With the playoffs and summer, right around the corner, NHL rumours have begun to again spring up. In this Sunday edition of NHL Rumours, we take a look at all of the drama from around the league. We’ll look at rumours from the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks.
NHL Rumours
Ottawa Senators
Rumour: During Sportsnet’s weekly Saturday Headlines, Nick Kypreos mentioned that the Ottawa Senators had approached Trevor Linden for their vacant President of Hockey Operations role. Linden declined the offer, though.
Analysis: Linden served in the same position with the Vancouver Canucks from June 23, 2014, to July 25, 2018. The Canucks and Linden parting ways was believed to be a long time coming. At the time of Linden’s departure, TSN’s Farhan Lalji reported that the two parties didn’t see eye-to-eye on the team’s future. The disagreement built up over time, eventually amounting to Linden leaving the team where he played 16 of his 19 NHL seasons.
After Kypreos brought up Linden’s name, Chris Johnston mentioned Dean Lombardi‘s name as well, saying he also rejected the Senators offer. He also said that the search could be turning fairly bleak considering how quiet the Senators have been, despite a couple of weeks of looking around. The team does have an unnamed hockey executive supposedly helping them gauge interest in the position.
Detroit Red Wings
Rumour: Multiple reports sprang up Saturday morning, saying that the Detroit Red Wings were hoping to sign head coach Jeff Blashill to a two-year extension. News of the deal could only be a few days away.
Red Wings expected to make announcement as soon as Tuesday
https://t.co/PrNZmgtgqU via @freep— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) March 30, 2019
Analysis: Blashill was promoted from the AHL when Mike Babcock left the Red Wings. Since then, he has only managed to amount one postseason appearance. That came in his rookie year as a head coach, where he set his only winning record to date. The Wings were quickly eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning, though, only winning one game.
Since then, Blashill hasn’t been able to lead the Wings to more than 33 wins in a season. The team has been among the bottom of the league for the past two seasons and are on pace to again finish among the bottom five. Blashill’s winning record has gotten worse every season but the Wings still hold onto hope. Part of this hope comes from the team’s recent success, winning six of their last seven. Still, the extension seems a bit peculiar considering Blashill’s struggles.
Florida Panthers
Rumour: Again on Sportsnet’s Saturday Headlines, they discussed how the Florida Panthers will likely handle the aging Roberto Luongo. The expectation is that the injury-riddled Luongo will fail his physical prior to next season, allowing him to go on long-term injured reserve. This will allow Luongo to still receive the rest of his contractual salary, with no penalty to the Panthers. It will also give Florida much more freedom to pursue Sergei Bobrovsky this summer.
Analysis: There isn’t much surprise here. Luongo has become an icon in Florida since 2000 but has faced injury problems for a few years now. At the age of 39, there’s a looming sense that these injuries might bring the legendary goaltender’s career to an end as early as this summer.
If Luongo does hang up his skates, it’ll be no surprise to see Florida knocking down the door of Bobrovsky when he enters free agency this summer. The team has struggled with goaltending consistency for a while now, yet a star goalie like Bobrovsky could be enough to bring the Panthers back into playoff contention. While there’s no way of knowing, the Panthers will be doing everything in their power to remain as one of the front-runners in the Bobrovsky race all summer long.
St. Louis Blues
Rumour: During the Saturday Headlines, Kypreos also mentioned that the St. Louis Blues and interim head coach Craig Berube has decided to wait until after the season ends to discuss a future contract. The feeling is that Berube will sign with the Blues this off-season.
Analysis: Berube has been a pivotal part of the Blues rise to power in the Western Conference. The players have come out multiple times over the course of the season, praising Berube’s ability to instill a winning mentality in the locker room.
Since joining the Blues in November, there has been one clear goal on Berube’s mind: winning. For this reason, it’s no surprise that he wants to hold off on any contract talks. However, it’s clear that the Blues want to keep the successful Berube around for much, much longer.
Vancouver Canucks
Rumour: To finish off Saturday Headlines, there was a brief discussion about the Vancouver Canucks plans to offer newly acquired Luke Schenn a one-year contract extension.
Analysis: Schenn was brought over from the Anaheim Ducks in mid-January, in exchange for Michael Del Zotto. Prior to this trade, he was playing in the AHL for the first time in his career. The Ducks’ organization had even told the struggling Schenn that he had no chance in returning to the NHL and that he’d be confined to the AHL for the rest of his career.
With Vancouver, Schenn has bounced right back into the NHL. A strong, physical style of play has made him a great fit for the team’s defensive core. In 14 games with the team, he has netted his first two points of the year. He has also been nominated as the defensive partner to Quinton Hughes, Vancouver’s star prospect that recently debuted in the NHL. Schenn has found consistency, and an adoring fan base, in Vancouver. A one-year extension could be just the start for the 29-year-old defenseman.
