{"id":59732,"date":"2019-10-25T08:30:28","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T12:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=59732"},"modified":"2020-12-21T15:01:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T20:01:41","slug":"nhl-rumours-toronto-maple-leafs-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/10\/25\/nhl-rumours-toronto-maple-leafs-6\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres, and Ottawa Senators"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/rumours\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NHL Rumours<\/a>, where each day we take a look at everything that is happening around the league. We take a look at teams looking for new deals, players, and more. Today, we look at NHL Rumours from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/maple-leafs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>, <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\/sabres\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buffalo Sabres<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/senators\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ottawa Senators<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours<\/h2>\n<h3>Toronto Maple Leafs<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour<\/em>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Account4hockey\/status\/1187125559836450816\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sportsnet&#8217;s Elliotte Friedman<\/a> went on SN590 the Fan and talked about Toronto Maple Leafs head coach <strong>Mike Babcock<\/strong>. He mentioned that people in the Leafs organization very well could feel it&#8217;s too early to put him on the hot seat.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Elliotte Friedman on SN590: Some in Leafs org are saying it&#8217;s early and they&#8217;re missing Tavares, Dermott, Hyman. I think that Babcock&#8217;s seat is not as hot as a lot of people want it to be. There are times where not everyone is happy but no urgency to fire coach now.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 James (@Account4hockey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Account4hockey\/status\/1187125559836450816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 23, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\u00a0<em>Analysis<\/em>: Part of the reason people with the Leafs feel this way is because the team has had some big injuries.<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/tavarjo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Tavares<\/a><\/strong> is the biggest one but <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/hymanza01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach Hyman<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/dermotr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Travis Dermott<\/a> <\/strong>are very notable pieces too. Babcock has not had a full and healthy roster to work with yet this year. However, there are still some concerns among fans on why he may not be the right fit.<\/p>\n<h4>His Ways<\/h4>\n<p>For starters, Babcock is set in his ways quite often. One of these cases is how the goaltending rotation works. He has very little faith in his backup and only uses his backup on back-to-back games. However, it doesn&#8217;t seem to matter who the opponent is. Even if game one is against an easy out of conference opponent, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/a\/anderfr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Frederik Andersen<\/a><\/strong> gets the start. Whereas <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/hutchmi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Hutchinson<\/a><\/strong> gets the start in game two despite it being against divisional rivals like the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/bruins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boston Bruins<\/a>. Argue whether this is good or bad, many Leaf fans are sick of it.<\/p>\n<p>Babcock has failed to move past the first round in years and many people are starting to wonder if he&#8217;s the wrong guy for the job. Babcock can be stubborn, however, he has shown he is willing to change. The other night he played <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/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><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/marnemi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mitch Marner<\/a><\/strong> together. As well, earlier this season he broke the &#8220;tie goes to the veteran&#8221; rule when he scratched <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/spezzja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Spezza<\/a><\/strong> for <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/shoreni01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Shore<\/a><\/strong>. All eyes will be on Toronto and how they get going. Any struggles and Babcock may be under more pressure then he is now.<\/p>\n<h3>Edmonton Oilers<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour:\u00a0Elliotte Friedman mentioned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/hockey\/nhl\/31-thoughts-pressure-mounting-toronto-maple-leafs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in 31 Thoughts<\/a> that the Edmonton Oilers have dipped their toes in the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/n\/nurseda01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darnell Nurse<\/a><\/strong> contract extension talk. However, no details or real movement has been made just yet.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis<\/em>: The Oilers have gotten off to a very hot start this season and it has been thanks to their big players. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcdavco01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Connor McDavid<\/a><\/strong> and<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/draisle01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Leon Draisaitl<\/a><\/strong> have been dominant like usual. However, Nurse and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/klefbos01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oscar Klefbom<\/a><\/strong> have been the massive pieces on the blueline. It is obvious Nurse loves it in Edmonton. Being a part of the solution heading forward seems like something he is all in on and Edmonton should love that.<\/p>\n<p>Figuring out a neutral ground for a contract is interesting. Nurse is a solid defenceman but it isn&#8217;t obvious if he is a true top-pair guy yet. Edmonton has used him in that capacity somewhat because they haven&#8217;t had another option. However, with the salary cap in mind, Edmonton needs to be careful of what they pay him. Nurse is still in his prime so a longer-term deal could work out well for Edmonton. Darnell Nurse is two seasons away from UFA status and if Edmonton wants to buy up those years it will cost them. Taking their time and seeing what they have this season could be critical for <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/hollake01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ken Holland<\/a><\/strong> and company.