Welcome back to another edition of NHL rumours from Last Word on Hockey. The deadline has come and gone but that doesn’t mean rumours are not still swirling around the league. Last Word on Hockey will continue to be your one-stop-shop for the latest NHL rumours. Today, we focus on rumours around the Montreal Canadiens, Winnipeg Jets, and the Minnesota Wild.
All NHL rumours come from their original sources and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Montreal Canadiens
Rumour: In Pierre LeBrun’s notebook for The Athletic, he states that Montreal is the team to monitor this offseason.
On the impressive Hurricanes, on Pageau, Thornton, Barrie, and Tampa’s `draft schmaft’ gamble in my post-deadline Rumblings notebook:
https://t.co/Dqm8f8dnCe— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 25, 2020
Analysis: LeBrun states that after speaking to a few of Bergevin’s colleagues around the league, they believe Bergevin will be swinging for the fences this offseason. This is not overly surprising as Bergevin has shown time and time again he is not afraid to be aggressive or make a big trade. Last offseason he went aggressive signing Sebastian Aho to an offer sheet, as well as went hard after Matt Duchene. However, the Habs failed to acquire either of those players. So Bergevin will need to be even more aggressive this year if he wants to improve the team.
Marc Bergevin became a seller at the trade deadline stocking up on picks for the next two drafts. He currently is in possession of 14 picks for the upcoming draft which will be held in Montreal.
So who will Bergevin target? The obvious target would be the first overall pick in the draft so that they can draft Alexis Lafreniere. That’s if they don’t win the lottery themselves. The Habs have been missing an elite offensive talent for quite some time. To be able to step up to the podium, on home soil, and select the Quebec native would blow the roof off of the Bell Centre.
The cost the get the pick would be astronomical. However, worth it to get a player of Lafreniere’s talent. Adding Lafreniere would instantly make the Habs a contender.
If they are not able to select Lafreniere, there is a top-quality left-winger set to become a free agent at seasons end named Taylor Hall.
Dave Poulin mentioned an interesting scenario during Trade Centre about the Habs calling the Dallas Stars or Calgary Flames regarding either Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn or Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. Depending on how each team fairs in this year’s playoffs, Poulin thinks they may look to shake things up. The Habs would certainly have the trade chips to acquire one of these players. It will be an interesting story to watch. Will the Habs step to the podium 14 times at the draft at home, or are they gearing up to make a blockbuster deal this offseason?
Winnipeg Jets
Rumour: Ken Wiebe of The Athletic states that how the rest of this season shakes out will have a major impact on how the team is going to look next season.
Here’s my column on #NHLJets after another trade deadline has come and gone:https://t.co/iS0zVIZrm7
— Ken Wiebe (@WiebeAthletic) February 24, 2020
Analysis: The Jets are currently sitting one point out of the final Wild Card position in the Western Conference with a game in hand over the Arizona Coyotes. The club made a couple of depth moves prior to the trade deadline acquiring Dylan Demelo and Cody Eakin. However, they never made that blockbuster deal many expected. In the last two seasons, the Jets were big players at the deadline acquiring players like Paul Stastny and Kevin Hayes, both of whom walked in free agency. Cheveldayoff did not feel comfortable moving top prospects or his first-round pick for just a rental. Hence why the Jets stood pat.
Because of the lack of impact moves that the Jets made, they find themselves in an awkward position. They never bolstered their lineup as much as some other teams might have. However, they had a solid core in place. Some would have liked to see them address the defence with more than just Demelo. Especially after the overhaul that they received in the offseason, losing four of their top five defencemen from the year prior. If the Jets miss out of the playoffs, we could see this core change drastically.
The Jets have 15 players set to become either a restricted or unrestricted free agent in the offseason with very little cap space available. The Jets will certainly look to move out Dustin Byfuglien‘s contract to open up another $7.6 million in cap space. However, they may look to move one of their forwards such as Nikolaj Ehlers in order to shake up the roster and address their biggest issue, the defence.
Minnesota Wild
Rumour: Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press reports that Bill Guerin said there is a chance that the Wild and New York Islanders revisit the deal that fell through at the deadline that would have sent Zach Parise to the Islanders.
STORY: #MNWild stand pat at Monday’s trade deadline despite Zach Parise trade talks.
“We were both completely up front with each other and honest with what was going on,” general manager Bill Guerin said. “The fact that nothing happened today is fine.”https://t.co/Zq0u2q3FnP
— Dane Mizutani (@DaneMizutani) February 24, 2020
Analysis: The deal as reported by both TSN and Sportsnet was said to involve Parise heading to the Islanders and Andrew Ladd heading to the Wild. It’s believed that they just could not manage to get the deal to work under the cap. However, with some more time and the two parties should be able to come up with a deal that works in the offseason. It was mentioned that both Parise and Ladd agreed to move their no-movement clauses so there is no issue there.
If the deal does end up going through, the Islanders get the son of former Islander J.P. Parise. It will also reunite Lou Lamoriello and Parise. Lamoriello was the general manager of the New Jersey Devils when Parise played for the team. Lamoriello and Parise were both with the team when they went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013. So a reunion for the two makes total sense.
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