Today’s edition of The Scoring Touch’s Daily Rumors features the Capitals, Flames, Oilers, and more.
If you missed it, I went over my thoughts on what the Edmonton Oilers should do with their defense recently and included a few names for Oilers fans to look out for in the coming weeks. Check that post out here!
- Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan: “I think we need an experienced coach. We have an experienced group … we need someone that can hold people accountable.”MacLellan says keeping Braden Holtby is going to be difficult. His future with the club is still undecided. As for Ovechkin’s extension, he says they will chat at the start of training camp.Ilya Samsonov suffered an off-ice injury in Russia and has been getting therapy for 6 weeks now. MacLellan says they’ll evaluate him in around two weeks and he should be ready for training camp.
BLH’s Thoughts: Elliotte Friedman had been wondering about Bruce Boudreau possibly returning to coach the caps but I think that boat has sailed. My feeling is that he’s going to bide his time and see what happens in Toronto with Keefe. It might be his last kick at the can head coaching-wise and I’m sure if he could coach his boyhood team one time before it was all over, he’d be over the moon.
As for the Caps, are they on the downturn? They’re going to lose Holtby to free agency this offseason most likely and Ovechkin has one more year left on his deal, Backstrom is breaking down, Oshie is on the wrong side of 30, and their defense just isn’t what it once was.
- Jason Gregor: Vancouver will probably re-sign Jacob Markstrom, but at what price? Anything over Marc-Andre Fleury’s $7M cap hit will be too much.Taylor Hall should do what Marian Hossa did in 2008 and sign a one-year contract with a contender. Colorado has the cap space for a $6M to $7M salary for a year, it would benefit both sides.Likely Oilers GM Ken Holland makes a trade at some point this off-season either trading away or acquiring a defender.
BLH’s Thoughts: Markstrom is definitely going to be looking for a long-term deal north of $6M a year, but I agree with Gregor here. Anything above $7M will be too much given the flat-cap is here to stay for a few seasons.
Chris Johnston said this weekend that Hall is looking to win now and filling his bank account isn’t the top priority. Gregor’s been talking about Hall to Colorado and how it makes sense all year long. What I’d say to that is, just because it looks like it might make sense on paper, doesn’t mean it does for the player. We’ve also heard that Hall has unfinished business in Edmonton and there’s interest there… So we’ll just have to wait and see.
Kurt Leavins recently mentioned that it’s his belief that Ken Holland feels the right-side of the defense lacks depth and that Adam Larsson wants to return. That leaves Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, and Kris Russell as trade options if the left side’s depth is acceptable to Holland… Klefbom’s contract is really too good to move at this point and Russell has a 15-team list of teams he’ll give the Oilers but there’s no guarantee he’ll be moved as he had a really good post-season. That leaves Nurse.
- Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin says the priority is to find a solid backup goaltender for Carey Price. Says they can’t spend on free agents just because they have cap space, they need to be careful – but if a UFA they like makes sense financially, they’ll consider it.Brendan Gallagher suffered a tear in his hip in the series vs Pittsburgh but played through it.
BLH’s Thoughts: The Habs have FOURTEEN picks in this year’s NHL entry draft. They could probably move one or two of them for a backup goalie.
What would you give up to get Brendan Gallagher on the Oilers? It wouldn’t shock me at all if we heard some of those rumblings in the future.
- Darren Dreger on TSN1050: “Markstrom is a pending UFA who I think is going to have his pick of the litter…There will be suitors, there will be lots of interest in him, no doubt.” Adds the Canucks do want him back.
- Eric Francis: “GM Brad Treliving will have no choice but to put in motion significant personnel changes. And that starts with Johnny Gaudreau. He’s likely played his last game as a Calgary Flames player … There is no chance Gaudreau would re-sign in Calgary when his contract expires in the summer of 2022, which means he needs to be dealt well before then. Now is the time.”“TJ Brodie re-emerged as a solid, top-pairing defender this year, which may have priced him out of Calgary as an unrestricted free agent.”“Bennett’s stock and popularity just rose to a point where trading him would prompt pitchfork-toting mobs outside the Saddledome. Not happening.”
BLH’s Thoughts: Speaking from experience, there’s nothing worse than watching your best players fail to rise above in the post-season. You want them gone and someone else brought in as soon as your team is eliminated. But, I think this is a bad plan for Calgary. Johnny Gaudreau is not a bad hockey player, in fact, he’s quite the opposite. Unless he says he wants out, I think they should continue to build around him, Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan, Mikael Backlund, and Elias Lindholm.
Cam Talbot was quite good for them and Dustin Wolf is on his way. Now they’ve got some young pieces coming through on defense. Juuso Valimaki, Oliver Kylington, and Rasmus Andersson are set to be very good NHLers for a long time. Mark Giordano is on his last legs but Noah Hanifin is there and he’s still young too. This group of defenders will have to get it done by committee going forward, in my opinion, as there’s no #1 defender coming. A lot of #3s though.
With Andrew Mangiapane and Dillion Dube emerging this season, the team’s depth on wings is excellent going forward. We can’t forget about Jakob Pelletier either. Their centers are set with Monahan, Mikael Backlund, Derek Ryan with players like Glen Gawdin and Luke Philp marinating in the AHL in addition to having multi-position players like Mark Jankowski and Sam Bennett.
Blowing things up so they can add Taylor Hall doesn’t make too much sense to me. There’s no guarantee Hall will join the club just because he was born in Calgary. Besides, if Tkachuk doesn’t get hurt vs. Dallas, we’re probably not talking about the Flames dealing one of their core players.
I did find it funny that Kurt Leavins suggested the Oilers go after Gaudreau in his latest 9-Things post at the Cult of Hockey.
- Lowetide (TheAthletic): Matt Benning’s name will be in play on the trade market this off-season. The Oilers could look to ship him out for a 3rd line center or a two-way winger, but they could also re-sign him at a slightly lower salary if GM Ken Holland manages to offload Kris Russell and his contract.
BLH’s Thoughts: As I said above, the feeling is that Edmonton will most likely deal from the left-side of the defense.
You know, if the Oilers came back next season with most of the roster from 2019/20, they’d probably be in a good spot to make the playoffs again. They’d be in a position to promote from within at almost spot on their roster save for goaltender and it might be in their best interests to stay away from the free-agent market and keep some cap space available in order to be able to make some moves around the 2021 NHL trade deadline…
- Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required) lists Yaroslav Askarov, Brendan Brisson, Dylan Holloway, and Rodion Amirov as possible 1st round draft picks for the Chicago Blackhawks at 17th OVR.
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