Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Panthers Rumors

Poll: Where Will Max Pacioretty End Up?

at CDT | by 20 Comments

The Montreal Canadiens are looking to move Max Pacioretty as soon as possible. The captain’s contract expires at the end of the coming season and there will not be an extension. The Habs are also unlikely to be contenders this year. As such, Pacioretty is on the trade block and probably on the move soon.

Where could he end up? The first thought is the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks were reportedly close to a deal for Pacioretty at the NHL Draft but couldn’t get it done. Since then, they missed out on John Tavares and are still in need of scoring with cap space to spare.

San Jose was not alone in losing out in the Tavares sweepstakes. Assuming the Boston Bruins are an unlikely destination given their status as Montreal’s biggest rivals, that still leaves teams like the Dallas Stars and New York Islanders as possibilities. The Islanders in particular are in major need of a boost up front and have the young assets to make a deal.

Teams that have previously shown interest in Pacioretty include the Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators. The Panthers already landed Mike Hoffman this off-season and are lacking cap space, but could still potentially make it work. The Predators have significantly more space and some intriguing young pieces to offer and would be a team that Pacioretty certainly wouldn’t mind ending up with long-term.

As always, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks cannot be ruled out. Their respective GM’s are always in on the action and both teams are known to be looking for offensive depth. Would Pittsburgh consider swapping Derick Brassard in a deal for Pacioretty? Could Chicago use their newfound cap space from the Hossa trade to bring in a similar scorer? The answer to both of these questions is a definitive maybe.

Who do you think needs Pacioretty most or can put together the best offer?

Dallas Stars Sign Adam Mascherin To Entry-Level Contract

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Adam Mascherin was selected 38th-overall by the Florida Panthers in 2016, but never signed with the team and re-entered the draft this year. He had to wait a little bit longer this time, falling to the Dallas Stars in the fourth round. Dallas hasn’t wasted any time getting him into the organization though, and announced a three-year entry-level contract for Mascherin today. Already 20 years old, he’ll be able to go straight to the Texas Stars of the AHL should the team feel it’s best for his development.

Mascherin has been one of the biggest offensive producers in the OHL for several years, scoring 110 goals and 267 points in his last 197 regular season games. In his most recent playoffs with the Kitchener Rangers, he added 24 points in 19 games and was a threat every time he touched the ice. Stars fans need to remember though that two of those years have come after he was first eligible to be drafted, and that he was older than many of his competitors. Still, Dallas will bring him into their organization and give him every chance to succeed offensively. Texas was relying on veteran players to carry them to the Calder Cup Finals this season, but will be more youthful this season after players like Curtis McKenzie and Mike McKenna have moved on.

Though he stands only 5’10” Mascherin doesn’t play like a small player and routinely wins board battles and loose pucks with his strength and balance, while carrying a huge offensive load for the Rangers. There’s not a lot he can’t do on the ice, and though there are still some concerns over his skating ability and overall ceiling, getting a legitimate NHL prospect in the fourth round is always a positive. Because he’s older, the Stars will be able to make a determination on him much quicker and get him into their development system right away.

Florida Panthers Agree To Terms With Julian Melchiori

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Florida Panthers have signed another free agent that spent last season with the Winnipeg Jets organization, agreeing to terms with Julian Melchiori on a one-year two-way contract. Melchiori will join Manitoba Moose teammate Michael Hutchinson with the Panthers (or more likely the Springfield Thunderbirds) for the 2018-19 season. No financial details have been released.

Melchiori reached free agency through Group VI status this summer after failing to secure a full-time role in the NHL once again. Stuck behind a huge number of talented defenders in Winnipeg, the 26-year old played the entire season in the minor leagues where he recorded 14 points in 49 games. Once a third-round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers and an up-and-coming defensive option, Melchiori has just 30 NHL games under his belt and hasn’t been able to consistently show his value as a reliable depth player with penalty killing abilities.

He’s headed from a stacked blue line in Winnipeg to one with a few more cracks in Florida, but there still isn’t a lot of room for Melchiori to wiggle his way into the NHL. The Panthers already have left-handed options like Ian McCoshen for their bottom pair and recently signed Bogdan Kiselevich out of the KHL. Instead, the Thunderbirds of the AHL will likely take Melchiori in and give him big minutes as a shutdown option in the minor leagues.

