Welcome back to another edition of NHL Rumours from the crew at Last Word on Sports. The First Round of the NHL Entry Draft is now complete and despite little movement on the trade front, rumours are still swirling on what is sure to be a busy few days leading up to free agency. Today, we look at NHL rumours from the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks.
All NHL rumours come from their original sources and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Montreal Canadiens
Rumour: Darren Dreger appeared on TSN’s Overdrive 1050 and said that the Montreal Canadiens are surely going to be one of the teams in the mix for Taylor Hall.
Dreger on Taylor Hall‘s status, why he could fit in Montreal & whether Patrik Laine is moved from Winnipeg https://t.co/w3eUA9jQN4
— OverDrive (@OverDrive1050) October 6, 2020
Analysis: This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Marc Bergevin has said that he has to be careful when it comes to free agency, however, if he has shown us anything this offseason, it’s that he’s going for it this year. He is trying to improve the Canadiens to try to win now and has made a ton of moves already to start that process. First acquiring Jake Allen, then Joel Edmundson and most recently Josh Anderson in exchange for Max Domi. So he improved his goaltending and defence and got bigger upfront. Now it’s time to get that top six point producer up front and Taylor Hall certainly fits that bill.
Hall is just two-year outs from winning the Hart Trophy as the leagues MVP. That season he scored 37 goals and 93 points. His production has slightly fallen off over the past two seasons, scoring 89 points in 98 games. However, there’s not denying Hall’s talent. The biggest issue with Hall for Bergevin would be the term. However, Dreger mentions Hall may be open to doing a shorter two or three-year deal, which would be right up Marc Bergevin’s ally.
If Bergevin can get Hall to accept a shorter-term deal this might be the best route to go for the Canadiens. Hall is set to become a free agent when free agency opens on Friday, October 9th. Signing him rather than having to trade pieces to acquire scoring may be the route Bergevin wants to take. Regardless, we expect Bergevin to stay busy. He certainly has another move up his sleeve.
More From Montreal
Rumour: Pierre LeBrun tweeted on October 6th that he believes the Canadiens will have interest in signing Wayne Simmonds when free agency opens on October 9th.
Montreal showed interest in Simmonds last July but wasn’t ready to pay what NJ did ($5M aav). It wouldn’t surprise me if Habs circled back on Simmonds again at least to see. (bottom six role?). Simmonds told me last month it’s the best he’s felt physically in 2 yrs
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 6, 2020
Analysis: Granted, this tweet was sent out before the Habs went out and acquired Josh Anderson which addresses a need to get bigger. However, that doesn’t mean there still won’t be interest. As LeBrun states, Simmonds is someone Bergevin has had interest in last year during free agency. However, Bergevin wasn’t willing to pay the $5 million AAV that the New Jersey Devils paid. With Simmonds production down, he will certainly come cheaper. Bergevin has stated he wants to get bigger and harder to play against. Despite the acquisition of Anderson, Bergevin may still look to add even more grit and pick up Simmonds for a bottom-line role.
Simmonds is someone who has proven the ability to score goals over his career. He has six seasons where he has scored 20 plus goals. However, has been able to hit those numbers since the 2017-18 season. At 32 years old, Simmonds production is clearly starting to drop. However, he’s still capable of scoring double-digits for his team while playing an in your face style of game and can be used as a net presence on the power play. Another area where Montreal struggles. The fit is also too perfect for Montreal to not at least throw their hat in the ring for his services. Acquiring Simmonds would be another step to making the Canadiens a true Stanley Cup contender.
Vancouver Canucks
Rumour: Rick Dhaliwal os TSN 1040 in Vancouver tweeted that Tyler Toffoli will hit the open market when free agency opens on October 9th as the Canucks are not able to clear the cap space.
Looks like Toffoli going to the market because VAN can’t clear the space
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) October 6, 2020
Analysis: As it stands, the Canucks have close to $13.5 million in cap space. However, amongst their free agents, they have Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Troy Stecher and Jake Virtanen. Not to mention Toffoli. The club simply can’t afford to bring back Toffoli on a longer-term deal which he is certainly looking for and jeopardize the rest of their team. Especially considering after next season, they’re going to have to sign their two best players in Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.
This will be a big loss for the Canucks if they can’t manage to move out the cap in time. Toffoli was excellent for the Canucks scoring 10 points in 10 games after being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings. Toffoli is an outstanding player capable of playing a two-way game and being used on both special teams. He’s proven the ability to be a 20 plus goal scorer over his career.
The Canucks still have time, but it’s looking bleak. They need to find a taker for Loui Eriksson massive $6 million deal, however, the only way they’d ever be able to do that is if they paid a premium much like the Toronto Maple Leafs did when they moved Patrick Marleau last offseason, giving the Carolina Hurricanes a first-round pick. Not everyone is comfortable making such a move. However, if the Canucks really want to keep Toffoli, it may be the only way to get it done. If not, there will be a ton of team’s interested in acquiring Toffoli’s services. He’ll surely be able to get the deal he is looking for on the open market.
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