Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for August 2020

Florida Panthers Receive Permission To Speak With Scott Mellanby

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The Florida Panthers recently parted ways with longtime executive Dale Tallon, announcing that they would immediately begin a search for the team’s next general manager. Speculation immediately popped up about Montreal Canadiens AGM Scott Mellanby who captained the Panthers for several seasons. That chatter has been confirmed by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, who reports that the Panthers received permission from the Canadiens to speak with Mellanby.

The 54-year old executive has been with the Canadiens since 2012, when he left the St. Louis Blues and was hired as a director of player personnel. He was given the AGM title a few years later, and for the last two seasons has also been working with the Laval Rocket.

It is hard to find anyone who has been around more NHL hockey than Mellanby. Starting in 1985-86 with the Philadelphia Flyers, the second-round pick played in 1,431 regular season contests, good for 31st all-time in the NHL. He was never a superstar in the league, but there were decades of good hockey from the winger, who recorded 840 points in those 21 seasons. Florida was his longest stop, suiting up more than 550 times for the Panthers and recording 354 points. He sits fifth on the team’s all-time scoring list, while also coming in third in penalty minutes.

It’s not just his connection to the Panthers organization that would make Mellanby a good fit either. He’s also familiar with head coach Joel Quenneville, who he played under in St. Louis. Even though new general managers often like to go with their own choice behind the bench, whoever takes over in Florida is going to have to work with Quenneville. Not only is he a legendary head coach with an excellent track record, but he was also given a five-year deal in 2019 that will pay him more than $26MM.

The Panthers search will need to be quick if they want someone in place by the offseason. Remember that the draft and free agency will happen almost immediately after the Stanley Cup is awarded in early October, followed by training camps set to begin at some point in November if everything goes to plan.

Tyler Ennis Suffered Broken Leg, Ligament Damage

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Getting eliminated in the qualification round is a tough way for any player to finish the season, but for Tyler Ennis it must have felt much worse. Not only will the Edmonton Oilers forward become an unrestricted free agent, but he is also now dealing with a long rehab. The team announced today that Ennis suffered a broken leg and ligament damage in his ankle during the Oilers’ third game of their series against the Chicago Blackhawks. He is expected to make a full recovery, but it will take several months.

Ennis doesn’t have several months left on his contract, as it will expire in October when the offseason begins. The 30-year old forward has resurrected his career after a buyout ended his tenure with the Minnesota Wild in 2018, but after signing consecutive one-year sub-$1M contracts, you can bet he was hoping to head into the offseason with a little more leverage. Instead, Ennis will have to hope someone takes another chance on him after the major injury.

The thing is, the Oilers may be his best bet. After scoring 14 goals and 33 points with the Ottawa Senators this season, Ennis was traded to Edmonton and fit in extremely well. The team had been looking for more speed and skill up front for years, something Ennis brings in spades. Perhaps this will give them an even better opportunity at bringing him back, though there are other tough decisions to come in Edmonton after such a disappointing finish.

Penguins GM Jim Rutherford: “Changes Need To Be Made”

at CDT | by 11 Comments

The Pittsburgh Penguins were one of the biggest surprises of the qualification round, ousted by the 12-seed Montreal Canadiens. Not only was it surprising because the Canadiens likely weren’t even going to make the playoffs had the season not been cut short, but the Penguins had fought through so much adversity to even get to that point. Head coach Mike Sullivan had guided his group through catastrophic injuries to almost all of the team’s top players while dealing with a horrendous performance from his expected starting goaltender.

Now that they’re out, GM Jim Rutherford didn’t hold back when discussing the offseason with reporters including Josh Yohe of The Athletic:

There is something wrong. Changes need to be made. 

Rutherford went on to say that the team starts to “fizzle out” when things don’t go their way and that even though the coaching staff navigated the regular season well there is a pattern developing at the end of the year. The entire availability was an executive who is primed to make sweeping changes, though Rutherford did explain that he is still committed to the core—Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang especially.

The Hall of Fame GM has never been shy about pulling the trigger and making splashy headline-grabbing moves. Last summer after he felt his team needed a change Rutherford twice traded Phil Kessel, only for the first one to be blocked by the enigmatic winger. During the year he pushed his chips to the middle again and tried to give them a chance to win by acquiring Jason Zucker, only to see them go down before even reaching the regular playoffs.

This time, it sounds as though one of the big changes will come on defense. Though Jack Johnson has been pummeled in the media for his disastrous play during the short postseason, Rutherford pointed the finger directly at his partner instead. Again, from Yohe:

I know everybody picks on Jack and they have for a long time, but I think, in that pairing, Justin Schultz had a lot more to give.