Panthers Aren't Expected To Trade Nick Bjugstad

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Panthers forward Nick Bjugstad has long been in trade speculation but nothing has come to fruition.  Even though his name has popped up in the rumor mill once again as of late, his agent Ben Hankinson told Michael Russo of The Athletic during an interview on KFAN (audio link) that it’s unlikely that his client winds up being dealt:

The 25-year-old adapted well to being shifted to the wing with Florida and posted a career year offensively with 49 points (19-30-49) in 82 games.  However, given Bjugstad’s size and ability to play down the middle, the Panthers are assuredly going to continue to field interest in him but it doesn’t appear that they’re willing to deal him just yet.

Atlantic Notes: Bruins, Barkov, Canadiens

at CDT | by 6 Comments

While the Boston Bruins added a couple of small, but important pieces to their team this offseason in goaltender Jaroslav Halak and defenseman John Moore, their two biggest Atlantic Division rivals seem to be working at a much bigger scale. The Toronto Maple Leafs have already successfully signed superstar center John Tavares to a long-term deal, while the Tampa Bay Lightning are trying hard to acquire superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson.

Those two moves (although nothing is definite about Karlsson going to Tampa) suggest that maybe Boston isn’t doing enough to improve their own team. The team looks like they lost veteran Rick Nash who is still trying to decide if he intends to return to the NHL and hasn’t added much to their forward core this season. No doubt Boston general manager Don Sweeney is trying to work the trade market in hopes of picking up a Jeff Skinner or Artemi Panarin. However, NBC Sports Joe Haggerty writes that there is nothing wrong if the team can acquire such a player, but the team needs to stay the course and not overreact to the whatever the Maple Leafs or Lightning do.

Haggerty writes the team had a plan at the end of the season and they need to stick to it, which means the team must hold onto their talented young players and not consider moving them for big-name players. The team already had a plan in place in hopes to upgrade its team, using prospects and pieces such as Torey Krug and Anders Bjork. However, the team also needs to keep their elite young players like Charlie McAvoy and Jake Debrusk, because they will need them to stay with the organization for the next decade. The team shouldn’t panic and attempt to grab a big-name player if it will cost them their long-term future.

  • The Florida Panthers could be making major shakeups in their lineups next season, according to Matthew DeFranks of the SunSentinel. With the addition of more talent this season, including Mike Hoffman and a host of young talent, coach Bob Boughner has a lot of option for loading up his top line which features star Aleksander Barkov. The talented center has spent much of the last three years playing alongside Jonathan Huberdeau and Evgeni Dadonov, who arrived last season. However, with Hoffman and how well forward Nick Bjugstad played on the top line at times last season, it’s likely Barkov could get all new linemates next season, giving the team more depth on both their second and third lines.
  • Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette writes that the Montreal Canadiens have done nothing to get better this offseason. The scribe writes that when you finished the season as the 28th worst team in the league, you need to make big changes. Instead, the team’s biggest trade of Alex Galchenyuk for Max Domi didn’t make the team better, especially since most experts believe that Arizona won the deal, but at best it’s a wash. Then the team’s biggest free agent signing was bringing back Tomas Plekanec, who isn’t the same player he once was and since he spent the majority of the season with Montreal last season, also can’t be anything more than a wash as well. The scribe also points out that if the team was rebuilding then they wouldn’t have tried so hard to go after Tavares or Paul Stastny this offseason. It just looks like another down year in Montreal.

Alexander Petrovic Signs One-Year Deal With Florida Panthers

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Florida Panthers have re-signed one of their restricted free agents, inking Alexander Petrovic to a one-year $1.95MM contract. GM Dale Tallon had this to say about his defenseman:

Alexander is a dependable young defenseman who adds size and physicality to our lineup. He plays the game with an edge and has grown into a strong shutdown defender. We look forward to Alexander taking the next step in his development with the Panthers and are pleased to have agreed to terms with him.

