{"id":122458,"date":"2021-12-12T08:30:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-12T13:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=122458"},"modified":"2021-12-12T08:44:17","modified_gmt":"2021-12-12T13:44:17","slug":"nhl-rumours-maple-leafs-blackhawks-salary-cap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/12\/12\/nhl-rumours-maple-leafs-blackhawks-salary-cap\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, Salary Cap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s Sunday and we have another edition of NHL rumours to start the week. Teams are already thinking about the future whether it&#8217;s deals or trading players. That future might get a bit of a boost in a couple of seasons with a bump in the salary cap. Today&#8217;s NHL rumours focus on the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks.<\/p>\n<p>All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.<\/p>\n<h3>Toronto Maple Leafs<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: James Mirtle of The Athletic looked at what a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/campbja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jack Campbell<\/a> deal may look like.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mirtle Mailbag, Part 1: The Jason Spezza suspension, trade deadline speculation and signing Jack Campbell <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IfAhWBJacE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/IfAhWBJacE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Athletic Toronto (@TheAthleticTO) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheAthleticTO\/status\/1468977627167817733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 9, 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> Campbell has<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/08\/23\/toronto-maple-leafs-goaltending-campbell-mrazek\/\" target=\"_self\"> continued his strong play<\/a> from last season into this campaign. It seems to be a sign Campbell at all costs way of thinking right now. Campbell is up there with New York Rangers goalie <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> for the goalie in the first half.<\/p>\n<p>The 29-year-old goalie has Kurt Overhardt as his agent, who is a veteran and tough negotiator. However, Campbell wants to play in Toronto and the feeling is mutual. Mirtle said a deal will likely get done, but the early-season framework like Cal Petersen&#8217;s deal with the Los Angeles Kings won&#8217;t work. Petersen signed a three-year deal worth $5 million a season.<\/p>\n<p>Mirtle used players like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/binnijo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Binnington<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/merzlel01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elvis Merzlikins<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/u\/ullmali01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Linus Ullmark<\/a> as comparables to Campbell. Ullmark is the low-end at $5 million while Binnington is the high-end at $6 million. Campbell could get more leverage if he helps the Leafs get post-season success. However, it&#8217;s not all doom-and-gloom for Toronto fans. General manager Kyle Dubas could sign Campbell to an extension before the off-season and they could use a longer-term to give Campbell security.<\/p>\n<h3>Chicago Blackhawks<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period said that the Blackhawks could make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/stromdy01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dylan Strome<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/dehaaca01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Calvin de Haan<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/carpery01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Carpenter<\/a> available at the deadline. This is provided that Chicago is out of contention.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Which players are on the trading block in Chicago?<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheFourthPeriod?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TheFourthPeriod<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NHLTonight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NHLTonight<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JamisonCoyle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@JamisonCoyle<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kHy78vTtbI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/kHy78vTtbI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NHLNetwork\/status\/1468324939325489157?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 7, 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> The Blackhawks were some people&#8217;s dark horse to make noise in the Central Division and Western Conference. However, that has not gone according to plan even with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/f\/fleurma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc-Andre Fleury<\/a> in the net.<\/p>\n<p>Teams could use a defenceman like de Haan as a depth piece. He would be a rental as he&#8217;s in the final year of his contract. Strome and Carpenter are two forwards that could help fill out a lineup.<\/p>\n<p>Pagnotta also added that Fleury could be available if he wants to go to a contender. However, it will be Fleury the one that dictates if he wants to go to a contender to chase one more Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n<h3>Salary Cap<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: Sportsnet&#8217;s Jeff Marek on Hockey Night in Canada&#8217;s 32 Thoughts said that the salary cap may take a good-sized jump in 2024-25.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/FriedgeHNIC\/status\/1469854308770459648<\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> Hockey Related Revenue has gone up thanks to the Seattle Kraken coming into the league and the new ESPN deal in the U.S. It will still take a couple of seasons to see the big leap. This is because of escrow-related debt the players have to pay back to the owners. However, that should be taken care of by the end of the 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n<p>NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed that the salary cap will go up by $1 million next season to $82.5 million. This might not give too much comfort to teams against the cap at the moment. However, the jump in the 2024-25 season will help out teams like the Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/matthau01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Auston Matthews<\/a> will have his big deal come up for the Leafs and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/petteel01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elias Pettersson<\/a>&#8216;s contract also expires. Them and other free agents could see a big payday coming up in a few seasons. The cap had gone up to $4.5 million before the 2018-19 season, but the pandemic had pretty much frozen salaries.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"1YKWEZr3RCpoY5MOTF0fhA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1237109908\" 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:'1YKWEZr3RCpoY5MOTF0fhA',sig:'T7upozLxJ-Tne28ncF9hSkdWr_EWV500MZpNQ0SiJzE=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1237109908',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 Sunday and we have another edition of NHL rumours to start the week. Teams are already thinking about the future whether it&#8217;s deals or trading players. That future might get a bit of a boost in a couple of seasons with a bump in the salary cap. Today&#8217;s NHL rumours focus on the Toronto [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":122459,"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":[4321,27,4547,4548,18],"tags":[6544,1889,171,2923,6564,557,986,3905],"class_list":["post-122458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rumours","category-blackhawks","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-leafs","tag-blackhawks-featured","tag-calvin-de-haan","tag-dylan-strome","tag-jack-campbell","tag-leafs-featured","tag-marc-andre-fleury","tag-nhl-salary-cap","tag-ryan-carpenter"],"modified_by":"Jim Biringer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122458","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=122458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}