BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Ryan Strome, a million-dollar rookie card, Nick Robertson, Mike Babcock, and some hearsay from NHL Insider extraordinaire Elliotte Friedman!
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NHL Rumors and Speculation
- Rick Carpiniello (The Athletic): Believes the New York Rangers have a tough decision to make with Ryan Strome coming up,
- “Ryan Strome, the No. 2 center at the moment, and Panarin’s most likely partner, just signed a two-year deal. He is almost certain to be traded by the ’21-22 trade deadline, though, because by then the Rangers will either be sure he isn’t a legit No. 2 center going forward or his Panarin-driven stats will be so good that they can’t afford to re-sign him as an unrestricted free agent.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Unless Strome starts putting up 80pts/yr, I believe he’s hit his ceiling with regards to how much he’ll be making. The Rangers should just sit down with him and see what he wants. I mean, if I were him, I can see the writing on the wall, but I can also see what the future holds for the Rangers. He’s still young and there might be a chance he’ll be centering Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko one day… Would you take a hair cut to play with those talents every night?
- Sportsnet: Last Friday, The Great One’s 1979 O-Pee-Chee Edmonton Oilers rookie card sold for a record-breaking $1.032 million… More than 20 years after his last game, Wayne Gretzky is still breaking records.
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Harman Dayal/Thomas Drance (The Athletic): Reckon that the Vancouver Canucks depth could be as bad as the rebuilding Ottawa Senators’
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“Top-end talent stacks up really well in the all-Canadian division.” But, that’s where the advantages stop. Vancouver’s top six and top four are in the top half of the expected Canadian division. At the top of the lineup, they’re probably the second-best team in the country. … At the bottom end of the lineup though, well, the Canucks look like Ottawa West.”
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BLH’s Thoughts: GM Jim Benning kinda spit the bit this summer when he let Tyler Toffoli, Chris Tanev, and Jacob Markstrom go for nothing… That being said, this team has a lot of heart to go with its remaining skill (which is nothing to joke about). I can see them taking a step back this year but coming back strong next season.
- Bob McKenzie (TSN): Says Team USA could be without star forward Nick Robertson because the Toronto Maple Leafs want him at NHL Training camp. The situation is ongoing.
BLH’s Thoughts: The US team is still pretty stacked with Trevor Zegras (ANA), Matt Boldy (MIN), Cole Caufield (MTL), John Beecher (BOS), Alex Turcotte (LA), and Brendan Brisson (VGK)… Plus they’ve got a really good goalie in Spencer Knight (FLA) and a stud on defence with Jake Sanderson (OTT). They’ll put up a good fight at the 2021 World Juniors.
- Elliotte Friedman (Sportsnet): Says ex-Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock was a finalist for the coaching job in Washington.
- “They interviewed Babcock and I heard heard Babcock’s interview was fantastic. The Story I was told was at the time you were allowed to do it, there were no travel restrictions but Caps GM Brian MacLellan met Babcock at his place and apparently they had an unbelievable meeting and there were some people who told me they thought that Babcock was going to get that job.”
- “One of the things that worried Washington was the noise around Babcock from how it ended in Toronto and they weren’t prepared to deal with that.”
- “I think he’s going to be coaching in the NHL in the future.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Seattle? They could do a lot worse than Babcock, to be honest. But unless he’s rehabbed his image a bit, will the fanbase in that area accept someone like Babs or is that franchise willing to hire someone with the kind of reputation that Babcock has?
- Friedman on the Pacioretty Rumors: “I think what’s going on there is, after they made the Nate Schmidt deal they only needed to make one more deal to get cap compliant. They’ve been looking at some things trying to create some flexibility. I think they’ve put a few names out there. I heard Ale Martinez’s name but I don’t think that’s going on anymore. Jonathan Marchessault’s name is out there. I heard Nashville was talking about Marchessault.”
- “The toughest thing with Pacioretty is the number. It’s three times $7M now and a lot of teams don’t have that flexibility right now.”
BLH’s Thoughts: I’d like to say that I’m happy that somebody else has taken over the daily rumor notifications from Mike Hoffman, but I’m not sure I am. That said, if there’s any truth to the idea that in-season trading between American and Canadian teams might be close to non-existent due to the border being closed and local health protocols, should we expect a massive wave of transactions prior to camp getting started?
- Friedman on the proposed NHL season start date: “There are people in the league that don’t believe they’ll start Jan. 13th.”
BLH’s Thoughts: I would be surprised if there weren’t any hiccups leading up to that supposed target date. The COVID #s aren’t slowing down at all in North America and my guess is it’ll be a while until they do. Would the summer time be a fair prediction as to when things start to look better?
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