You could have guessed that Petrovic was close to a deal with the Panthers when he failed to file for arbitration yesterday. The 26-year old defenseman is betting on himself with a one-year deal, as he’ll now be an unrestricted free agent next summer and can’t sign an extension with the Panthers until January 1st, 2019. Whether the Panthers would even want to entertain a multi-year deal isn’t clear, especially after they dramatically cut Petrovic’s minutes this season. Averaging just under 15 per game, the 6’4″ Petrovic was sheltered from many tough defensive matchups and yet still only recorded 13 points on the season. Head coach Bob Boughner instead gave a huge number of the defensive starts to Mike Matheson and Mark Pysyk, while handing Petrovic the lightest zone-start load among any of his defenders.

That middling success for Petrovic always sparks debate and frustration for Panthers fans, given that they chose to protect him in the expansion draft while handing Jon Marchessault and Reilly Smith over to the Vegas Golden Knights. That’s not Petrovic’s fault in any way, but it still will hang over his head while playing in Florida. This could be his last chance to impress the team and bring about a multi-year offer, and he’ll have to perform better than in 2017-18 to do it.

Florida Panthers Sign Jacob MacDonald, Paul Thompson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Florida Panthers have signed another pair of minor league players, inking Jacob MacDonald and Paul Thompson to two-year, two-way contracts. Both should add some much-needed depth to the Springfield Thunderbirds lineup, and even add some injury replacements for the Panthers if necessary.

Thompson, 29, is coming back to the Panthers after one year with the Vegas Golden Knights organization. He played 76 games for the Chicago Wolves, scoring 38 points and wearing an “A” as an alternate captain. The former standout University of New Hampshire player and Hobey Baker finalist, Thompson has been a solid professional minor league player for many years.

MacDonald, 25, represents a little more upside after scoring 20 goals and 55 points from the blue line last season. He’s come out of nowhere on the professional scene, after never really finding much offensive success in college or the low minor leagues. Now, as one the AHL’s most dangerous defensemen he should earn a call-up at some point to see if he can do it at the highest level. It may not be this season, but if he continues to produce for the Thunderbirds there’s no reason to not give him a shot. For a late-bloomer like MacDonald, getting a two-year NHL contract is quite an accomplishment.

Washington Capitals Sign Michael Sgarbossa, Jayson Megna

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Washington Capitals have added some depth to the Hershey Bears, signing minor league veterans Michael Sgarbossa and Jayson Megna to one-year, two-way contracts.

Sgarbossa gives Washington a center to likely replace Travis Boyd who was one of Hershey’s top centers there a season ago. Sgarbossa spent last year with the Winnipeg’s Jets AHL affiliate and put up solid numbers, including 16 goals and 40 points. The 25-year-old was not promoted. Regardless, however, Sgarbossa has 48 games of NHL experience and also provides the Capitals depth options in case of injuries. Sgarbossa did get 29 NHL games in the 2016-17 season with the Florida Panthers, posting two goals and seven points.

The 28-year-old Megna also provides much needed center depth and has even more experience than Sgarbossa. Megna has played in 113 NHL games, but spent much of the season with the Utica Comets, the Vancouver Canucks AHL affiliate. In 25 games there, he scored four goals and 13 points and played in one game for Vancouver.

Panthers To Sign Michael Hutchinson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

  • The Red Wings have agreed to terms with Harri Sateri, reports Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland (Twitter link).  The 28-year-old spent most of last season with Florida’s AHL affiliate in Springfield, posting a stellar .927 SV% with a 2.30 GAA in 29 games.  He got into nine games with the Panthers down the stretch, going 4-4-0 with a 2.92 GAA and a .911 SV%.
  • Replacing Sateri with Florida will be Michael Hutchinson, once again per Strickland on Twitter.  He lost the number two spot in Winnipeg last year after they brought in Steve Mason although Mason’s frequent time on IR allowed Hutchinson to get into a handful of games with the Jets.  He played in 26 games with AHL Manitoba, posting a sterling .935 SV% along with a 2.08 GAA.  With 103 NHL games under his belt, the Panthers should be comfortable using him should one of Roberto Luongo or James Reimer get hurt.

