BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation featuring Drew Doughty (LA), Alex Galchenyuk (CAR), Tony DeAngelo (NYR), and more!
Craig Button absolutely tore the Oilers a new a$$hole on TSN 1260 recently. Click this link and read what he said!
TSN1260’s Jason Gregor is pissed! Check out this rant on the Oilers here!
BLH has some ideas for the Oilers lineup card. Check those out here!
NEW: Keith Jones and Patrick Sharp think the Calgary Flames have a better chance at the playoffs this year than the Oilers. Read about that here.
NHL Rumors and Speculation
Ken Campbell of The Hockey News recently posted an article listing the nine worst contracts currently being paid out in the NHL today and there are some big-name players not earning their keep according to the veteran hockey scribe.
- Drew Doughty (LA) – $11M/yr – “…there’s very little in his game the past couple of seasons that suggests he is among the elite defensemen in the NHL.”
- Matt Duchene (NSH) – $8M/yr – “In his endless quest for a No. 1 center, Nashville Predators GM David Poile is paying both Duchene and Johansen No. 1 center money without the production.”
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ARI) – $8.25M/yr – ” There still may be time to salvage this one, but after what was a down year last season, the Coyotes have to worry that their franchise centerpiece is becoming a declining asset.”
- Erik Karlsson (SJ) – $11.5M/yr – “It’s clear injuries and mileage have taken their toll on Karlsson, who isn’t close to offensively productive as he used to be and worse defensively.”
- Carey Price (MTL) – $10.5M/yr and Sergei Bobrovsky (FLA) – $10M/yr – “In a cap world, especially in a flat-cap world, you simply cannot give that kind of money and term to a goaltender… Another reason why these guys are on the list is that, almost without exception, a team can never really tell what it’s going to get from its goaltender from one season to the next.”
- Jeff Skinner (BUF) – $9M/yr – “The Skinner contract is one of a number of reasons why we’re referring to Jason Botterill as ‘former Sabres GM’ these days… But 14 goals last season and zero in 10 games this season? As the kids say, woof.”
- Jacob Trouba (NYR) – $8M/yr – “At $8 million for five seasons after 2020-21 Trouba earns almost double what the next highest-paid defenseman on the Rangers makes.”
- Marc-Edouard Vlasic (SJ) – $7M – “Part of the problem for Vlasic, who is on the books for $7 million in cap space for five seasons after this one, is that there was a time when he was insanely underpaid. And now he’s insanely overpaid.”
Anthony Scultore of The Daily Goal Horn reckons that the New York Rangers are happy to let defenseman Tony DeAngelo sit at home until the summer and leave him exposed for the Seattle Kraken.
“…if he isn’t selected by the Kraken in the expansion draft the Rangers can buy him out at 1/3 the contract because he’s 25 years-old. That would only be a cap charge of $383,333 in 2021-22 and $833,333 in 2022-23.”
Leaving DeAngelo exposed would also allow the Rangers to protect young defender Libor Hajek, someone the Kraken might have interest in.
In a mailbag segment, Brian La Rose at Pro Hockey Rumors says that if the New York Rangers were to part with head coach David Quinn (he says he doesn’t expect it to happen) that they probably wouldn’t go with a candidate who is a bigger name with extensive experience but somebody who they’ve been possibly grooming for the job.
“I believe Kris Knoblauch, their coach at AHL Hartford, is their preferred eventual replacement for Quinn but this is only his second season and neither of them are full campaigns. With Knoblauch not being ready though, it’s hard to see Quinn being let go anytime soon.”
Former 3rd overall pick Alex Galchenyuk is on his 6th team in three years and DJ Smith, coach of the Ottawa Senators, had this to say about why he was traded to Carolina over the weekend.
“It’s a tough situation for [Galchenyuk] because we have young guys in front of him that I feel that I have to develop and give opportunities to. And obviously we want young guys to work for everything they get, but in saying that, a guy like [Tim] Stutzle and Brady [Tkachuk] on the left side, and then you’ve got Nick Paul who’s been arguably one of our best players wire to wire, those are three guys who were ahead of him on the left side.”
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