Schultz happens to be an unrestricted free agent this summer while Johnson still has three years on his deal, but it now seems unlikely that the pair will be reunited in the future. The 30-year old Schultz had an outstanding season in 2016-17 when Letang was injured for much of the year and earned himself a three-year, $16.5MM extension. That deal started poorly and ended even worse, however, given the performances that followed. In 46 games this season, Schultz only recorded three goals and 12 points.

But letting Schultz walk away won’t be the only move Rutherford makes. He also once again mentioned how it will be difficult to keep both Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry, given they are both restricted free agents and the salary cap will not be increasing. Moving one of them could help in another area, but don’t be surprised if you see even more drastic and sweeping changes to the Penguins before the 2020-21 season begins.

Filip Berglund Assigned To Linkoping HC

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Edmonton Oilers have assigned Filip Berglund to Linkoping HC of the Swedish Hockey League for the 2020-21 season, just a few months after signing him to an entry-level contract. Berglund inked his two-year deal in May, but will apparently spend the first season continuing his development in Sweden. The Oilers do retain the right to recall him, though the release did not indicate that he would be back for training camp.

Berglund, 23, was a third-round pick by the Oilers back in 2016 but hadn’t yet attempted to come to North America. Instead, he has played four seasons in the SHL, developing into a strong two-way defender with a chance to make an NHL impact one day.

The Oilers have done moves like this in the past. In 2018, they signed Joel Persson to a one-year contract only to immediately assign him back to the SHL. That burned the contract up, but gave them control as a restricted free agent over the young defenseman. The plan may be the same here with Berglund, who would have seen his draft rights expire had the Oilers not signed him by June 1.

Mark Scheifele Will Not Require Surgery

at CDT | by 1 Comment

When Matthew Tkachuk collided with Mark Scheifele in the first game of the qualification round, and the big Winnipeg Jets center collapsed to the ice clutching his leg and wailing in pain, everyone watching assumed the worst. It was obvious that Scheifele would have to leave the game as he was helped off the ice by a trainer and Nathan Beaulieu, but the anxious moments that followed surely had more disastrous scenarios playing out in many minds. Would he require major surgery, just a few months before the 2020-21 season was set to begin?

As it turns out, those same thoughts were racing through Scheifele’s mind. He spoke with reporters including Murat Ates of The Athletic and admitted he initially thought he tore his Achilles tendon. That would have meant surgery and a six-month recovery, taking him out of the first portion of the 2020-21—one which will have a condensed schedule. As it turns out, Scheifele was “very, very lucky” and will not require surgery at all. In fact, he told Ates that he’s going to be “back to 100% in the near future.”

While that news may fall on some deaf ears among Jets fans who just watched their team get eliminated before the real playoffs even begin, it’s extremely important for the future. As head coach Paul Maurice hinted at in his post-game tirade about what he called a “filthy, disgusting hit”, an Achilles injury like that doesn’t only come with a long recovery time, it also could potentially jeopardize a career. All hockey fans should be happy that isn’t the case for Scheifele, who has turned into one of the games preeminent two-way centers.

Selected seventh overall in 2011, the 27-year old has broken the point-per-game mark in each of his last four seasons, including 73 in 71 games this year. His postseason stats are just as impressive, making it all the more frustrating for the Jets that he received fewer than three minutes of ice time before being forced from the five-game series. Scheifele will be back next year and so will the Jets, thankful that he isn’t completing a grueling rehab at some point in February.

Quotable: Wild GM Bill Guerin On The Upcoming Offseason

at CDT | by 1 Comment

With Minnesota getting eliminated in the Qualifying Round by Vancouver, the offseason has arrived.  GM Bill Guerin spoke with reporters, including Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press, on a call and spoke about several topics beyond the change to their coaching staff that was revealed earlier today.  Here are some of the highlights.

On Goaltending:

I was disappointed in the goaltending.  It needs to be better, that’s just the way it is, and if I said anything different, I’d be lying because it was not a strong point for us.

It was a tough year for Devan Dubnyk.  After being their undisputed starter for the last four years, the veteran struggled mightily, putting up a 3.35 GAA with a .890 SV%.  The last time he had numbers like that was 2013-14, a year in which finished the season as a fourth-stringer in Montreal’s system.  Alex Stalock wound up as their defacto starter as a result and while he had his best numbers since his rookie season, those numbers were still below the level of an NHL number one.  Accordingly, Guerin left the door open to shopping for help between the pipes this summer:

If I have an opportunity to make it better, I will.  I’m also confident if those guys come back that they’re gonna be battling for a spot, and we’ve got Kaapo Kahkonen pushing them. It just has to be better, flat-out. I can’t promise anybody a spot.

