Snapshots: Giordano, Braun, Robertson, Martinook
One of the biggest names remaining on the trade-bait list is Seattle Kraken defenseman Mark Giordano. A pending UFA and still producing at a high level, many teams have been calling Seattle about the 38-year-old. Still, the price on Giordano remains high, rumored to be at least a first-round pick. Although this price may be reasonable for Giordano, many teams have balked at the it, some perhaps not necessarily viewing it as unfair, but not a prudent decision for their organization. One such organization is the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have made it known that they do not want to trade a first-round pick or a top prospect for a true rental player.
The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun wondered if perhaps Seattle would be willing to take two second-round picks or a second-round pick and a prospect in lieu of a first-round pick (link). LeBrun speculates that if Seattle was willing to accept a package like this, then that may open the market up to Toronto and the St. Louis Blues, another organization who has made it known they do not want to trade a first-round pick. Another team that is in the mix for Giordano’s services is the New York Rangers, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman pointed out on Hockey Night in Canada yesterday evening. The Rangers, unlike Toronto or St. Louis, could be persuaded to trade a first-round pick, considering the young talent they have and the fact that they have not been without one in several years. While that does give the Rangers an advantage, Giordano, Seattle’s captain, has made it clear that if he is to be traded, he strongly prefers his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs.
- The Philadelphia Flyers plan to make defenseman Justin Braun a healthy scratch for today’s game against the New York Islanders, reports The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor. The scratch is not indicative of poor performance or any injury related matters, and is purely an asset-management move ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline, when Braun is likely to be traded.
- The Maple Leafs announced that they have sent forward Nicholas Robertson to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. The move does not necessarily mean that the Maple Leafs are planning, or not planning, to trade Robertson, and is more-likely-than-not a result of the Maple Leafs working around salary cap constraints to put themselves in the best position possible for the trade deadline. To date, Robertson has just one goal and zero assists in nine NHL games this season, but three goals and five assists in nine AHL games this season.
- According to Carolina Hurricanes’ head coach Rod Brind’Amour, forward Jordan Martinook will be out of the lineup for a few weeks after being injured in Thursday’s game against the Maple Leafs (link). Carolina expects to have Martinook back this season, however Hurricanes’ alternate captain is a key figure and leader in the locker room, so his absence, even if temporary, could prove costly to the team.
- Friedman also Tweets that he believes the Vancouver Canucks are a team that is considering Travis Dermott at the deadline. Dermott has been the subject of trade rumors well before this year’s trade deadline, and those rumors have only heated up since, and it is believed he will be traded by the deadline regardless. Vancouver has been looking to acquire a defenseman with term, and Dermott is signed through 2022-23 at just a $1.5MM cap hit.
Injury Notes: Drouin, DeAngelo, Kuhlman
Earlier today, it was announced that several key players were activated off of injured-reserve. One of those players is Montreal Canadiens’ forward Jonathan Drouin (link). Drouin last played for the Canadiens on January 20th, against Vegas, before going on injured reserve for nearly two months.
Despite Montreal being well outside of the playoff picture, there is a potentially exciting detail to his return: a chance to play under interim head coach Martin St. Louis. After St. Louis took over coaching duties for the Canadiens, forward Cole Caufield saw a resurgence and a return to form of the player he was in last year’s playoffs. While Drouin had not struggled this year in the ways that Caufield did, perhaps a change of pace in that of St. Louis could offer a boost to Drouin, who currently has six goals and 14 assists in 32 games this season.
- Also activated off of injured reserve was Carolina Hurricanes’ defenseman Anthony DeAngelo. The Hurricanes have been without DeAngelo since February 21st, and while they have not struggled the entire time, going 6-3-2, they have dropped their last three games, and hope that perhaps DeAngelo can provide a spark. That hope is certainly not unfounded, as DeAngelo has enjoyed a tremendous bounce-back season after a difficult 2020-21 with the New York Rangers. DeAngelo currently has nine goals and 31 assists in in 43 games for the Hurricanes this season.
- Karson Kuhlman will also return to the ice, as the Seattle Kraken activated the forward off of IR earlier today. Kuhlman has had a difficult season thus far, recording just two points in 19 games for the Boston Bruins before being placed on waivers. He would be claimed off waivers by the Kraken on January 17 and play in just five games before being placed on IR on February 1st. Being healthy once again, and Seattle expected to move some pieces out before Monday’s trade deadline, Kuhlman can look to return to the lineup and perhaps become a consistent contributor.
