Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mammoth Rumors

Andrew Ladd Out Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Arizona Coyotes will be without Andrew Ladd for more than a month, as the veteran forward has been ruled out for four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. Ladd played just 1:13 on Sunday before exiting after a collision with Dallas Stars forward Luke Glendening.

Ladd, 36, is just eight games away from reaching 1,000 for his career, after finding his way back into the NHL with the Coyotes this season. The two-time Stanley Cup winner has six goals and nine points through 42 games, averaging fewer than 14 minutes a night. That’s better than being stuck in the minor leagues or not playing at all, as he has for most of the past two seasons with the New York Islanders, where he suited up for just four NHL games since the start of 2019-20. Now facing a major injury, the veteran must go through a long recovery period once again.

Importantly, something like this could have an effect on a draft pick for the Coyotes. Should Ladd not play in 2022-23–he’s still under contract for one more year at a $5.5MM cap hit–but spend it on something like long-term injured reserve instead of retiring, the Coyotes would receive a 2023 third-round pick from the Islanders. That pick is not transferred if he plays a single professional game in 2022-23 on his current deal or decides to retire at any point before the 2022-23 season concludes. Basically, if the Coyotes are stuck paying him while on LTIR, they get an extra draft pick.

While a four to six-week timeline shouldn’t affect next season, all injuries for players like Ladd come with at least some risk of long-term effects. It’s been a long, physical career for the big forward, who traveled through Carolina, Chicago, Atlanta, Winnipeg, and New York before arriving in Arizona this season.

With him out of the lineup, the Coyotes should have Nick Ritchie added in short order, after receiving him from the Toronto Maple Leafs a few days ago. Ritchie has arrived in Arizona according to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports but won’t practice today as he is still sorting through immigration issues.

Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Carter Hutton

at CDT | by 10 Comments

7:47 pm: PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports that the Maple Leafs are expected to loan Hutton back to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners for the time being. Considering the Leafs’ considerable depth at the position in the AHL, the move is such as to not separate Hutton from his family. In the unlikely event he’s needed, he can still be recalled to Toronto.

6:38 pm: Goalie Carter Hutton is on the move from the Arizona Coyotes to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for future considerations, per the team. Hutton had cleared waivers today, meaning that he can be assigned directly to the AHL.

This is the second trade between the two teams within a matter of days. The Maple Leafs acquired Ilya Lyubushkin and Ryan Dzingel from Arizona in exchange for Nick Ritchie and a conditional draft pick, only to lose Dzingel on waivers today to the San Jose Sharks.

Hutton, now 36, played just three games for the Coyotes this season before going down with a lower-body injury. Healthy now, he’ll in all likelihood report to the Toronto Marlies, providing the organization with some additional goalie depth.

Hutton had an eye-popping .741 save percentage and 7.83 goals-against average in those three games with the Coyotes. With youngster Karel Vejmelka and mid-season acquisition Scott Wedgewood holding the fort admirably behind a weak Arizona team, Hutton’s place within the organization had faded away.

The acquisition is somewhat confusing, considering Toronto already has Michael Hutchinson, Erik Källgren, Joseph Woll, and Ian Scott in the minors.

Clark Bishop, Carter Hutton Clear Waivers

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Feb 21: While Dzingel was claimed by the San Jose Sharks, both Bishop and Hutton have cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Feb 20: TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Dzingel, Ottawa Senators forward Clark Bishop, and Arizona Coyotes goaltender Carter Hutton were all placed on waivers today.

Dzingel’s placement is certainly somewhat unexpected, considering the team acquired him last night via trade from the Arizona Coyotes. However, as a casualty of the salary cap, the team was forced to send Rasmus Sandin down to the minors as a paper transaction today. In order for the team to keep both skilled young defensemen Sandin and Timothy Liljegren in the NHL, the team needed to clear additional salary. Dzingel’s cap hit of $1.1M is fully buriable in the AHL.

Bishop is a 25-year-old who’s seen a lot of time up and down between the NHL and AHL over the past few seasons. He’s gotten into nine games with Ottawa this year, but has averaged just 8:21 of ice time per game and has notched one assist.

With Hutton on waivers today, it’s an indication that the veteran goalie is finally healthy. Hutton suffered a lower-body injury just weeks into the season and has been out of the lineup for nearly four months. Seeing as Karel Vejmelka and Scott Wedgewood have both decisively outperformed Hutton’s early-season numbers, it’s the logical choice here for the Coyotes.

Latest On Jakob Chychrun

at CDT | by 20 Comments

The Trade Deadline is still over a month away, but that hasn’t stopped activity from slowly beginning to increase across the league. That trend doesn’t appear to be stopping, as multiple big names are still on the market and could be moved prior to the deadline. One of those names is Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who’s probably the best defenseman available.

Trade talk has surrounded Chychrun all throughout this season, as a tough year for the Coyotes has meant a tough year for him personally on the ice. Now, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that there’s an “increased level of activity” surrounding Chychrun trade discussions, and it appears as though the Los Angeles Kings are the current frontrunner in those talks.

While it’s obviously impossible to predict a return, Pagnotta reports that sources indicate the Coyotes are interested in a package from Los Angeles that includes prospect Gabriel Vilardi. Selected 11th overall back in 2017, Vilardi’s struggled with injury during his development process but looked at home in L.A. last season with 23 points in 54 games. With just one assist in 7 NHL games this season, though, he’s been spending a lot of time with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. There, he’s chugging along with 29 points in 29 games, a positive indicator there.

