Welcome back to Wednesday’s edition of NHL Rumours from Last Word on Hockey. There has been a ton of player movement over the last week with teams trying to improve their clubs for next season. Free Agency started off with a bang. However, there are still a ton of players without contracts. As well as teams who are looking to move out cap in order to comply with the salary cap. This has sparked a ton of NHL rumours. In today’s segment, we look at NHL rumours from the Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks.
All NHL rumours come from their original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Montreal Canadiens
Rumour: Pierre LeBrun tweeted that Brendan Gallagher‘s agent Gerry Johannson has said that contract talks have broken off with the Canadiens.
Gerry Johannson, agent for Brendan Gallagher, says contract talks have broken off with the Habs.
Although Gallagher still has a another year on his deal so time for this to iron itself out. But talks have obviously not gone great so far.— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 13, 2020
Analysis: Marc Bergevin has been a busy man this off-season trying to improve his team. He entered the off-season with a ton of cap space, however, is now right up against the cap after bringing in Jake Allen, Joel Edmundson, Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli. He also started working on his contracts for next season by get Jeff Petry locked up for another four years.
Now, Bergevin is trying to do the same with Brendan Gallagher. However, talks have apparently gone south. Bergevin has a ton of free agents to look after next season, all of which are extremely important to the organization. Along with Gallagher, Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Joel Armia, Artturi Lehkonen, Victor Mete and newly acquired Jake Allen are all set to become free agents. With about $25 million in cap space for next season, it’s going to be tough to get them all under contract. However, of the unrestricted free agents, Gallagher is the most important.
Gallagher is the heart and soul of the Habs. He has been since he came into the league. He is also a proven 30 goal scorer. After signing a very team-friendly deal his last time around, Gallagher certainly deserves a raise. However, he is on the record saying; “The money’s important. I’m not going to sit here and lie and say it’s not going to be important to me. But it’ll be enough money regardless of what it is. I’ll be able to live a happy life post-hockey and that’s not going to be a worry.” He goes on to say that he wants to be a winner and he believes that the Canadiens can be that. And he has to be extremely excited for the work Bergevin has already done to help accomplish that.
Because of this, it’s hard to believe that Canadiens don’t find a way to get Gallagher under contract. As mentioned, he is the most important of that group of free agents. And though they might lose some of the names mentioned, Gallagher is not likely to be one of them.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Rumour: During the 31 thoughts podcast(around 14:40), Elliott Friedman mentions that he believes the Lightning have asked Steven Stamkos if he would waive his no-movement clause.
Analysis: It’s no surprise that the Lighting would do their due diligence with this. The Lightning are currently a vulnerable target to an offer sheet with players like Mikhail Sergachev and Anthony Cirelli currently restricted free agents. Both players will be looking for considerable raises and there is no money available as it stands with the Lightning. The Lightning just proved they can win without Stamkos. Stamkos missed all but three minutes of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, the Lightning were still crowned victorious at the end. Given the fact that he has a cap hit of $8.5 million and he is the most attractive piece that the Lightning could move, it’s no surprise that they would be asking him to waive in order to try to keep their Stanley Cup winning team together.
Moving Stamkos would give the Lightning about $11.5 million in cap space to try to sign the two players mentioned plus Erik Cernak. While it may not be enough to get them all under contract, it’s a good start. It should, at the very least, make it possible to fit Sergachev and Cirelli. Who would be the two most important pieces.
Chicago Blackhawks
Rumour: Also during the 31 Thoughts podcast(around 36:30), Friedman mentions that Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith could be asked to move his no-movement clause.
Analysis: This conversation is sparked by Friedman speaking of the interview Jonathan Toews did with The Athletic and how upset he was about the current situation of the Blackhawks. Toews mentions that players were thrilled that Brandon Saad and Corey Crawford won’t be returning to the club next season. The Blackhawks look to be entering a rebuild rather than continuing to try to win while they still have Patrick Kane, Toews and Keith under contract. Obviously, this is frustrating for those players as they have been winners since they came into the league. The three have three Stanley Cup wins together. To see their team going into rebuild mode while they are still capable of being top players in today’s game has to be frustrating.
It would not be surprising if Keith was asked to move his no-movement clause. He’s 37 years old and has a cap hit of $5.538 million for the next three seasons. As someone who has gotten a lot of interest from other teams in the last few years, and someone who can still be an effective piece on the backend in a lesser role, Keith is a prime target for a Stanley Cup contending team.
Keith proved he is still able to produce, scoring 27 points in 61 games last season. He also scored five points in nine games during the postseason. His skating is still outstanding despite being at the end of his career. He also still has a mean streak to him. Players don’t lose that mentality and Keith is certainly a player who could help any team during a playoff run. It would not be surprising to see him moved sometime between now and next season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Given the comments, Toews could be following behind him.
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