Kakhonen is coming off of a stellar season with AHL Iowa, one that saw him take home Goalie of the Year honors.  He’s a pending restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility which gives him a bit of leverage.  That should be enough to land him a one-way deal but he is still waiver-exempt and with just two seasons in North America under his belt, more time in the minors would be ideal from a development perspective.

On Contract Talks:

There’s definitely a lot of moving parts right now.  It’s a little trickier not knowing the landscape of what the market is going to be, so It could take a little more time than usual.

While the list of pending free agents isn’t the largest, several quality veterans are now eligible to sign contract extensions, headlined by winger Kevin Fiala and defenseman Jonas Brodin.  While teams at least know what the cap for next season will be, there are still questions as to what the financial picture will look like beyond that time.  That certainly has the potential to delay the extension market (especially for players that will be unrestricted free agents in 2021 with Seattle’s expansion draft on the horizon) so as much as Guerin would like to get deals done – something he acknowledged on the call – he’s likely right in the suggestion that it may take longer than usual for that market to open up.

On Seeking Centre Help:

Teams don’t trade number one centers. They just don’t. Usually, it’s got to be done in the free agent market or through the draft. It’s a position that I think this organization has needed for quite some time. We are going to try to address it.

While Guerin may prefer to address this through free agency, it’s a very weak market down the middle.  One of the more intriguing options is midseason acquisition Alex Galchenyuk who was moved back to his natural position after the swap and acquitted himself relatively well.  Keeping the pending UFA on a short-term deal could provide them with a little bit of upside but not the type of top-end impact they’re looking for.

With roughly $65MM in commitments to 17 players already for next year, Minnesota may be able to leverage their cap space to their advantage.  While teams may not want to trade top centers to clear cap space, it’s not impossible that a second liner or two get moved.  Even that would represent a nice upgrade for the Wild and would help boost their middle of the pack attack.

On Buyouts:

I guess we would use it if we had to.  It’s definitely a last resort. To pay somebody to go play somewhere else is not something that I would love to do. Like I said, if we have to do it, we will do it.

The trade that saw Victor Rask come to the Wild in exchange for Nino Niederreiter worked out great for Carolina and was a disaster for Minnesota.  Rask has been in and out of the lineup and found himself scratched against Vancouver.  During the regular season, he has managed just seven goals and nine assists since being acquired.  That’s not the type of production they were expecting from someone that carries a $4MM cap hit.  They could plausibly buy him out and replace his production with someone making a lot less while freeing up some money to fill a spot elsewhere.  Doing so would cost $1.333MM against the cap for four years.

Dubnyk could also be considered for one if the opportunity to add another starter presents itself.  With only one year left on his deal, there isn’t much in the way of long-term repercussions.  However, the front-loaded nature of the contract means that there would still be a $2.667MM cap charge for 2020-21 which means they’d only free up $1.667MM for next season by doing so.  From their point of view, a trade with max retention may be more ideal, even if it still involves paying somebody to go play somewhere else.

Offseason Keys: Winnipeg Jets

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

As teams are eliminated from the Qualifying Round, it means that the offseason has arrived for several more squads.  Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return, we shift our focus to the ones that have been ousted.  Next up is a look at Winnipeg.

This season was expected to be one where the Jets took a bit of a step back.  While they were only a year removed from nearly winning the Central Division, their back end underwent quite the overhaul as several regulars moved on with minimal replacements added for cap reasons while another didn’t play for them at all before his contract was terminated in-season.  They used a hot streak down the stretch to have themselves in the battle for a playoff spot before the pandemic hit before being ousted by Calgary in the play-in series.  Now, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has some flexibility to work with this offseason (but a lot of roster spots to fill).  Here is what he should be looking to accomplish.

Restock The D

No team took as big of a hit on their back end as Winnipeg did between last season and this one.  Ben Chiarot and Tyler Myers moved on via free agency, Jacob Trouba was traded, and Dustin Byfuglien briefly reported to camp, left, and didn’t come back.  The only current NHL asset they received for any of those defenders was Neal Pionk.  While the 25-year-old had a career year for the Jets, this was still a significant step backwards.  The team had to turn to the waiver wire to stay afloat and the results were predictable as Connor Hellebuyck faced the most shots of any goaltender in the league this season.

Only three regulars are signed for next season and one of those (Tucker Poolman) played a limited role this year.  Cheveldayoff will need to work to add at least one top-four option to take some pressure off Pionk and Josh Morrissey.  Youngster Ville Heinola showed some promise in an early-season look but while he has the upside to get to that level down the road, that won’t come in 2020-21.