NFL Free Agency Is Underway
Although free agency deals cannot officially be signed until Wednesday, agreements are coming at a frenetic pace. The NFL’s legal tampering period, which allows free agents to negotiate with other teams, began Monday morning. Head on over to Pro Football Rumors (@pfrumors on Twitter) to keep up with all the action!
Future Hall of Famers like Von Miller and Bobby Wagner headline a free agent crop that includes numerous Pro Bowlers, and after the NFL salary cap spiked by more than $25MM, budding young standouts will cash in as well. With teams needing to move under the $208.2MM cap by Wednesday, big names like Jarvis Landry and Za’Darius Smith are being sent to the market. The trade block continues to produce blockbusters, too.
Yes, Tom Brady is back. The Buccaneers and Broncos, who now have Russell Wilson headlining their roster, will be busy aiming to fortify their teams around Canton-bound quarterbacks. The Steelers appear to have pegged Ben Roethlisberger’s successor, agreeing to terms with Mitchell Trubisky. The Deshaun Watson market has accelerated to the point the Texans could land a historic trade haul soon.
Check out Pro Football Rumors for the latest updates from the start of unofficial NFL free agency. Follow the action on Facebook and Twitter.
Follow The NBA Trade Deadline At Hoops Rumors
The NBA trade deadline is less than seven hours away, and our sister site Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors on Twitter) has all the latest news and rumors for each of the league’s 30 teams!
We’ve already seen several major trades in the past week, with CJ McCollum headed to the Pelicans in a seven-player trade, and the Kings shocking the basketball world by sending rising star Tyrese Haliburton to the Pacers for two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis as part of a six-player swap.
Amid a nine-game losing streak, former MVP James Harden has reportedly grown increasingly frustrated with the Nets – will he be traded for disgruntled Sixers star Ben Simmons? Could a trade between the defending champion Bucks and the Celtics be brewing? Will the Pacers and Kings continue to reshape their rosters? The struggling Lakers are feeling urgency to make moves — will they be able to pull something off before 2:00pm CT?
For the latest updates on those stories and more, check out Hoops Rumors today! Last season saw a total of 24 in-season trades, including 16 on deadline day alone, and this season could be just as action-packed! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @HoopsRumors.
Follow The NBA Trade Deadline At Hoops Rumors
The NBA trade deadline is less than 48 hours away, and our sister site Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors on Twitter) has all the latest news and rumors for each of the league’s 30 teams!
We’ve already seen two major trades today, with CJ McCollum reportedly heading to the Pelicans in a seven-player trade, and the Kings shocking the basketball world by sending rising star Tyrese Haliburton to the Pacers for two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis in a six-player swap.
Amid an eight-game losing streak, former MVP James Harden has reportedly grown increasingly frustrated with the Nets – will he be traded for disgruntled Sixers star Ben Simmons? Could a trade between the defending champion Bucks and the Celtics be brewing? Will the Pacers continue to reshape their roster by dealing the league’s leader in blocked shots per game, Myles Turner? Will the Lakers be able to make moves to assist aging superstar LeBron James?
For the latest updates on those stories and more, check out Hoops Rumors today! Last season saw a total of 24 in-season trades, including 16 on deadline day alone, and this season could be just as action-packed! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @HoopsRumors.
Hockey Canada Announces 2022 Women’s Olympic Roster
The 2022 Olympic women’s hockey tournament will kick off on February 3 with a game between Canada and Switzerland, before awarding a gold medal two weeks later. Canada, always a favorite at international tournaments, announced their full roster today that will travel to Beijing in the coming weeks. The team includes 13 players from the 2018 Olympic squad, which took home the silver medal in a 3-2 loss to the U.S. It will be led by head coach Troy Ryan and was put together by Hockey Canada CEO Tom Renney, and Women’s National Team director Gina Kingsbury, among others.