Free Agent Rumor Round-Up: Roussel, Calvert, Hickey, Rieder, Perron, And More

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The Vancouver Canucks are closing in on an agreement with one of their top free agent targets. After Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Canucks were talking to two-way winger Antoine Roussel, colleague Rick Dhaliwal did some digging and discovered that the two sides were close on a long-term deal. Dhaliwal expects Roussel to sign a four-year deal worth more than $3MM per year with Vancouver. The former Dallas Stars brings grit and energy to the Canucks and has previously teased 30+ point potential. If the 28-year-old Frenchman can reach those levels of production while maintaining his notorious physical game, this could be a great signing by GM Jim Benning. However, it is well above what many would have expected Roussel to sign in both term and salary and could just as well be a disaster for Vancouver. Roussel is ranked 38th on PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents list with an estimated contract of two years and just over $2MM AAV.

[RELATED: PHR’s 2018 Top 50 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents]

  • Friedman has also linked the Colorado Avalanche and forward Matt Calvert. TSN’s Darren Dreger is among a few sources who have also heard about that pairing. Calvert, 28, has played his entire career for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Dreger seems convinced that he is definitely on the move. The versatile, two-way winger would be a nice fit as a bottom-six regular who can fill gaps in the top-six, much like the role that Blake Comeau played for the team.
  • Dreger also reports that interest is high in defenseman Thomas Hickey. A shallow defense market is likely boosting the value of the serviceable defenseman, who is a tough defensive match-up and a dangerous off-the-puck play-maker, but prone to mistake when moving play. Many speculated that the Islanders would turn their attention to re-signing Hickey once the John Tavares situation had sorted itself out, but with Tavares dragging his feet and Hickey in talks with numerous teams, New York may not get that chance. We predicted that Hickey would land with the Montreal Canadiens on a multi-year deal in PHR’s Top 50 Free Agents list.
  • Another player getting a lot of attention is winger Tobias Rieder and the status of his suitors is changing quickly as the price rises. Just earlier today, the Vancouver Canucks were the first team confirmed to be in on Rieder and by now that list has increased dramatically. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports that the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, and Ottawa Senators are also in the running and that the price has gotten so high as to drive the Edmonton Oilers out of the bidding. The Athletic’s Craig Custance confirms the interest from the Canucks, Flames, and Habs and adds the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers to the list of interested parties. All this for a player that the Los Angeles Kings deemed unworthy of a qualifying offer.
  • As expected, David Perron is also one of the hottest names on the free agent market and his former team, the Vegas Golden Knights, are seemingly out of the running. Friedman calls it “very unlikely” that Perron returns to Las Vegas, where he set a career high with 66 points this season. For an idea on the price for Perron, he landed at #5 on the PHR Top 50 Free Agents list with a projected six-year, $32MM contract, which could be a conservative guess.
  • One team that is somewhat surprisingly in talks with Perron is Arizona. Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports details the off-season so far from the Coyotes and lists Perron, James van Riemsdyk, and Michael Grabner as Arizona’s top targets. Morgan also says that the team has not ruled out bringing back veteran forward Brad Richardson as well.
  • The Boston Bruins are moving on from Anton Khudobin and reportedly working fast to find his replacement. Beat writer Matt Kalman and The Boston Globe’s Kevin-Paul Dupont both hear that the team is very interested in Kari Lehtonen as the new backup to Tuukka Rask. With many talented goalies on the market, Lehtonen has flown under the radar somewhat despite incredibly comparable numbers to Khudobin in more starts and superior numbers to the likes of Jonathan Bernier, Cam Ward, Robin Lehner and others. Lehtonen also had the highest Quality Start rate of any of that group in 2017-18. Even here at PHR we may have underestimated Lehtonen, making him our sixth-best goalie among the Top 50 free agents.
  • Unsurprisingly, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun notes that the Washington Capitals have checked in with defenseman Brooks Orpik. A veteran leader and key contributor to their Stanley Cup run, the Capitals faced little choice but to trade Orpik away earlier this off-season in order to clear cap space to maintain their championship roster. Now that he has subsequently been bought out by the Colorado Avalanche, Orpik is fair game and could return to D.C. at a much more affordable rate. However, LeBrun warns that other teams are also in the running and Orpik may not take a discount rate in Washington over more legitimate offers.

 

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

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top