<\/p>\n<h3>Buffalo Sabres<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: NHL Rumours head to the States as <a href=\"https:\/\/buffalonews.com\/2019\/10\/22\/buffalo-sabres-jason-botterill-brandon-montour-zach-bogosian-john-gilmour-nhl-news-2019\/?fbclid=IwAR3caLCJNtCGuj96zkWlWz2VzMG4H6nOWXuJE1NlYAwxVtN6Yikuw9QpLgA\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lance Lysowski of BuffaloNews<\/a> reports that defence depth is a huge priority for the Sabres and their general manager <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/botteja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Botterill<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis<\/em>: There have been <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/2019\/10\/18\/nhl-rumours-vancouver-canucks-5\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lots of rumours<\/a> about possible defencemen trades out of Buffalo this season. With a few guys expiring and a pretty full blueline, it made sense. However, so does having an influx of talent if you feel like you have a really solid team. The Sabres are currently top of the Atlantic division but are they for real? They did a great job of adding depth in the offseason.<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/milleco02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colin Miller<\/a><\/strong>,<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/j\/johanma03.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Marcus Johansson<\/a><\/strong>,<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/v\/veseyji02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Jimmy Vesey<\/a><\/strong> among others. Those are just some players they added to give the Sabres some legit depth behind their top guys.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Sabres may be hesitant after what happened last season. Buffalo went on a 10-game winning streak and came crashing down to Earth missing the playoffs by a wide margin. This team is much better and deeper than last year though. The question will be, if they do make playoffs, how far can they go?<\/p>\n<p>If they see themselves as a first-round exit then it may still be better to trade off some pieces. If there isn&#8217;t a long-term future for them you should try and get some assets to help you in the long run. Once again, patience looks like it will be the key here. Much like Edmonton, taking a few weeks to figure out the outlook of the team seems like the best idea.<\/p>\n<h3>Ottawa Senators<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour<\/em>: <em>Going back to 31 Thoughts, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/hockey\/nhl\/31-thoughts-pressure-mounting-toronto-maple-leafs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elliotte Friedman started the article<\/a> by stating the Senators were indeed looking to add another forward. TSN&#8217;s Chris Stevenson also reports that an issue Ottawa is having is that they are at 49 contracts.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/sens?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#sens<\/a> are looking for a depth deal, but teams know they&#8217;ve got 49 contracts and are holding them up. The contract situation is an issue when it comes to making deals. The <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/sens?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#sens<\/a> aren&#8217;t in a position to help another team out without sending a contract back.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chris Stevenson (@CJ_Stevenson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CJ_Stevenson\/status\/1187164107964858368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 24, 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>: This seems like an incredibly short-sighted move by the Senators regardless. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=whiteco01,whiteco02&amp;search=Colin+White&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colin White<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/a\/anisiar01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Artem Anisimov<\/a><\/strong> are both out for a few weeks. However, the Senators shouldn&#8217;t be spending assets to acquire more players while rebuilding. The <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/n\/namesvl01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vladislav Namestnikov<\/a><\/strong> trade <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/2019\/10\/10\/vladislav-namestnikov-ottawa-senators\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">was fine<\/a>, but it shouldn&#8217;t happen again.<\/p>\n<p>If Ottawa wanted to trade for a contract to receive assets in return they run into more problems. It&#8217;s the reason wasting a contract on a career AHLer like <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/sabousc01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scott Sabourin<\/a> <\/strong>makes no sense. Ottawa has tons of capable players in the AHL to play. They called up<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownlo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Logan Brown<\/a><\/strong> the other night and he played very well. If he forces Ottawa&#8217;s hand to keep him with the big club suddenly they are screwed with too many players.<\/p>\n<p>Short-term injuries on a team that is very clearly tanking should on have this big of an impact. The Senators need to think this through so they don&#8217;t continue to create a log-jam for themselves moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s all for NHL Rumours, tune in again tomorrow for more!<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"K_3VyhKeQ9xvUDGPOUAptw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/1145111123\" 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:'K_3VyhKeQ9xvUDGPOUAptw',sig:'M5AySmYiKUlyh84o5UqQptKcNBqqEuPkOtTF5OXeXsc=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1145111123',caption: true ,tld:'ca',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to NHL Rumours, where each day we take a look at everything that is happening around the league. We take a look at teams looking for new deals, players, and more. Today, we look at NHL Rumours from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Buffalo Sabres, and Ottawa Senators. NHL Rumours Toronto Maple [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2473,"featured_media":59756,"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":[3,23,2,8,4321,18],"tags":[228,182,1065,139,138,37,499,231,38,5715,70,72],"class_list":["post-59732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sabres","category-oilers","category-featured","category-senators","category-rumours","category-leafs","tag-auston-matthews","tag-buffalo-sabres","tag-colin-white","tag-connor-mcdavid","tag-edmonton-oilers","tag-hockey","tag-john-tavares","tag-mike-babcock","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-rumors","tag-ottawa-senators","tag-toronto-maple-leafs"],"modified_by":"William Grigsby","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59732","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\/2473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}