Hello and welcome to a regular Monday edition of NHL rumours. The Stanley Cup postseason bubble remains intact but the offseason approaches every day. That generates plenty of conversation regarding free agency and trades worthy of discussion. Last Word on Hockey remains committed to bringing you the latest each day as it happens. Today’s NHL rumours feature the Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
NHL Rumours
Montreal Canadiens
Rumour: Dave Pagnotta and Matthew Ross recently discussed the possibility of Taylor Hall joining the Canadiens on TSN radio.
Analysis: Signing Hall would be a very interesting move for an improving Montreal squad. The team had a decent showing in the NHL’s postseason bubble but they could use an extra piece or two to push them into the next tier of contenders. Hall by himself isn’t capable of doing that but he would give the Canadiens’ top-six another weapon.
It will help that Montreal has one of the best cap situations in the league going into 2020-21. They have roughly just $62.4 million committed to the NHL roster next season. EvolvingHockey’s contract projection too has Hall’s contract projection at seven years with an annual cap hit of $8.54 million. That would give Montreal almost $11 million for new contracts for Max Domi and a handful of other key restricted free agents.
Hall seems like he would be an ideal fit on the top line next to Phillip Danault and Tomas Tatar. That would move someone like Brendan Gallagher to the second line potentially next to developing star Nick Suzuki. There would be multiple versions of the top-six where Hall would fit if Montreal did indeed acquire him. The team doesn’t have major contract decisions on its hands until after 2020-21. There is no reason they can’t use the space they do have for a star of Hall’s calibre.
Carolina Hurricanes
Rumour: NHL.com’s Tom Guilitti revealed late last week that Carolina forward Andrei Svechnikov was open to signing an extension early before he reaches restricted free agency.
Analysis: There is no reason Carolina shouldn’t consider extending Svechnikov now. The 19-year-old exploded in 2019-20 with 24 goals and 61 points in 68 games. He had a fine rookie campaign with 20 goals and 37 points in 82 games but he reached a completely new level this year. He also showed a tremendous two-way ability with 116 hits. Svechnikov is already one of Carolina’s core. He should be rewarded accordingly.
Carolina looks like it will have plenty of money to hand out after 2020-21 as well. The team only has $45.3 million currently projected going in 2022-23. They will need to figure out what to do with the goaltending and blueline situations but there are several prospects who should be factors in the next year or two. Those prospects will make the team significantly cheaper than it is right now. Jake Bean, in particular, is one who should be a major piece of the blueline moving forward.
The only concern Carolina might have with handing out a big contract to Svechnikov now is how it affects next season’s free agents. Veteran contributors Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Dzingel are just two names who will hit the open market after 2020-21. They should lock Svechnikov down now while they can but they also can’t sacrifice future depth in doing so. The league doesn’t know when or by how much the salary cap will rise so Carolina might wait until the next offseason to address extensions.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Rumour: The last of today’s NHL rumours features Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, who recently had a few thoughts on comments Kyle Dubas made after the recent Kasperi Kapanen trade.
Analysis: Moving Kapanen did clear some space in the Kapanen deal but they still have just under $9 million in space going into the full offseason. That could mean more players are sold for cheaper assets or picks. There’s no reason to think Toronto can’t move another player or two while remaining both competitive and flexible for 2020-21.
The Leafs could dump smaller contracts like Andreas Johnsson‘s or Alexander Kerfoot‘s but it’s also possible a big name is shipped elsewhere. The most likely options in that scenario are William Nylander and Frederik Andersen. Andersen is the more-likely trade chip of those two as moving Nylander would blow up the team’s main core of forwards. The 30-year-old Andersen has a cap hit of $5 million through next year. He was fine in 2019-20 but moving him would create a lot of financial flexibility.
Toronto would have to rely on Jack Campbell if they moved Andersen but there will be several interesting goalies on the market this fall. Someone like Anton Khudobin or Thomas Greiss could be very appealing. They are productive goalies who will also cost less money than Andersen. Goaltending is not Toronto’s biggest issue in the offseason. The bottom-six and blueline are more pressing. However, a change in the goal does let them address those concerns more easily. Toronto looks like it will be among the most active teams when the offseason officially begins.
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