If they’re unable to afford a blueliner of that quality, then restocking the cupboards with quality depth options is a good way to go.  Dylan DeMelo made an impact in limited action after being acquired at the trade deadline from Ottawa and they’ll likely look to retain him although DeMelo is in line for a decent raise on his $900K AAV.  Nathan Beaulieu is another pending unrestricted free agent that could be retained at the right price.  But after them, the depth falls off quickly.  Bringing in a capable veteran or two that can log some minutes would be a useful backup plan; while it wouldn’t add to their top pairing, adding players that can log more minutes than a usual third pairing would still help.  Relying on the waiver wire for reinforcements didn’t work too well this season and that’s not a viable approach to reshaping their defense corps.

Acquire A Second Line Center

Finding a second line center has proven to be a bit of a challenge for Cheveldayoff.  In recent years, they’ve added Paul Stastny and Kevin Hayes as rentals at the trade deadline but they weren’t able to re-sign either one.  That’s left Bryan Little reprising that role but his season ended early due to a perforated eardrum.  They had some challenges filling that spot.  Jack Roslovic hasn’t developed as hoped and seems to be better on the wing at this stage.  Andrew Copp and Adam Lowry are effective players but they’re at their best in more limited roles.

That forced Blake Wheeler into playing down the middle for a large portion of the season.  He’s certainly capable of playing in that role but it takes him away from playing on the top line with Mark Scheifele holding down that number one spot.  That’s a nice fallback option to have but they shouldn’t be relying on that as their primary plan to fill the role next season.

In a perfect world, this is something that could be filled via unrestricted free agency but there’s a strong case to be made that there isn’t a top-six center available on the open market.  That means they’ll have to turn to the trade market to try to add one.  If they can get one over the coming months, it’ll stop them from having to part with more draft picks and/or prospects to try to add one as a rental closer to the trade deadline.

Add A Better Backup

Laurent Brossoit’s first season in Winnipeg was a strong one and he earned the one-year, $1.225MM extension that he played under this year.  However, 2019-20 wasn’t anywhere near as strong.  As a result, Hellebuyck led the league in starts for the second time in three years and while he played well enough to earn a Vezina nomination, asking him to regularly log as many minutes as he has isn’t ideal.  With a 3.28 GAA and a .895 SV%, it’s likely the end of Brossoit’s tenure with the team.

While they were eventually able to get Eric Comrie back (following stints in Arizona and Detroit), he’s probably better off as their third option once again.  He has been around long enough that he can serve as their mandatory exposure to Seattle in expansion (as long as he’s tendered a qualifying offer next offseason).

That could take Winnipeg out of the market of teams that will be seeking someone on a multi-year contract which will give them a few more options.  Ultimately, who they target will likely be determined by whether or not they’re able to improve down the middle and on defense as those are justifiably their top priorities but a better backup for Hellebuyck is something that Cheveldayoff will need to look for as well.  With 2020-21 likely to feature somewhat of a compressed schedule, those second options are going to be even more important so a more proven backup becomes that much more critical.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor Transactions: 08/10/20

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With the 2020-21 seasons overseas expected to start up on their normal schedule, several players have been loaned overseas and there were a few more in recent days.  Here is a rundown of those moves with each player expected to return for NHL training camps.

  • Recently-signed Bruins winger Robert Lantosi has joined HK Nitra in the Slovak Extraliga, per a team release. The 24-year-old had a good first season in North America, posting 11 goals and 20 assists in 50 games with AHL Providence which helped him get converted to an NHL deal for the upcoming season.  Lantosi is no stranger to Nitra, having played there in 2018-19 where he led the team in points while finishing fifth overall in league scoring.
  • Penguins winger Radim Zohorna is heading back to the Czech league as BK Mlada Boleslav announced that he will be back with them to start next season. The 24-year-old spent the last two seasons with that program and had a career best 10 goals and 12 assists with them last season.  That was enough to convince Pittsburgh to sign him back in April.
  • On top of adding Aleksi Heponiemi from Florida on Sunday, MODO of the SHL announced that they’ve also added Maple Leafs blueliner Jesper Lindgren. The 23-year-old played in 31 games with the AHL Marlies this season, picking up a goal and eight assists.  While Lindgren briefly played in Finland before coming to North America, he spent the bulk of his early development in MODO’s program from 2013-14 through 2016-17.

