{"id":122226,"date":"2021-12-06T08:30:06","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T13:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=122226"},"modified":"2021-12-05T21:52:57","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T02:52:57","slug":"nhl-rumours-senators-blues-taxi-squads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/12\/06\/nhl-rumours-senators-blues-taxi-squads\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Ottawa Senators, St Louis Blues, Taxi Squads"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s Monday and it&#8217;s time to start the week with another group of NHL rumours. Teams are trying to ramp up for a playoff charge or stop the bleeding. We&#8217;re also still living in a world where COVID-19 is still a thing. Could we see the return of taxi squads? We look at that plus other NHL rumours looking at the Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues.<\/p>\n<p>All NHL rumours come from their original sources and are subject to change.<\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours<\/h2>\n<h3>Ottawa Senators<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: TSN&#8217;s Darren Dreger talked about if general manager Pierre Dorion will make a move to end the slide.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">With only five wins in 21 games for Ottawa this season, Senators GM Pierre Dorion addressed the media for the first time since mid-October. More from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/clahanna?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@clahanna<\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IZXhwpDCk5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/IZXhwpDCk5<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/TSNHockey?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#TSNHockey<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7AHsf7rCuk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7AHsf7rCuk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSNHockey\/status\/1467227147119042561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 4, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> Dorion proclaimed that the Senators&#8217; rebuild was over, but that wasn&#8217;t the case if we look at the start of the season. That statement is turning into a &#8220;Mission Accomplished&#8221; type of premature statement. Dorion has amended that proclamation to saying they have all the core pieces in place.<\/p>\n<p>It was about time Dorion addressed the media as head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/smithdj01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">D.J. Smith<\/a> has had to answer a lot of questions he really shouldn&#8217;t have been forced to answer. Ottawa should be better, but a COVID outbreak, injuries and bad goaltending have dampened optimism around the team.<\/p>\n<p>Dreger said that Dorion is trying to work out something, but there are a few holes they have to plug. The centre position is in trouble after injuries to Collin White and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/pintosh01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shane Pinto<\/a>. It seems like Ottawa has given up on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/murrama02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matt Murray<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/11\/30\/coyotes-rumours-goalie-matt-murray-possibility\/\" target=\"_self\">after a lousy season-plus<\/a> and the defence is struggling.<\/p>\n<p>The Senators are trying to make a deal or two, but feel they can find the solutions from within. There are some good prospects in AHL Belleville and they&#8217;ll likely get shot. The thing they need the most is a win just to breathe life into the room.<\/p>\n<h3>St. Louis Blues<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: The Daily Faceoff&#8217;s Frank Seravalli has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/tarasvl01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vladimir Tarasenko<\/a> third on his Dec. trade board.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">TRADE TARGETS \ud83c\udfaf It&#39;s December. Multiple trade requests are pending. The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NHL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NHL<\/a> trade market is heating up. <\/p>\n<p>Here are 15 names in play:<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/S98PlMGq01\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/S98PlMGq01<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/frank_seravalli\/status\/1466422140786425861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 2, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> Tarasenko has one more season at\u00a0 $7.5 million for the last year of his deal. The Blues have tried to deal or find a way to shed the Russian forward&#8217;s salary. He was exposed in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft and there was a rumoured move to the New York Islanders. However, both those moves didn&#8217;t end up happening.<\/p>\n<p>He put in a trade request in the summer but has played a good soldier for the Blues. Tarasenko has answered questions about his health with 19 points in 22 games to make himself attractive on the market. The 29-year-old still wants to get moved and is hoping his loyalty is rewarded.<\/p>\n<p>Tarasenko&#8217;s shooting percentage is down to 8.3-percent from his normal 12.4, but he&#8217;s still on pace for 26 goals this season. He could be someone that gives a playoff team a boost heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n<h3>Taxi Squads<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: Sportsnet&#8217;s Jeff Marek reports that some NHL teams are trying to revisit the idea of taxi squads.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/FriedgeHNIC\/status\/1467320542583787521<\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> The Boston Bruins struggled last week as they wanted to call up players. However, the Providence Bruins, their AHL affiliate, was going through a COVID outbreak of its own. This hamstrung the Bruins and thus they wanted to look into the return of the taxi squad.<\/p>\n<p>Deputy commissioner Bill Daley said the league doesn&#8217;t want to bring taxi squads back, but there may not be any choice. Some AHL teams are dealing with their COVID issues and the big clubs can&#8217;t call players up. The New York Rangers wanted to call up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kinkake01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keith Kinkaid<\/a> to replace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/shestig01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Igor Shesterkin<\/a>. However, Kinkaid is stuck in isolation due to protocols and the Rangers had to call up Adam Huska instead.<\/p>\n<p>Marek said the league will wait before they discuss taxi squads are brought back.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"fv9YiSfXRUBUvx4ia_E9Ag\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1236922686\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'fv9YiSfXRUBUvx4ia_E9Ag',sig:'d6t7eXdg0z6h8DL8JpBZM51wY5Z3-JdG_VR7-3xPLvM=',w:'594px',h:'398px',items:'1236922686',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s Monday and it&#8217;s time to start the week with another group of NHL rumours. Teams are trying to ramp up for a playoff charge or stop the bleeding. We&#8217;re also still living in a world where COVID-19 is still a thing. Could we see the return of taxi squads? We look at that plus [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":122230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4321,4547,4548,8,32],"tags":[6562,4675,1166,803,6558,5691,716],"class_list":["post-122226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rumours","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-senators","category-blues","tag-blues-featured","tag-covid-19","tag-pierre-dorion","tag-providence-bruins","tag-senators-featured","tag-taxi-squad","tag-vladimir-tarasenko"],"modified_by":"Jim Biringer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}