Today’s NHL news, rumors, and speculation feature the likes of disgruntled Oilers prospect Jesse Puljujarvi, Philly’s banged up center Sean Couturier, Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper, Tampa Bay’s diminutive pivot Tyler Johnson, and more!
September 7, 2011
Lokomotiv YaroslavlYou are always in our hearts. #RIPLokomotiv pic.twitter.com/TqjSEnGTrj
— KHL (@khl_eng) September 7, 2020
The News and Rumors
- The Cult of Hockey’s Kurt Leavins said in his latest that Jesse Puljujarvi going from the NHL to the SM-Liiga is the equivalent to a North American pro dropping down to Senior AAA Men’s hockey in Canada.
BLH’s Thoughts: Riiiiight. I’ll respectfully disagree here. Are we talking ECHL to AAA here maybe? I don’t think that a Stony Plain Eagles/Bakersfield Condors game would be that close. I also know that Puljujarvi was an absolute force for the Condors during his last stint with the club, very close to how he’s dominating the SM-Liiga.
What’s going on here? I feel like there is a VERY anti-Puljujarvi (pro-North American?) sentiment coming from a strong vocal minority that covers the Oilers when they speak about him.
Unless they’re doing the bidding for someone else, wouldn’t it make sense to pump the kid’s tires up so that it might increase the value of the player a tad?
Instead, we’ve got comments regarding his work ethic and questions about what motivates him to play. I would think that saying things like that would bring that player’s value down, but maybe that’s it. Get his value as low as it can get so their narrative on the player can be confirmed when he’s moved for pennies on the dollar.
What I’m finding is that these comments are coming from people who are of similar vintage and occupation… A lot of folks who probably “earned” their way to where they are. “Grinders” if you will. Maybe some folks who have spent most of their lives in one country? Is this what xenophobia looks like?
https://twitter.com/AdamsOnHockey/status/1302794154657759232
- Leavins also believes that a Puljujarvi trade for Florida’s troubled prospect Henrik Borgstrom would be a good swap. They share the same agent and it essentially would be a change of scenery trade.
BLH’s Thoughts: Mr. Leavins noted in the same post that Borgstrom was playing in a “proper” North American league and asserted that he was buried there by the Panthers’ coaching staff after getting hurt in training camp, whereas Puljujarvi played in a league that was akin to Senior Men’s hockey in Canada and wasn’t developing.
I imagine that was the same rhetoric that was being discussed back in the day when highly-skilled European players were coming to North America as 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, or even 28 years old, right? Some even older. Or was it more that they should stay overseas instead of taking a Canadian or American player’s job?
Could that possibly be it? Are the people in the Edmonton media so against Puljujarvi coming back because it could be at the expense of someone close to them in Edmonton’s organization? I wouldn’t think so but there’s a real shady side to hockey that not a lot of people know about…
As for Borgstrom, as a 22yr old, he wasn’t even a half-a-point-per-game player in the AHL last year, and Puljujarvi as a 20-year-old was a PPG player… Just because Borgstrom can skate fast and he plays center does not mean that he is an acceptable return in a trade for Puljujarvi and let’s not forget that he wanted to head back to Finland too and wasn’t included in Florida’s return to play roster.
https://twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/1302323759270047745
- Sportsnet’s Irfaan Gaffar says he wouldn’t be surprised if Vancouver Canucks head coach Travis Green signs a contract extension in the near future.
- According to Adam Kimelman (NHL.com), Sean Couturier played with a sprained MCL in his knee vs. the Islanders two days ago. It was the same injury he’d sustained against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs of 2018.
- Michael Russo of The Athletic is of the opinion that the Minnesota Wild are shopping top-pairing defenseman Matt Dumba.
- On Hockey Night in Canada this past Saturday, Elliotte Friedman said that former Carolina Hurricanes VP of Hockey Operations Rick Dudley is a candidate to re-join the Florida Panthers’ front office. Dudley was GM of the club in the early 2000s
- On SN960 Friedman said Montreal will get offers for Max Domi and the Habs forward will get over $5M in arbitration. He also noted that head coach Claude Julien did not see eye to eye with Domi.
- Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that there is still work to be done with the Canadian Government to allow players’ families from the US to enter the bubble in Edmonton.
BLH’s Thoughts: Was this not a real selling point for the players? Imagine how pissed some of those players are who thought their families would be let in and now getting the runaround. I wonder how that would affect any future free agents from signing in Canada?
- Johnston also noted that Coyotes interim GM Steve Sullivan is taking calls on the trade front as we speak and getting lots of interest in goalie Darcy Kuemper.
