It’s time once again for another edition of NHL rumours. We’re deep into the off-season and the month of August is almost upon us. However, there are still some NHL rumours to talk about. Arbitration hearings are being held and some decisions have already been made. That may have an impact on what some teams do as we close in on the start of training camps in September. Today’s NHL rumours focus on the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings.
All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Boston Bruins
Rumour: Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald looked into the upcoming battle to fill the bottom-two centre spots after the retirement of Patrice Bergeron.
Analysis: It looks like Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha are going to be the top-two centres with Bergeron’s departure. David Krejci remains unsigned, but it’s uncertain if he’s going to come back. The battle for the centre spots will likely come down to Morgan Geekie, Jesper Boqvist and Patrick Brown if no acquisitions are made.
However, the Bruins could be in the market to shore up their ranks down the middle. Boston does have some assets to move if they want to do something. Conroy speculates that Linus Ullmark or Jeremy Swayman could be traded to give the Bruins some cap space. The Bruins will need that space. However, it’s going to be tough to decide who to trade. Ullmark has two years at $5 million per season, but a 16-team no-trade clause. Swayman will have his arbitration case decided on Sunday, but a contract could be signed.
Jake DeBrusk could also be offloaded with his $4 million cap hit coming off the books. Other players like Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort could be tossed into any potential deal. Conroy said in the article that Elias Lindholm and Mark Scheifele are potential targets, but the Bruins would have to clear space.
Detroit Red Wings
Rumour: The Athletic’s Max Bultman looked at a possible contract extension for Lucas Raymond.
In part 1 of our July Red Wings mailbag, we tackle which linemates could best maximize Alex DeBrincat, and a whole lot more:https://t.co/xV1CJigKIc
— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) July 17, 2023
Analysis: Both Raymond and Moritz Seider are eligible for contract extensions as both are in the final year of their entry-level contracts. A previous NHL rumours edition looked into a Seider extension. However, Bultman said there’s no hurry to make a deal for both players at this time.
Our previous article on Seider said that he’s more likely to get a long-term contract than Raymond. Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman could give Seider a longer deal a la like he did with players when he ran the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Raymond is a potential breakout candidate for the Red Wings this season. However, he may get a bridge deal to prove that he can do it for more than one season. The young Swede could take the next step up, but Yzerman wants to see if it’s going to more than one season of production. A strong season may sway Detroit to give Raymond more than a couple seasons in his next contract.
Main photo by: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
