Welcome back to another edition of NHL Rumours from the crew at Last Word on Hockey. The First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is winding down and teams around the league are already starting to prepare for next season. With a flat cap, teams are not going to have the wiggle room they thought they once had. Because of this, teams will have to sit back and evaluate upcoming unrestricted and restricted free agents to see who they actually feel fit with their clubs. With that said, let’s take a look at NHL rumours from the Boston Bruins, Edmonton Oilers and Nashville Predators.
All NHL rumours come from their original sources and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Boston Bruins
Rumour: To start of our NHL rumours segment, Joe Haggerty of NBCSportsBoston.com appeared on TSN 690 and spoke of the Tuukka Rask situation. According to Haggerty, the speculation is that Rask might play out his contract and then retire after next season.
Analysis: Haggerty states that he doesn’t think hockey is all that important to Rask anymore and that he has other things he likes to do. Of course, again, this is all speculation. There is no telling what the future holds for Rask. However, it would be incredibly surprising to see Rask retire at such a young age.
The 33-year-old netminder has had an outstanding career. However, he has not been able to backstop the Bruins to a Stanley Cup Championship. He was the backup to Tim Thomas when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011. Since then the Bruins have managed to get back to the Stanley Cup Final twice but lost both times. Now this season, the Bruins finished first in terms of win percentage in the entire league and potentially had a shot to make another run at the Stanley Cup. Rask, however, elected to leave the bubble to return to his family. While the decision was met with controversy, no one can fault Rask for making what he feels is the best decision for him and his family.
Rask had stated the day before deciding to leave the bubble that “it didn’t feel like playoff hockey out there. There’s no fans, so it’s kind of like playing an exhibition game. It’s definitely not a playoff atmosphere”. This might be where the whole “hockey is not important to Rask anymore” speculation is stemming from. Whether or not Rask is losing his love for the game is yet to be seen. What we do know, is he has one year remaining on his contract. Surely Rask will sit down with his family and Bruins general manager Don Sweeney to talk about his future and make the decision on if he will continue his career in hockey.
For what it’s worth, potential goaltender of the future Daniel Vladar is currently backing up Jaroslav Halak in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He looked outstanding in his 25 appearances in the AHL this season. Vladar posted a 14-7-1 record with a goals-against-average of 1.76 and a save percentage of .936. However, the Bruins would surely like to hold onto their former Vezina Trophy winner for a while longer. Not only to stay competitive but to help groom the youngster Vladar.
Edmonton Oilers
Rumour: Jason Gregor of TSN 1260 tweeted a quote from Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland stating that Holland believed Andreas Athanasiou did not play as big of an impact on the Oilers roster as he thought. Holland states he will assess where Athanasiou fits over the next six or seven weeks.
“I had a relationship with Athanasiou in Detroit, and his impact here wasn’t as good as I’d hope. I will assess over the next six, seven weeks leading into the off-season.” Holland
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) August 11, 2020
Analysis: At first glance, Athanasiou seemed like the perfect acquisition for the Oilers. A winger with a lot of speed capable of scoring goals. Someone who could keep up with the likes of Connor McDavid. However, it failed. Athanasiou rarely saw the ice with McDavid and only managed to muster one goal and one assist over the nine games he played with the Oilers. He failed to register a single point in the four games he played in the Qualifying Round.
Holland drafted Athanasiou and watched him put up 30 goals and 54 points in 74 games during the 2018-19 season. In May of 2019, Holland was hired as the Oilers general manager, so of course, during his first season, he called his friend Steve Yzerman to acquire his former draftee, in order to help push his team over the top and make a run for the Stanley Cup.
Just as the Oilers failed this season, Athanasiou failed to fit in with the Oilers. Set to become a restricted free agent this offseason, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Holland try to move his recent acquisition. Athanasiou can certainly be an effective piece to a team’s offence in the right situation. However, it doesn’t seem like the Oilers are the right fit.
Nashville Predators
Rumour: Brooks Bratten who is the senior communications and content coordinator for the Nashville Predators tweeted that Predators general manager David Poile says he doesn’t have an answer yet as to how the situation with upcoming unrestricted free agents Craig Smith and Mikael Granlund will play out yet. He states he could circle back in the coming week to speak to their agents about potential contracts.
#Preds GM David Poile says he doesn’t have an answer yet as to how situations with UFAs Craig Smith and Mikael Granlund will play out yet. Poile says he could circle back and speak with their agents in a couple of weeks to discuss potential contracts.
— Brooks Bratten (@brooksbratten) August 13, 2020
Analysis: Smith has played his entire NHL nine-year career with the Predators. He was drafted by the club in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and has been a solid depth scoring option. Smith has posted five 20 goal seasons over his nine-year career. According to Evolving-Hockey.com, Smith is expected to receive a three-year deal worth $4.22 million per season. Keeping him around the same cap hit as he currently has right now.
Mikael Granlund, on the other hand, has been disappointing since being acquired from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Kevin Fiala. At the time of the deal, it seemed as though the Predators clearly won the trade. However, in 79 games with the Predators, Granlund has only managed 18 goals and 35 points. A far cry from the almost 70 point seasons he put up with the Wild. For his efforts, Evolving-Hockey.com is still projecting Granlund to receive a seven-year deal worth $6.525 million per season. A steep price to pay for the production the Predators received.
According to Capfriendly.com, the Predators have around $9.2 million in cap space for next season. Signing both those players would put them over the cap and leave them in the same boat they were in this past season. They finished 17th in league scoring with 212 goals. They also found themselves in the bottom of the league in powerplay percentage, scoring on just 17.3 percent of their chances. This was good for 25th in the entire league. The Predators need to upgrade these areas if they hope to be serious Stanley Cup contenders next season. While Craig Smith may be a valuable piece to hold onto as he has consistently put up goals for the club and comes at a decent price, it may be best for the Predators to let Granlund go.
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