G Ann-Renee Desbiens
G Emerance Maschmeyer
G Kristen Campbell
D Jocelyne Larocque
D Renata Fast
D Ella Shelton
D Ashton Bell
D Erin Ambrose
D Micah Zandee-Hart
D Claire Thompson
F Rebecca Johnston
F Laura Stacey
F Sarah Fillier
F Jill Saulnier
F Melodie Daoust
F Brianne Jenner
F Sarah Nurse
F Natalie Spooner
F Emily Clark
F Emma Maltais
F Marie-Philip Poulin
F Blayre Turnbull
F Jamie Lee Rattray
Poulin was present at the announcement and will captain Canada once again. This will be her fourth Olympics, first appearing at the tournament in 2010 at the age of 18. As Poulin, 30, leads the group, it will also have 21-year-old Fillier showing off the next generation of Canadian superstardom. The only other player present at the announcement, her dominance at Princeton–including being a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award in each of her two seasons–led right into a substantial role on Team Canada and a gold medal at the 2021 World Championship.
Russia Announces 2022 WJC Roster
The 2022 World Junior Championship is right around the corner, set to kick off on December 26 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. Canada, Sweden, Finland, and others have already named their teams, and today, Russia has joined them.
Team Russia:
G Yaroslav Askarov (NSH)
G Yegor Guskov (undrafted)
G Maksim Motorygin (undrafted)
D Kirill Kirsanov (LAK)
D Arseni Koromyslov (2022 draft eligible)
D Nikita Smirnov (undrafted)
D Vladimir Grudinin (2022 draft eligible)
D Nikita Novikov (BUF)
D Yegor Savikov (undrafted)
D Kirill Steklov (undrafted)
D Shakir Mukhamadullin (NJD)
F Semyon Demidov (undrafted)
F Matvei Michkov (2023 draft eligible)
F Fyodor Svechkov (NSH)
F Ivan Didkovsky (undrafted)
F Kirill Tankov (PIT)
F Marat Khusnutdinov (MIN)
F Nikita Chibrikov (WPG)
F Nikita Guslistov (CAR)
F Ivan Zinchenko (undrafted)
F Dmitry Zlodeyev (VAN)
F Vasily Ponomaryov (CAR)
F Alexander Pashin (CAR)
F Pavel Tyutnev (undrafted)
F Danila Yurov (2022 draft eligible)
Russia is notoriously stingy when it comes to allowing draft-eligible players to make the team, usually choosing instead to bring along the more polished, committed, 19-year-old national program options. That always means they bring along quite a few undrafted names, but this year the roster is actually dotted with some unique talents.
Michkov will draw all the attention as he goes up against Canada’s Connor Bedard, the two players in the running for the first-overall pick in 2023. But Yurov and Koromyslov should also be watched as potential high picks in the upcoming draft.
Interestingly, the team does not include Ivan Miroshnichenko, who is also expected to go in the early parts of the 2022 draft. It also does not include players like Yan Kuznetsov or Daniil Chayka, top prospects playing in North America. On those cases in particular, head coach Sergei Zubov had this to say:
It was a tough decision to make. We held an individual conversation with each player who left our group, thanking all of them for their efforts. Ivan Miroshnichenko wasn’t picked? He isn’t in the best physical condition at the moment. We haven’t chosen any players from the North American leagues? We were watching Yan Kuznetsov and Daniil Chayka, but we came to the conclusion that the players who have been training with us here in Russia are stronger defensively. The strongest players have been picked.
Edmundson, Price Won’t Be Ready For Start Of Season
The Montreal Canadiens will be without two key pieces when the season begins next week, as head coach Dominique Ducharme confirmed today that Carey Price and Joel Edmundson will not be with the team for the October 13 opener. Price, who is still recovering from offseason knee surgery, came down with a non-COVID illness and hasn’t been able to practice with the team. Edmundson meanwhile has not progressed from an undisclosed injury and will be out another two to three weeks, as Eric Engels of Sportsnet relays.
Though Price’s absence is obviously important, Canadiens fans shouldn’t panic just yet. The star goaltender won’t be able to practice with the team before the season begins, but still shouldn’t be out long-term. Montreal claimed Sam Montembeault off waivers from the Florida Panthers to serve as backup while Jake Allen takes the net through the early going. Allen posted a .907 save percentage in 29 appearances last season, while Montembeault has an .892 in 25 career NHL games.
Edmundson meanwhile is more concerning, if only because of the lack of clarity on when he will return. The team did add depth on the blue line this offseason by bringing in David Savard, Chris Wideman, and Sami Niku, but they are also without captain Shea Weber. Losing Edmundson, one of their most reliable defensive options, will leave a hole on the left side for the time being.
