BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Tyler Ennis (EDM), Travis Dermott (TOR), Jordan Kyrou (STL), Victor Mete (MTL), and more!
The Oilers have a bit of a mind-bender brewing on the right side of their defense and a couple of big contracts set to expire there with some high-end prospects almost ready to take over. What is Ken Holland set to do?
TSN’s Frank Seravalli says that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins might not be in the Oilers’ plans going forward. Read all about it right here.
Craig Button absolutely tore the Oilers a new a$$hole on TSN 1260 recently. Click this link and read what he said!
NHL Rumors and Speculation
- Jonas Siegel (The Athletic): Wonders if the Toronto Maple Leafs might be contemplating moving a defenseman in order to bring in a forward to cover for some injuries to key players.
- “Perhaps. Travis Dermott feels like the likeliest candidate to move. He’s averaged just over 11 minutes per game so far this season with no power play or penalty killing opportunity.”
BLH’s Thoughts: It’s a tricky conundrum the Leafs find themselves in. What happens to that forward when Thornton, Matthews, and Robertson are healthy? I feel like you’d want to have more dman at your beck and call than forwards in a season like this.
- Danny Silver (nhltraderumors.me): Says that there might be a fit for Dermott in St. Louis.
- “Jordan Kyrou currently leads the team with 6 points, but his shooting percentage of 13.3% will naturally come down. He’s a blossoming player with much promise, making him a great candidate to be offered in exchange for Dermott.”
BLH’s Thoughts: No bloody way would I be dealing Jordan Kyrou for Dermott. The Blues might be struggling a bit now, but give it some time. This is a veteran squad who lost their best player in the off-season. Somebody is bound to step up and if that guy is Kyrou, why would you deal him for an unproven third-pairing defender?
- Mike Chambers (Denver Post): Reckons that the Colorado Avalanche might have to shop around for a goaltender if their situation in net fails to improve.
- “The Avalanche was not proactive with their goaltending in free agency. Now they might have to be reactive if Francouz’s injury is serious — because Miska has yet to show he’s NHL-caliber and Grubauer is oft-injured.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Who could a player like Sam Girard bring the Avs in a trade? Darcy Kuemper maybe? That’s who I’d go for if I were Joe Sakic.
- Shug McSween (nhltraderumors.me): Says there are a handful of teams looking into Montreal’s small puck-moving defender Victor Mete.
- “The Pittsburgh Penguins are desperate for a defenseman right now, and team’s like the Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings are all teams with interest.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Edmonton has Caleb Jones sitting right now and I’m not sure if Mete is an upgrade on him. Plus their left-side on defense is five skaters deep right now. I like Mete’s contract, mind you, but I don’t see a fit there.
- The Athletic: It looks like Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning’s seat is starting to get a bit toasty after a dodgy start to the season.
- “It’s pretty rare that early-season struggles like what the Canucks are enduring would create this level of public pressure on an NHL general manager. Usually, the first ax falls on the head coach… Benning’s seat legitimately appears like it might be starting to get hot. It’ll be worth monitoring this dynamic as the season goes along, particularly if things get really bleak for the Canucks in the early going here.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Well, when you let your no.1 goalie, one of your most important defenders, a goal-scoring Stanley Cup winning winger, and one helluva solid third-line wing go and your team struggles, there’s going to be some heat.
Jim Benning really f*cked his team this off-season, but I wonder if maybe the ownership had a hand in some of this. Has their coach even been given a new contract yet?
- Jim Parsons (NHLtradetalk.com): Edmonton Oilers winger Tyler Ennis is on waivers and there are some rumblings that his old team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, could pluck him off.
- ” it is possible he doesn’t clear waivers as he’s on a one-year, $1 million deal and has a history with a number of NHL teams. The Toronto Maple Leafs are rumored to be looking for a forward and there might be a fit there as he’s got history with the organization and was a popular player there over the course of 51 games.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Ennis hasn’t done anything for me this year so far. I’ve like Joakim Nygard more and it sounds like Gaetan Haas is getting close to returning. On top of that, Evan Bouchard could be getting his first bit of action very soon as Tyson Barrie has struggled.
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