Welcome back to another edition of NHL Rumours. The Stanley Cup has been awarded as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars in Game 6. Now, all teams are quickly switching their focus to the upcoming draft and free agency. With that, rumours are starting to fly. Today, we will look at NHL rumours from the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers.
All NHL Rumours come from their original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Montreal Canadiens
Rumour: While speaking with Tony Marinaro on TSN 690, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin states that he is willing to move picks and prospects to make the Canadiens better immediately. This would include this year’s first-round pick.
Analysis: The Canadiens have spent the last few seasons stocking up on draft picks and young talent to start a quick retool. Now, that the Canadiens have built up a solid core and performed extremely well in the playoffs, it’s time to take the next step. It’s time for Marc Bergevin to swing for the fences and bring in some big-time help to push this team to the next level. He’s already made a start on the offseason by addressing two needs. He brought in Jake Allen to backup Carey Price. He also brought in Joel Edmundson to bring some more size and grit to the back end. Now is time to pick up a legitimate scoring threat to slot into the top-six.
Obviously, all the players they’ve drafted in recent years will not be able to play for the Canadiens. Having the 16th overall pick in this year’s draft that is considered to be a deep draft is also a huge chip to have. The Canadiens could do extremely well packaging the pick with a couple of prospects or a prospect and a young NHL ready player to acquire a proven goal scorer. The first name that comes to mind is obviously Patrik Laine. He is exactly the type of player the Canadiens need. However, if the cost is a bit too much for the Canadiens, maybe Nikolaj Ehlers will suffice. Someone who is already locked up on a long-term contract. With the number of teams who will be in cap trouble, there’s surely to be a ton of options. Now is the time for Bergevin to strike.
Edmonton Oilers
Rumour: On the most recent edition of TSN’s Insider Trading, Darren Dreger states that the Oilers have shown interest in Arizona Coyotes defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Analysis: As Dreger states, any deal the Oilers would make to bring in Ekman-Larsson is going to be a complicated one. Ekman-Larsson comes with a large cap hit of $8.25 million until the end of the 2026-27 season. The Oilers have just over $11 million in cap space and still need a backup goaltender. And they need to re-sign free agents like Ethan Bear and Andreas Athanasiou. The Oilers would need to move out some salary to make any deal work. James Neal and Kris Russell are a couple of names that come to mind.
As it stands, the Oilers already have a strong left defence. So targeting Ekman-Larsson is a bit strange. Unless they moved out one of Oscar Klefbom or Darnell Nurse, Ekman-Larsson would join those two to form one of the best left sides in hockey. If not the best. One would think one of those two would be included in any deal. Or at the very least, would be moved somewhere else during the offseason to fill another hole.
There would be a lot of moving parts to any Ekman-Larsson deal. However, acquiring him would be huge move forward for the Oilers. Ekman-Larsson is an excellent skater and puck mover capable of putting up between 40-50 points every year. On a powerplay as potent as the Oilers, Ekman-Larsson may even set new career highs in points. It would certainly be a move that would show Connor McDavid that Holland is serious and making the Oilers a contender. OEL certainly accomplishes that.
More From the Oilers
Rumour: Sticking with the Oilers, in the same edition of Insider Trading, Pierre LeBrun followed up Darren Dreger’s comment of the Oilers being interested in Ekman-Larsson by stating that they were also interested in Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek.
Analysis: This would be another big move for the Oilers, and isn’t nearly as surprising. Mike Smith won’t return for the Oilers. They currently have Mikko Koskinen locked up for another two seasons at $4.5 million per season. However, he hasn’t proven capable of being trusted to be a full time starter. Mrazek, however, has spent the last two season playing 1A/1B with Curtis McElhinney and James Reimer in Carolina.
Mrazek was solid for the Hurricanes playing in 40 games in each of the last two seasons. He posted a 2.56 goals-against average and a save percentage of .909 with seven shutouts. He played outstanding for the Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well. Mrazek posted a 2.08 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage during the playoffs. Being someone who Holland is familiar with, having him in Detroit, it makes all the sense in the world that they would target Mrazek.
Worth The Risk
With a cap hit of just $3.125, it wouldn’t cripple the Oilers to pick up Mrazek’s contract. Being four years younger than Koskinen, it gives the Oilers a younger option moving forward. Mrazek is a UFA at seasons end, so there isn’t much of a risk to make the deal either. Either he plays well and the Oilers ink him to a new deal, or he doesn’t and they let him walk. No harm, no foul. With the way Mrazek has played throughout his career, my bet is on the former. It would definitely be a stronger tandem than the Oilers had this past season and is another solid step to showing McDavid they’re serious about winning.
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