{"id":48529,"date":"2019-06-09T08:30:26","date_gmt":"2019-06-09T12:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=48529"},"modified":"2020-12-21T15:10:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T20:10:00","slug":"nhl-rumours-arizona-coyotes-buffalo-sabres-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/06\/09\/nhl-rumours-arizona-coyotes-buffalo-sabres-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, and More"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time again for another set of NHL Rumours. As the Stanley Cup Final moves into the final phases with the<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/blues\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> St. Louis Blues<\/a> leading the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/bruins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boston Bruins<\/a> three games to two. Game 6 should be an exciting affair as the Bruins are on the ropes in a do-or-die situation.<\/p>\n<p>Today, we will discuss five teams to see what they are up to. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/coyotes\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona Coyotes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/sabres\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buffalo Sabres<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/oilers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edmonton Oilers<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/flames\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Calgary Flames<\/a>, and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/canucks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vancouver Canucks<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>All of our NHL\u00a0rumours\u00a0are taken from the original source and are subject to change.<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>NHL RUMOURS<\/h1>\n<h2>Arizona Coyotes<\/h2>\n<p><em>Rumour:\u00a0The TSN Insider Trading show dropped some significant news on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/duchema01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Matt Duchene<\/strong><\/a>. <strong>Darren Dreger<\/strong> mentioned that if Duchene doesn&#8217;t re-sign with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/blue-jackets\/https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/blue-jackets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> that he was told that the Arizona Coyotes are making Duchene their primary focus.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Insider Trading from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSNRyanRishaug?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TSNRyanRishaug<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DarrenDreger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@DarrenDreger<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PierreVLeBrun?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@PierreVLeBrun<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>Are Perry&#8217;s days numbered with the Ducks?<br \/>\nIs a Lucic for Eriksson swap possible?<br \/>\nWho are the strongest suitors for Matt Duchene?<br \/>\nIs Buffalo pursuing Jason Zucker?<\/p>\n<p>WATCH: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/p7urWqoI5f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/p7urWqoI5f<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sw8pD0CuKf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/sw8pD0CuKf<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 TSN (@TSN_Sports) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSN_Sports\/status\/1137491112661270528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 8, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em>\u00a0It goes without saying that general manager <strong>John Chayka<\/strong> needs an injection of offence for his young team. Matt Duchene would do very nicely. The only thing is where will the money come from to pay Duchene the size contract he might expect? The team only has $14 million in cap space once <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/hossama01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Marian Hossa<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is placed on long term injured reserve.<\/p>\n<p>Dreger mentioned, that the Coyotes have new ownership and perhaps there&#8217;s more capital there for Chayka work with. It has been rumoured that we may get to know about the new ownership of the Coyotes at the owner&#8217;s meetings.<\/p>\n<p>Needless to say, if Chayka could work some magic to get Duchene signed he will acquire that long overdue number-one centre he&#8217;s been looking for.<\/p>\n<h2>Buffalo Sabres<\/h2>\n<p><em>Rumour: <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/z\/zuckeja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Zucker<\/a> <\/strong>may be pursued by the Buffalo Sabres according to <strong>Pierre LaBrun<\/strong> in the TSN Insiders video. He&#8217;s heard that the Sabres are looking for a second-line centre and a top-six winger via trade or free agency.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:\u00a0<\/em>Zucker must be getting tired of being rumoured to be traded as it has happened twice already with the 27-year-old forward. The last rumour involved <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/2019\/05\/25\/coyotes-trade-rumours\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">him going to the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> along with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/raskvi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Victor Rask<\/strong><\/a> for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kesseph01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Phil Kessel<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnsja02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jack Johnson<\/strong><\/a>. That never happened when Kessel nixed the deal.