We start another work week with another batch of our NHL rumours. It may be the middle of August, but there’s still plenty to talk about in hockey. Teams are still trying to work out deals for un-signed players and think about the future. Today’s NHL rumours focus on the Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins.
All NHL rumours are subject to change and come from the original source.
NHL Rumours
Ottawa Senators
Rumour: Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun updated the recent negotiations between Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson.
Analysis: Both players are key parts of the club’s future, but most Senators fans are interested in Tkachuk. Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk said that he’d love to nail down Tkachuk for a long-term deal and name the former first-rounder the team’s captain. a long-term deal would likely be for six to eight seasons so the club can have some stability at the leadership position.
However, Tkachuk could elect to sign a bridge deal like his brother Matthew Tkachuk did with the Calgary Flames. Matthew signed a three-year contract worth$7 million per season and is hoping to get a raise once that deal is up.
Batherson will likely sign a bridge contract of two to three seasons on a type of “prove it” contract. The 23-year-old got 17 goals in 56 games this season. It may be a deal just to see if Batherson is worth a long-term commitment.
Carolina Hurricanes
Rumour: Sara Civian of The Athletic speculated on what kind of deal Andrei Svechnikov could sign with the club.
https://twitter.com/SaraCivian/status/1425157097696763904
Analysis: The dynamic Russian is a restricted free agent, but did not file for salary arbitration. He’s coming off a 15-goal season and his three-year, $10.725 contract just ended. Last season was the first time he didn’t score 20 goals in a campaign.
Civian quipped that the details of the next contract are exactly known by Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin. This is a reference to Habs signing Canes forward Sebastian Aho to an offer sheet a couple of offseasons ago.
It’s likely that the Svechnikov contract could mirror the Tkachuk deal in terms of length and money. Civian projected that the contract value is in range of $7-8 million. This is just about the deal Matthew Tkachuk got from the Flames. Carolina has over $12.3 million left in salary cap space and the young forward is the last major player they have left to re-sign. The deal likely gets done soon, so he can be in camp.
Boston Bruins
Rumour: The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa peered into the future about Charlie McAvoy and his next contract.
Charlie McAvoy’s next deal: To infinity and beyond! https://t.co/UF37pjro2W
— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) August 10, 2021
Analysis: The recent deals involving Seth Jones and Zach Werenski didn’t help the Bruins’ position in trying to keep the cost down on their star defender. Jones and Werenski both got deals going over $9 million and McAvoy could command over $10 million.
McAvoy makes $4.9 million in the final season of his contract and will want a deserved raise. Bruins’ management may want to try to get out in front of it and get an extension of some sort done before he hits the market. Boston can’t afford to be rough in these negotiations or they may lose their star blueliner.
The Long Island native could sign a bridge contract of three or four seasons and wait for the rise in revenues for a bigger payday. Boston and McAvoy may also try to explore a middle ground that won’t give both sides everything they want, but enough to make both parties happy. McAvoy would get plenty of money, but the Bruins management would get enough cap flexibility to give Patrice Bergeron a decent deal when his contract comes up at the end of the season.
