It’s another edition of NHL rumours with focus on NHL players not being in the Olympics. Teams will try to make games up with the schedule wide open. However, teams may still be thinking about making some moves. There is a roster freeze going on until Dec. 28, but teams are already thinking about bolstering their rosters. The Toronto Maple Leafs might be looking to make a move on defence.
All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
World Cup of Hockey
Rumour: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman talks about the World Cup of Hockey being on the table with the NHL closing the door on the Olympics.
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1473493800475574273
Analysis: It will be six years without a best-on-best tournament and eight years since the Olympics. Omicron has dominated the conversation, but Friedman said the NHL and NHLPA should consider setting a tournament as soon as possible. It won’t be instantly because setting up an international tournament takes time.
Players were definitely disappointed that they could represent their country on a big stage. We won’t get the showdown between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin while both are still playing at the top of their games. Fans will miss out on a Canada vs. USA matchup and other intriguing stories.
Friedman suggested that places like Toronto, Montreal or Vegas could host a World Cup. A discussion of a new World Cup likely happens soon due to the end of the 2022 Olympic dream. NHLers are slated to go to Italy in 2026.
NHL Schedule
Rumour: Sean Shapiro of The Athletic said that the NHL has reached out to teams about available dates during the Olympic break.
NHL started reaching out this morning to teams about dates they’d have available during the Olympic break. Building availability much better in some places than others, so whatever re-purposed schedule emerges will be interesting.
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) December 21, 2021
Analysis: Building availability is better in some places according to Shapiro. Some venues will have dates booked up, but there are plenty of games to go around. The league did prepare for the outcome of not going to the Olympics because of the current pandemic, so some arenas were prepared.
There were a total of 44 games postponed prior to the season being put on pause two days earlier than expected. Some teams will have more games to make up than others. The league will try to make sure they can get all the games in to make a complete 82-game season for the first time since 2018-19.
A possibility could be neutral-site games if some rinks aren’t available for multiple dates. However, that would raise the question of gate revenue and how that would be distributed. There are still plenty of questions to sift through in dealing with the fallout of the postponed games.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Rumour: The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel looked at the Leafs trading to upgrade their defence.
MMLR: Justin Holl, Jake Muzzin, and a problem brewing on the Leafs defence: https://t.co/hihmosalPw
— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) December 13, 2021
Analysis: Normally a Leafs rumour would be a focus of our NHL rumours article. However, the Olympic news has taken centre stage.
Toronto’s pairing of Justin Holl and Jake Muzzin has struggled this season after a strong 2020-21 campaign. Holl has struggled in finishing plays off in the neutral zone. He and partner Jake Muzzin have looked a step slower and struggled with decision-making.
Travis Dermott also had a tough time before getting a shoulder injury. His partnership with Morgan Reilly didn’t do so well before that was ended. The team also doesn’t want to give Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren more they can handle.
This brings General Manger Kyle Dubas to a tough decision. He may have to make a deal, but cap space and assets aren’t in their favour. Trading Holl ($2 million) or Dermott ($1.5 million) could give the Leafs some space. Toronto could also ask a team to retain salary as it did with Nick Foligno. However, the team would have to pay a high price for that to happen.