New York Rangers Win The First-Overall Pick

at CDT | by 44 Comments

Phase two of the NHL Draft Lottery took place this evening, and the New York Rangers were the big winners. The first-overall pick and the right to draft Alexis Lafreniere was on the line after the first part of the lottery ended up in a “TBA” team winning, which then went to one of the eliminated qualification round teams. Lafreniere, the consensus top prospect in this year’s field, will get a chance to join Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad on October 9th when the draft is held virtually and is expected to make an impact in the 2020-21 season.

The rest of the qualification losers will be dropped in based on regular season points percentage. That means the top-15 selections will look like this:

  1. New York Rangers
  2. Los Angeles Kings
  3. Ottawa Senators (via San Jose Sharks)
  4. Detroit Red Wings
  5. Ottawa Senators
  6. Anaheim Ducks
  7. New Jersey Devils
  8. Buffalo Sabres
  9. Minnesota Wild
  10. Winnipeg Jets
  11. Nashville Predators
  12. Florida Panthers
  13. Carolina Hurricanes (via Toronto Maple Leafs)
  14. Edmonton Oilers
  15. Pittsburgh Penguins

Lafreniere is quite the prize for the Rangers. The 18-year old forward is coming off his second consecutive CHL Player of the Year award after dominating for the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL. In 173 regular season games across three years for the club, Lafreniere recorded 297 points to go along with Hlinka-Gretzky and World Junior gold medals. There is very little he can’t do offensively, and he’ll get to join what is turning into a loaded forward group in New York. Remember, the Rangers won the second-overall pick in last year’s lottery and ended up selecting Kaapo Kakko, another extremely talented winger (who admittedly didn’t have an excellent rookie season).

Another change from the lottery includes the Hurricanes picking up a top-15 pick of their own. The Maple Leafs had sent them that pick to get Carolina to buyout Patrick Marleau, but it was lottery protected and would have stayed with Toronto had they won tonight. The Hurricanes will actually give up their own pick to the Rangers as part of the Brady Skjei deal, but still have a chance of picking a top prospect.

Undoubtedly though, the Rangers front office will come out of tonight with huge smiles on their faces. Though they didn’t get the chance to advance in the playoffs, their time is coming as a contender in the Eastern Conference.

Injury Notes: Pacioretty, Merzlikins, Ferland, Carlson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Vegas Golden Knights will have a familiar face in the lineup tomorrow night when they take on the Chicago Blackhawks, as GM Kelly McCrimmon told reporters including Mike Morreale of NHL.com that Max Pacioretty would make his postseason debut. The top-line winger missed the entire round-robin but won’t be held back when things get going in the first round:

I think Max’s workload will be identical to what it was. I don’t think that will change in any way shape or form. He’s completely ready to go. We’re not worried about that at all.

“Patches” as he is called by his teammates, was feeling right at home this season with the Golden Knights after a rocky first year with the team. Following a trade from the Montreal Canadiens, the only NHL team he had ever known, Pacioretty scored just 22 goals and 40 points in 2018-19. That was low for him, but things were right back to normal this season when he broke the 30-goal mark for the sixth time in his career and led the Golden Knights with 66 points in 71 games.

  • It was Joonas Korpisalo back in net for the Columbus Blue Jackets when they faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a winner-take-all game five last night. Korpisalo would end up getting a shutout in the deciding game and he’ll have every chance to roll with the Blue Jackets for some time. Tandem partner Elvis Merzlikins, who came in for Korpisalo partway through the series, is out indefinitely with an injury according to head coach John Tortorella. Tortorella told team reporter Jeff Svoboda “he’s out. I’m not sure how long.” Merzlikins was outstanding in his first taste of NHL action this year, posting a .923 save percentage as a rookie. He also stopped 70 of 74 shots against the Maple Leafs, who had trouble scoring no matter who was in the net for Columbus.
  • Micheal Ferland remains “unfit to play” according to Vancouver Canucks head coach Travis Green. Ferland actually left the bubble in Edmonton last week and returned home to Manitoba after leaving a game against the Minnesota Wild. While the team cannot comment on the exact injury due to the COVID-19 reporting protocols, Darren Dreger of TSN was told at the time that Ferland was dealing with similar post-concussion issues that kept him out for most of the year. Though the team had said he would be re-evaluated after the Minnesota series ended, it’s clear that a return is not in the cards just yet.
  • The New York Islanders and Washington Capitals could potentially both be getting some reinforcements for their first-round series. Brian Compton of NHL.com reports that Johnny Boychuk is “highly probable” for game one, while Samantha Pell of the Washington Post was told by Capitals coach Todd Reirden that John Carlson took part in their optional skate today and is “taking steps in the right direction.” Carlson, a Norris Trophy finalist as one of the league’s top defensemen, didn’t play in the round-robin after taking an awkward fall in the Capitals exhibition game.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top