Welcome back to another edition of NHL Rumours. Today we travel out to the west coast where the Anaheim Ducks are starting their search for a new General Manager. In Canada, the Vancouver Canucks could be looking to move backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak. Finally, the San Jose Sharks could trade one of their talented forwards this season. Here are your NHL rumours for today.
NHL Rumours
Anaheim Ducks
Rumour: Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic is reporting that the Anaheim Ducks are including interim General Manager Jeff Solomon in their list of candidates for the General Manager position.
Analysis: Bob Murray held the position in question for a very long time. In fact, he was the third longest-tenured General Manager prior to his resignation in November. In the meantime, Jeff Solomon takes over as the head of the front office. Some other internal names on their list of interviews include Martin Madden and Dave Nonis. The team will also interview several external candidates.
Another point of note is that the team is including a few former players in the interview process. Paul Kariya and Scott Niedermayer are also members of the committee. Niedermayer has participated in a player development role with the team in a part-time capacity. This will be Kariya’s first foray into this type of role with the Ducks.
Vancouver Canucks
Rumour: TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that current Vancouver Canucks backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak could be traded soon.
This is interesting. We discussed a bit on the show, so I poked around a bit. I believe the Canucks would consider trading Halak, mostly because Demko is likely to play a lot and the return should be decent for Jaro. The bonus $ likely part of the equation, but not main reason. https://t.co/MnBJPPaJcE
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) January 5, 2022
Analysis: The Canucks have not had the season they expected. The front office has made several moves over the last few offseasons to try and push this team into contention. Those moves haven’t worked out too well as the team has barely made the postseason in recent years and has not done well when they have. Canucks ownership cleaned house just a few weeks ago, dismissing Jim Benning and Travis Green from their duties.
Jaroslav Halak could be a casualty of the team’s lack of success. That is not to say he has played poorly. In fact, Halak has played well. But this team needs to start rebuilding. If they can recoup assets for an older player that likely won’t be around when they turn the team around, they should do it. Halak is 36 years old and could be a valuable backup to a contending team.
San Jose Sharks
Rumour: Frank Seravalli’s Top 20 Trade Targets for Daily Faceoff featured Sharks forward Tomas Hertl at the top spot.
Analysis: Similarly to Vancouver, the Sharks find themselves on the outside looking in at this point in the season. Hertl is a very talented forward. In fact, he is the second-highest paid forward on the team. But he is also headed for unrestricted free agency. While the team might want to keep him, the smarter move would be to move on. While he does have quite a few years left before we see any kind of decline, this team has a long rebuild ahead of them.
What could a return for Hertl look like? A pretty good one. Hertl can be relied upon for roughly 0.75 points per game. A first-round pick is an easy ask for the Sharks. They might be able to get another smaller piece thrown in but they should get a decent return for him.
That does it for this edition of NHL Rumours, be sure to check back tomorrow for more.
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