We’re closing in on the All-Star Break in Toronto and we’ve got more NHL rumours for you. Teams are going to have to decide if they’re in or they’re out when it comes to a post-season spot. General managers also have to decide about contracts that are going to come up at the end of the season. Some hard decisions are coming for clubs in the next few weeks with the March 8th trade deadline in sight. Today’s NHL Rumours focus on the Carolina Hurricanes and the Minnesota Wild.
All NHL Rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Carolina Hurricanes
Rumour: Cory Lavalette of the Carolina-based North State Journal discussed the next contract for Martin Necas, who is a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
Analysis: Necas currently makes $3 million per season in the final year of his current deal. He’s likely to get himself a nice raise from some team. Lavalette brings up the Owen Tippett deal with the Philadelphia Flyers as a similar deal. Tippett scored himself a contract of $6.2 million per season that will run through the end of the 2031-32 season.
Necas is hoping to land himself a deal that’s similar or one that will get him even more. However, will General Manager Don Waddell have enough room under the cap to make a deal happen? Sebastian Aho‘s new contract kicks in next season and there are deals due for RFAs like Jack Drury and Seth Jarvis. Unrestricted free agents Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce are also coming up for contracts at the end of the season.
Waddell is going to have to do some fancy footwork to make everyone happy. Jarvis, Drury and Necas are three core parts to the Hurricanes lineup. They look to be a big part of the future in the Carolinas. In contrast, Waddell is going to have to make some tough choices in order to get all three under the Canes salary cap.
Minnesota Wild
Rumour: Joe Smith and Michael Russo of The Athletic said the Wild will likely dip into the trade market to fill the void of injured captain Jared Spurgeon.
Analysis: The Wild are doing all they can to stay in the murky Western Conference playoff picture. However, losing their team captain for the rest of the season puts a big dent into that. That being said, General Manager Bill Guerin is confident that Spurgeon will back for September’s training camp.
A silver lining is that Spurgeon’s cap hit of $7.575 million is back in play for a cap-strapped club. Guerin plans on maximizing the cap space in order to stay in the post-season picture. Conversely, the Wild’s GM doesn’t want blow all that newfound money on one player. Guerin wants to get some value with his fresh cap space.
The usual list of names that have been floating around is Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, and Sean Walker which have been mentioned as possible fits for the Wild. However, Minnesota would be in competition with a lot of other contenders for any one of those defenders’ service. All three are highly sought-after and will likely fetch a hefty return.
However, could the Wild have a reunion with a couple of players that could be available? The names of Matt Dumba and Marco Scandella popped up in the conversation between Smith and Russo. Both the Arizona Coyotes and St. Louis Blues are also slugging out with the Wild for a Stanley Cup Playoff spot. Unless both teams go off the rails in the next month, it’s doubtful that Arizona or St. Louis would waive the white flag on the season. Other names like Alexandre Carrier and Erik Johnson also came up as options for the Wild should they want to go down that road. Johnson could likely be had easier due to the Buffalo Sabres probably being out of the race.
Main photo by: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
