 2020-21, but Killorn’s shifts to a 16-team no-trade following this season. That makes him the most likely trade chip. Killorn’s versatility and two-way play will draw considerable interest.

Fox believes the New York Rangers trading Brady Skjei to Carolina frees up the cap and roster space to re-sign Tony DeAngelo, though term could be tricky.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The New York Post’s Larry Brooks has suggested the cost of re-signing DeAngelo could be a trade candidate. It’ll be interesting to see how Rangers GM Jeff Gorton handles this situation.

Matt Murray could be the odd man out among the Pittsburgh Penguins’ goaltenders. Tristan Jarry lacks arbitration rights so his contract extension should be easier to achieve. They also have Casey DeSmith under contract for next season.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: With over $68.2 million committed to 15 players, the Penguins can’t afford Murray and Jarry. One of them will be moved, and it’ll likely be Murray. GM Jim Rutherford made a difficult choice in 2017 by choosing Murray over Marc-Andre Fleury. He’ll have no qualms choosing Jarry over Murray.