Tomas Hertl’s comments earlier this month which expressed some uncertainty about his long-term future with the team have thrust him into trade speculation. For the time being, it seems likely he’ll start the season and he and the Sharks will re-assess things from there. However, if San Jose opted to trade him, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic examined (subscription link) what the framework of a potential deal might look like. He suggests that San Jose’s preference likely wouldn’t just be draft picks but that adding a top prospect that’s a little closer to being NHL-ready – one that fits the timeline of their recent top selections – would likely be a goal for GM Doug Wilson. Hertl carries a $5.625MM AAV for this coming season and stands to earn considerably more on his next contract and if they opt to set that high of a price point whenever the decision is made to move on, an extension may need to be part of the trade in order to justify the higher acquisition cost for the other team.
More from around the NHL:
- While the Penguins haven’t had much playoff success as of late, team president Brian Burke told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that he doesn’t feel the time is right to rebuild yet. Pittsburgh wasn’t able to add much to their roster this summer – Brock McGinn was their biggest acquisition – but he feels the core is still good enough to contend. With both Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang set to become unrestricted free agents next summer, that will be the key time for a decision to be made on whether this core can still contend or it’s time to change things up.
- Matt Porter of The Boston Globe posits that the Predators should consider trading winger Filip Forsberg. The 27-year-old is entering the final year of his contract and with Nashville heading into what appears to be some form of a rebuild, extending him would go against that direction and take away some potential assets to add to their future core. Forsberg carries a $6MM AAV without any form of trade protection which would give the Preds some extra flexibility to find him a new home if they decide to go that route at some point during the season.
The Preds have no choice but to rebuild. They’ve already moved out established veterans like Ellis and Arvidsson. Rinne retired. They’re stuck with those Duchene and Johansen deals. They’re also hampered by that Turris buyout so my guess is they aren’t going to contend any time soon. They’ve got some decent pieces they could move at the deadline in Forsberg and Ekholm too so just bite the bullet and do it.
Yet Poile says he wants to re-sign both. Trying to figure out what Poile is doing is an exercise in futility.
Arvidsson wanted a fresh start. The Preds started their run last season when Ellis was out. Ekholm took over Ellis’ role in both leadership and on-ice play. That’s why Ellis was moved out. Ekholm gets re-signed. Forsberg is an interesting case. He is the best offensive player the Preds have & if they want to do a quick rebuild, they should try to re-sign him. However, the question is whether or not Forsberg want to re-sign. He loves the city & fans, but was publicly unhappy about the Arvidsson trade. Does that unhappiness mean he isn’t willing to re-sign? That remains to be seen
I don’t know how the Bruins don’t go all in on Hertl. Seemingly a perfect marriage…. If he can stay healthy.
The Preds should be all in on Hertl, but they won’t. Offense, schmoffence!
Burke might want to have a word with Hextall then. The team they inherited was good enough to win the best division in hockey and was one goalie implosion from going who knows how far.
A few months of the potted plant later, this team will have to overachieve to lose in the first round again.
Top line is older (and now hurt)
2nd line weaker until Malkin returns.
3rd line weaker.
4th liner weaker.
Top pair older.
Bottom pair weaker.
Goaltending a complete dice roll.
Hextall and his shriveled prunes just twiddle those thumbs.
Patrick, Shero and Rutherford wanted to win and had the vision and the stones to try. This guy has neither and at no point in any of his GM tenures has he shown even the slightest inclination towards winning.
Maybe they should trade one of their best players for Tarasenko and then have kept tanev over Bluegar.
I believe that both of those moves would be great and not end up disastrous
I dunno. Maybe having scrubs like McGinn and Heinan instead and then signing Rust to a big money, six year deal for his age 30 to 36 seasons on a rebuilding team is the way to go?
All I know is that you DEFINITELY do NOT want to acquire the reigning Vezina winner for nothing…especially after declaring that goaltending is your number one issue.