- Avalanche beat writer Adrian Dater has stated that according to Avs coach Jared Bednar, none of Colorado’s injured players ( Connor Timmins, Joonas Donskoi, Erik Johnson, Philip Grubauer, Pavel Francouz, and Matt Calvery) were close to returning.
- Joe Smith (The Athletic): I do believe there’s a market for Tyler Johnson, who on another team would be a top-six or, in the case of the Wild, a top-line center.”
- Emily Kaplan (ESPN) says the Colorado Avalanche would maybe pursue a big-name free agent like Taylor Hall or Alex Pietrangelo.
- USA Today’s Vince Mercogliano reckons the Rangers could offer sheet Tampa youngsters Anthony Cirelli or Mikhail Sergachev or Blues defender Vince Dunn this season, but it’s a longshot.
- In addition to the above, Mercogliano lists Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula, Derek Grant, and Johan Larsson as free-agent options for the New York Rangers.
BLH’s Thoughts: Is it just me or should the Rangers avoid making a splash in the free-agent market and continue their rebuild as they are? Maybe tinkering with the line-up a bit instead of looking to go blockbuster with the roster development.
- Tyler Yaremchuk at TSN1260 in Edmonton believes that the Oilers could offer a package of Andreas Athanasiou and Matt Benning to the Montreal Canadiens for Max Domi.
BLH’s Thoughts: That trade doesn’t sound too bad at all but it sounds like Domi is gonna get around $5M/yr on his new deal, can the Oilers afford that? I suppose if you combine the deals of AA and Benning, it might be a wash though… Domi would inject some real life into Edmonton’s lineup, no doubt about that.
- Luke Fox (Sportsnet) is saying that Alex Pietrangelo, TJ Brodie, and Chris Tanev are the top three free-agent defensemen options for the Toronto Maple Leafs this offseason.
BLH’s Thoughts: Petro is a dman I’d love on the Oilers but I really believe he’ll stay in St. Louis. Further to that, are the Maple Leafs in a position to add another near $10M/yr contract? Brodie and Tanev are much more realistic options.
- Denver Post writer Mark Kiszla says that Corey Crawford and Robin Lehner are some potential replacement goaltender options for the Avalanche.
BLH’s Thoughts: Obviously Kiszla hasn’t been paying attention to the Matt Murray to Colorado rumors. I wouldn’t be signing Crawford unless it was for a bargain contract. His health and age scare me. As for Lehner, he’s going to be in massive demand and can basically pick where he wants to go.
- Dan Kingerski (PittsburghhockeyNOW) has stated that Kevin Shattenkirk, Trevor Van Riemsdyk, and Zach Bogosian are potential defenseman options for the Penguins.
BLH’s Thoughts: Those three would be good additions to Edmonton’s blueline too. Depending on what Ken Holland does with Adam Larsson and Matthew Benning, it could use an offensive specialist like Shattenkirk, a puck-mover like TVR, or a real gritty veteran in Bogosian. They’d most likely be on the cheap too…
- The Blues’ Jaden Schwartz could be moved this offseason in order for the Blues to make room on their roster to re-sign some players on expiring contracts according to Tom Timmerman (stltoday.com).
BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think they’ll move Schwartz before they move other players like Alex Steen, Tyler Bozak, or Justin Faulk to make room under the salary cap. Fact of the matter is, they are going to need to find close to $10M just to bring back Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn.
The Oilers Speculation
This is just a hunch on my part and it’s a tad far fetched but I wonder if Ken Holland might be looking to upgrade his top-pairing on defense (the legendary 3-for-1 trade?). Most of the speculation has been talking about a simple changing of the look of that top-pair, but I wonder if he’s trying to bring in a heavy hitter or two to really nail down that defense?
Aaron Ekblad is still on my mind but I think Rasmus Ristolainen or Nikita Zadorov could be a couple of others, and what about Oliver Ekman-Larsson?
The reason I bring up those players is that over the weekend I was told that the Panthers, Coyotes, and Sabres are three teams that will be looking to cut bait on some big salaries in return for players on their ELC, prospects, and draft picks. I would think that players whose cap hits are higher than their actual salary would also be of interest like Frederik Anderson or Kris Russell for example.
Zadorov is an RFA and With Erik Johnson and Cale Makar already patrolling the right-side in Denver on the top-two pairings, the big Russian could be moved to make room for bluechip prospect Bowen Byram. He’s probably going to get over $5M per year on his next contract.
Then again, the current landscape doesn’t really lend itself to “blockbuster trades”, does it? Not only that but Holland has said himself that he wants to build this team slowly so that it’s a powerhouse for years to come, not just the following season.
That said, how many NHL powerhouses are without a legit #1 or #2 defenseman on their team?
