It’s time to start the work week with another edition of NHL rumours. Today’s batch of NHL rumours will be about three teams that are out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Some big questions are going to be asked this 0ff-season and general managers are going to make some tough choices. We could see some new names in new places with some of these choices. Today’s NHL rumours centre on the Winnipeg Jets, Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild.
All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Winnipeg Jets
Rumour: Murat Ates of The Athletic takes a look at who may be on the move from the Manitoba capital.
Multiple key Winnipeg Jets players cast doubts about their own futures during their media exit interviews.
Who will stay? Who will go?
What about the UFAs?
And how will the #NHLJets coaching search impact Winnipeg's roster moves this summer?
— Murat Ates (@WPGMurat) May 13, 2022
Analysis: The team is likely going in a new direction with a new full-time head coach. There have been plenty of calls for the Dauphine, Manitoba native Barry Trotz to be lured back home. However, what players will he have to work with if he (or another) new coach take over in Winnipeg.
Players like Kyle Connor are pretty much a given to stay and General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff will likely give Pierre-Luc Dubois the contract extension he needs to stay with the club. Blake Wheeler is also staying put do the contract he has with the club.
The Mark Schiefele question rattled around again, but it seems unlikely he’ll be traded. Winnipeg had to quell any issues that Schiefele wanted out of town after his comment in exit interviews. However, he still makes a team-friendly $6.125 million a season until the of the 2023-24 season.
Names that won’t be back is Kristian Vesalainen, who may need a change of scenary. The team will also deal with issues on defence as they sort out the deals of Brendan Dillon and others.
Minnesota Wild
Rumour: Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek of the 32 Thoughts podcast discussed the Wild may have to do “major surgery” to keep Kevin Fiala.
Analysis: This was discussed a few weeks ago, but will be a more apparent focus now that the season is over. Fiala is a restricted free agent that is set to go to arbitration if he doesn’t sign a new deal.
However, the main issue is still that monstrous $12 million cap penalty for the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. The Wild showed a lot of creativity and risk-taking on offence with Fiala a main beneficiary. However, it’s time to pay the piper and General Manager Bill Guerin may have to do some drastic retooling.
Minnesota could trade Fiala’s arbitration rights, but they would love to keep his career-high 33 goals. However, players like Mathew Dumba and his $6 million could be sacrificed to make Fiala stay. Alex Goligoski and his pay cut of $3 million also takes effect, but there could be more moves on defence that need to be made. The club also figure out with they will do with goalies Cam Talbot and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Boston Bruins
Rumour: The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa said the Bruins will try to shore up centre depth even if Patrice Bergeron returns.
The Bruins' offseason movement begins with Patrice Bergeron's decision. https://t.co/3ycBdnbbsx
— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) May 15, 2022
Analysis: The Bergeron question will be the big one of the off-season. However, don’t expect a Tuukka Rask-like delay that extended into the season. The question of Bergeron’s status was discussed in Sunday’s NHL rumours.
Boston and General Manager Don Sweeney will still try to shore up the pivot position. There are a few unrestricted free centres that would be a big boost to the Bruins. Vincent Trocheck, Nazem Kadri, Andrew Copp and Max Domi are come to mind as UFAs. The key would be finding the right cap number with the David Pastrnak extension looming after the 2023-24. Copp will likely get plenty of interest from the New York Rangers, who are keen on him staying.
Boston also has to figure out if Jack Studnicka is part of the solution or is he trade bait. The 23-year-old hasn’t been able to crack the lineup and may need a new place to go.
