Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!
From NHLTradeRumors.me
The Jack Eichel sweepstakes continue for the Buffalo Sabres after the star captain made his frustration as obvious as possible in a recent interview. General manager Kevyn Adams will be working the phones this offseason, with the NHL Draft in mind as a possible target date for a blockbuster trade. One team to keep an eye on is the Minnesota Wild.
Any Eichel deal to Minny would likely involve both the Wild’s first-round pick and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-rounder, which the Wild also have under their belt. Not only would at least one if not both picks be included, a combination of Joel Eriksson-Ek, Kevin Fiala, and Jordan Greenway are likely heading the other way. Depending on how many draft picks are involved, a defenseman like Matt Dumba is someone to look out for too. Perhaps Dumba, Eriksson-Ek and a first-rounder is enough to entice the Sabres to pull the trigger?
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BLH’s Thoughts: Marco Rossi HAS to be part of any negotiations that include Jack Eichel heading to Minnesota. I think Dumba, Rossi, and two first rounders would be pretty good value for Eichel, don’t you? The Sabres could then see what the market is on Rasmus Ristolainen and if a successful trade was made, that would leave them going forward with the likes of Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power (presumably), and Matt Dumba leading their blueline. It’d probably be in their best interests to sign a top-four left-shot dman in the summer to partner with Power (or Colin Miller) though.
I don’t mind this little reset the Sabres are going through. They have a very rare opportunity to do it right this time by building from the backend out.
Stan Sweeney also published an article detailed three Philadelphia Flyers who he could see being traded this offseason.
- Shayne Gostisbehere: If the Kraken stay away, expect to see a trade with the likes of the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators having different levels of interest. Gostisbehere scored 20 points in 41 games last season.
- James van Riemsdyk: The scoring winger makes $7 million the next two seasons and at his age may be slowing down a touch. Last season JVR potted 17 goals and 43 points in 56 games, however the Flyers are looking for goaltending options and a defensive stud and JVR could be included to facilitate the acquisitions.
- Claude Giroux: The long-time Flyer is entering the final season of his current contract, and rumblings have begun about his desire to play back closer to ‘home’ for the second half of his career. A trade to the Ottawa Senators would be a blockbuster and is a deal that both sides could pull off because of the amount of young talent on the Sens.
BLH’s Thoughts: Yes to Gostisbehere, no to JVR and their LONGTIME captain.
The Flyers are not that far off from where they want to be. If they want to shed some bulbous contracts that belong to veterans, maybe it’s time to move on from Jakub Voracek.
I won’t believe the rumors about Giroux heading back to Ottawa until something substantial surfaces. Why in the world would he want to leave Philly to go to Ottawa? I don’t know what sort of motivations would prompt him to make such a move.
Sweeney also posted some quotes from Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ron Hextall with regards to their potential offseason plans.
- “Of course we’d like to add a little bit of size, a little bit of toughness. Yes, it would be nice. But there’s not a lot out there. We’ll look at what’s there this summer and we’ll make adjustments. But if we go into next season with this group we’re comfortable. We’re comfortable with our team. We had a real good regular season and played well in the playoffs. That doesn’t mean we won’t look to get better. You always look to get better. If we can find ways to tweak things and get better, we will.”
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BLH’s Thoughts: I don’t think it’s any surprise that a team run by Ron Hextall and Brian Burke is looking to add some size and toughness. It’s also interesting that these quotes came out the same week that Bob Stauffer mentioned on his radio show, Oilers Now, that he could see Pittsburgh being interested in Edmonton Oilers winger Zack Kassian…
Given the dire straights that Hextall’s team is in cap-wise, I do wonder what kind of deal could be struck between the Pens and the Oil. Would asking for Jason Zucker or Bryan Rust be out of the question for Edmonton?
If I had to guess, I would think they’d be more open to trading Zucker and the two seasons left on his $5.5M contract than Rust’s which is worth $3.5M for another year. As much as I’d hate to lose him, it probably wouldn’t hurt to send Kass out east so Edmonton wouldn’t have to face him too often either.
From Spector’s Hockey
TORONTO SUN: Michael Traikos acknowledged Dubas’ comments but believes rival general managers will be calling about Marner. He thinks the Leafs should listen to offers, especially if they’re coming from Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen. Traikos wondered if they could swap out Marner for Jackets defenseman Seth Jones, or Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson, or Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel.
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BLH’s Thoughts: Unless John Gibson comes out and says he wants out of Anaheim, I don’t see them moving him without having a goaltender ready to replace him in-house or coming back in a trade.
Now, Jack Eichel is an interesting one. I never really gave that potential deal much thought before but would that be the kind of move that would improve the overall talent of the Maple Leafs though? I reckon they’d just be moving the deck chairs around making that kind of move. Hi-octane offense is fun to watch but it rarely wins championships without stellar defense, elite goalies, and an above-average work rate.
Look, if Toronto is going to trade Mitch Marner (doubtful) or William Nylander (more likely), they need to address their defence or netminding. I believe they could be nearly unstoppable if John Gibson was in net for them.
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