<\/p>\n<p>Zucker is a talented forward who has scored 76 goals over the last three seasons for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/wild\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Minnesota Wild<\/a>. Now that the Sabres have <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/06\/07\/jeff-skinner-signs-buffalo-sabres\/\" target=\"_self\">Jeff Skinner locked up for eight years<\/a> they want to strengthen their forward line further.<\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours: Edmonton Oilers<\/h2>\n<p><em>Rumour: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FriedgeHNIC\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elliotte Friedman<\/a> of Sportsnet stated on the Oilers Now show that the Calgary Flames are looking to see what <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/07\/02\/james-neal-signs\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>James Neal<\/strong> <\/a>may be worth on the trade market. One scenario presented was that the Oilers have thought about acquiring Neal. A three-way deal was proposed by Oilers broadcaster Bob Staffer. It would include\u00a0Edmonton moving <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lucicmi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Milan Lucic<\/strong> <\/a>to Vancouver, with Neal to Edmonton and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/e\/erikslo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Loui Eriksson<\/a><\/strong> of Vancouver to Calgary.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis: <\/em>Lucic, who just turned 31, has four more years left on a deal that pays him $6 million per year. He scored six goals and 20 points in 79 games last year and was minus-9.<\/p>\n<p>He possesses a full No Movement Clause, meaning he\u2019s the only one of these three players who can\u2019t be sent to the minors or traded without his consent. If a team bought him out, they would save just $2.5 million against the cap over time.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s no secret that Lucic&#8217;s underperformance for the salary he is receiving has been a thorn in the side of Edmonton&#8217;s management. He is a hard-hitting forward with a large body (6&#8217;3&#8243;, 231 pounds) but has only averaged 0.56 points a game over his 12-year NHL career. He would assist in protecting Swedish star <a href=\"http:\/\/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\"><strong>Elias Pettersson<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Edmonton would need to add something to this for the Flames to even consider such a trade.<\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours: Calgary Flames<\/h2>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> Neal, who will be 32 in September, has four more years on a deal that pays him $5.75 million per year. In 63 games last year he had seven goals and 19 points and was minus-5. He has scored 25, 23 and 31 goals in past seasons. If a team bought out Neal they would save $7.6 million on their cap hit. There would be a $1.8 million per year cap hit for the next eight years on the bought-out contract.<\/p>\n<p>Friedman refuses to believe that Neal is as bad as his stats showed last season. He should still have some value. The Oilers could use a good, tough forward like Neal, but will they give up Neal with a return like Eriksson?<\/p>\n<p>He also believes such a trade is unlikely to happen.<\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours: Vancouver Canucks<\/h2>\n<p><em>Analysis: <\/em>Eriksson, who will be 34 in July, has a No Trade Clause but has talked of not getting along with the coach in Vancouver. He has three years left on a deal with a $6 million per year cap hit. He had 11 goals and 21 points in 81 games last year and was -11. It was his third season in a row where point scoring has eluded him. If a team bought out his contract now they would get $1.7 million in cap hit savings over time.<\/p>\n<p>Eriksson is the oldest of the three players and he\u2019s also had three poor seasons in a row. Neal seems like a much more valuable player, though the added term on his contract could be a bigger issue.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DhaliwalSports\/status\/1136312094356381696\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rick Dhaliwal<\/a><\/strong>: Vancouver GM <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/benniji01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jim Benning<\/strong> <\/a>on the comments made by\u00a0Loui Eriksson\u00a0that criticized head coach\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/g\/greentr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Travis Green<\/a><\/strong>: <em>\u201cI am going to talk with Loui maybe this week and ask him about what he said and where he was going with those comments and I think Travis will want to as well.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a id=\"51A6eFxLQYt5lGcq-_pBsA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1139777498\" 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:'51A6eFxLQYt5lGcq-_pBsA',sig:'sLgzApV3-dtXL_sWuNOnw1iv86Q-Gnm8YdQto0ZLkGY=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1139777498',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 time again for another set of NHL Rumours. As the Stanley Cup Final moves into the final phases with the St. Louis Blues leading the Boston Bruins three games to two. Game 6 should be an exciting affair as the Bruins are on the ropes in a do-or-die situation. Today, we will discuss five [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2959,"featured_media":48559,"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":[21,3,22,23,2,4321,26],"tags":[107,182,103,138,932,330,2511,868,156,766,144,5715,3877,158],"class_list":["post-48529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mammoth","category-sabres","category-flames","category-oilers","category-featured","category-rumours","category-canucks","tag-arizona-coyotes","tag-buffalo-sabres","tag-calgary-flames","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-elias-pettersson","tag-james-neal","tag-jason-zucker","tag-jim-benning","tag-loui-eriksson","tag-matt-duchene","tag-milan-lucic","tag-nhl-rumors","tag-nhl-rumours","tag-vancouver-canucks"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48529","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\/2959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}