Speculation immediately goes to young defenseman Kaiden Guhle, who could play up to nine games with the Canadiens before burning the first year of his entry-level contract. There’s a chance that he could get a taste of the NHL while filling in for Edmundson through the first few games, before going back to the Prince Albert Raiders for his regular junior season. One thing not available to Guhle is the AHL, as he played only three games there last season and doesn’t meet the criteria for this year’s one-time exception.
Without Price or Edmundson, the Canadiens will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first game of the season.
Team Sweden Announces First Three Members Of 2022 Olympic Team
The 2022 Winter Olympics are coming fast, with just a few months before NHL stars jet off to Beijing, China to compete for their respective countries. Hockey Canada announced recently that Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Alex Pietrangelo were the first three players selected to their team, and now Sweden has announced their counterparts. Mika Zibanejad, Gabriel Landeskog, and Victor Hedman have been named to Team Sweden for the 2022 Games.
Zibanejad may not have reached the incredible heights of 2019-20 last season, but he’s still a force for the Rangers and projects to be Sweden’s first-line center at the upcoming tournament. He scored 41 goals in just 57 games during the COVID-shortened season two years ago and came back with a strong enough 50 points in 56 games this past season. In fact, center is actually a position of great strength for the Swedes this time around, with Elias Pettersson, Nicklas Backstrom, Mikael Backlund, and William Karlsson all strong candidates to take a spot down the middle.
They won’t be too bad on the wing either, starting with Landeskog who was already an alternate captain for the nation at the 2014 Olympics when he was just 21. A born leader, he has represented Sweden at every major event, including the U18 WJC, U20 WJC, World Championship and World Cup. He took home a silver as part of that 2014 group and has become a reliable point-per-game player at the NHL level, complementing world-class talent and bringing versatility to any lineup.
Few NHL fans would be surprised if Hedman was given the captaincy of Sweden, but it would actually be an interesting decision given his history with the national program. He was left off the 2014 team despite the obvious skill he showed in the early part of his career, with players like Johnny Oduya, Jonathan Ericsson and even 35-year-old Henrik Tallinder going to Sochi over him. Because of the regular playoff success of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Hedman also has gone to the World Championship just once since 2013 and three times total, going on long playoff runs most seasons instead. It’ll be his first chance to represent his country at the Olympics, and he was an obvious choice this time around.
Each participating country was required to declare three players, while the full “long-list” of 55 potential names will be submitted by October 15.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
More On Brady Tkachuk’s Restricted Free Agency
The Ottawa Senators announced a significant contract extension for general manager Pierre Dorion this week, but that wasn’t the news fans of the team were hoping for. No, the Senators faithful are waiting with clenched teeth as star forward Brady Tkachuk continues to sit unsigned with just a few weeks left before training camp opens. The 21-year-old winger is a restricted free agent but did not have arbitration rights that would have sped the process along, meaning technically he’s open to an offer sheet at the moment.
With one of those already signed this offseason and the Senators’ long history of watching star players leave on uncertain terms, Tkachuk’s situation will be concerning to many until an actual contract is signed. There were hints earlier this offseason that the team was hoping for an eight-year deal, with the inkling even that Tkachuk may become the team’s captain if a long-term deal like that was signed.
But that hasn’t happened yet, and now the speculation mounts. Shawn Simpson of TSN tweeted today that “confused and frustrated” are the words he has heard in regards to Tkachuk’s feelings, while adding that the player does not feel a real offer has been even made to this point. That certainly isn’t the same impression that Dorion left with Sportsnet radio earlier today when asked about the situation:
We’re not going to really talk about it too much in public. We have had really positive talks. Are we confident that he will be signed by the time camp starts? Yes. These negotiations aren’t always easy and–not that it’s not easy, they take a bit more time. Hopefully the next time you guys bring me on the show, we’ll be able to announce a Brady Tkachuk contract.
Of the restricted free agents left to sign this summer, only Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes scored more than Tkachuk’s 36 points last season. The young forward has put up 60 goals and 125 points through three seasons, numbers that compare well to fellow 2018 draftee Andrei Svechnikov, who signed an eight-year, $62MM deal last month. The Senators meanwhile secured the services of Drake Batherson recently, inking the 23-year-old RFA to a six-year, $29.85MM deal that currently makes him the highest-paid forward on the team. Overall, Thomas Chabot‘s eight-year, $64MM deal takes that spot for the Senators, signed in 2019 almost a year before his entry-level deal even expired.
The Senators will open the preseason on September 26 against the Winnipeg Jets, just over two weeks from now.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images