The Kings currently sit with 59 points and the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. While the team’s received strong play from Drew Doughty, Matt Roy, and Sean Durzi on the right side defensively, their left side lacks a higher-end, experienced NHL defenseman. While Chychrun is just 23, he’s at least been in the league for a few seasons and even has some brief playoff experience under his belt. There’s a natural fit for him atop the defensive depth chart on a pairing with Doughty, a situation that could help him rediscover the offensive side of his game.

Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Ilya Lyubushkin, Ryan Dzingel

at CDT | by 21 Comments

The Toronto Maple Leafs have added a pair of players tonight while moving out one frustrated winger. Ilya Lyubushkin and Ryan Dzingel are on their way to Toronto from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Nick Ritchie and a conditional draft pick. The Coyotes can select whether to receive Toronto’s third-round pick in 2023 or second-round pick in 2025. No salary is retained in the deal from either side.

Lyubushkin was referenced at the intermission of tonight’s Maple Leafs game by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, and now just after the loss to the St. Louis Blues, Toronto has made their move. The big defenseman would bring something that the team doesn’t have much of, size and physicality on the back end. Now 27, Lyubushkin has racked up nearly 500 hits in a 180-game career, including 94 already this season. That number would easily lead the Maple Leafs, who currently have Jake Muzzin on top of that list with 81. It’s beside Muzzin that Lyubushkin could even potentially play, giving the team some extra length in something of a shutdown pair. Toronto has been looking to add depth on the right side for some time, as Justin Holl has taken a step backward this year and Timothy Liljegren is still very early in his career.

In fact, this addition could spell trouble for Holl, who played the fewest minutes of any Toronto defenseman tonight and has struggled to fill the top-four role he had with Muzzin in years past. By bringing in another penalty-killing defenseman, it’s unclear what his role will be, though there will have to be a roster spot of some sort by the Maple Leafs tomorrow to create enough cap space. When the team recently acquired Adam Brooks off waivers it was Liljegren who went down for the day.

There is also the addition of Dzingel, however, who adds another forward to the mix for Toronto. A 26-goal scorer in 2018-19, he has just four goals and seven points in 26 games this season for the Coyotes playing in a bottom-six role. Even those four goals are more than Ritchie, who had just two in 33 games for the Maple Leafs despite starting the season with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The 26-year-old Ritchie had played his way right off the Toronto roster, recently having cleared waivers and been assigned to the minor leagues. From a Maple Leafs perspective, getting out from under Ritchie’s two-year deal may have been the most important part of the deal. He was set to earn $2.5MM against the cap again next year, something that a team working in the margins of the salary cap cannot afford if he’s not contributing.

Notably on Dzingel, if he fails to contribute anything, the Maple Leafs could bury his entire $1.1MM salary in the minor leagues. He would need to clear waivers to do it but that allows the team to not be stuck with any dead money if he isn’t a good fit. Lyubushkin meanwhile makes just $1.35MM against the cap, a reasonable number for a defenseman if he’s playing regularly and less than both Holl ($2MM) and Travis Dermott ($1.5MM) who was scratched again tonight.

As a member of the Coyotes, Ritchie certainly isn’t destined for the minor leagues. General manager Bill Armstrong explained that he was “excited” to add Ritchie to the roster, noting that he can give the team some more size and toughness. He also is a player signed for next season, something you can’t say about many other Coyotes. In fact, only Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Andrew Ladd, Jakob Chychrun, Conor Timmins, and Shayne Gostisbehere are on one-way contracts through next season, and several of them may find their way to other teams by the trade deadline. Ritchie, who did score 15 goals in 56 games for the Boston Bruins last season, could find his way to top-six minutes once again in the rebuilding Coyotes lineup.

For them, the big thing is adding another draft pick for expiring contracts. The Coyotes are hoarding selections in their rebuild and will be bringing a huge number of prospects into the system over the next few years.

East Notes: Chiarot, Lyubushkin, Poulin

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

There’s a gigantic Saturday night rumors dump, courtesy of Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada. It starts with maybe the most-discussed name on the trade bait list in recent days in Montreal Canadiens defender Ben Chiarot. Talks are reportedly heating up, with Friedman singling the St. Louis Blues on the program as a team interested in Chiarot’s services. It’s entirely likely that Chiarot is another name gone before the deadline, as the Habs certainly don’t seem to be afraid to get out ahead of the action. Chiarot would give the Blues three options with considerable NHL experience at left defense, as Niko Mikkola, Jake Walman, and the injured Scott Perunovich have competed for ice time there this season as well. But none of them have the games played and playoff experience at the NHL level that Chiarot has.

More notes from the Eastern Conference today:

  • The Arizona Coyotes are holding Ilya Lyubushkin out of the lineup as a healthy scratch, and Friedman names the Toronto Maple Leafs as one of the top teams interested in the Russian defender’s services. With Nick Ritchie falling out of favor in Toronto, and Arizona’s willingness to take on buried contracts, the fit seems logical as Friedman suggests. Lyubushkin would be a spectacular depth add for Toronto’s right side defensively, who, aside from T.J. Brodie, has faced inconsistency this season.
  • Jeff Marek reports that prior to the commencement of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Montreal Canadiens reached out to the representatives of Canadian women’s forward Marie-Philip Poulin about what her career plans were after the games, suggesting Montreal had an interest in having Poulin within the organization. While no official job offer was ever made, all indications point to Poulin wanting to continue her on-ice career. The 30-year-old forward still has multiple opportunities to represent Canada on the international stage.

Dave Tippett Reportedly Plans To Retire From Coaching Career

at CDT | by 4 Comments

PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan tweeted Saturday night that former NHL head coach Dave Tippett, who was let go by the Edmonton Oilers earlier in the season, plans to retire from his coaching career.

If true, that would conclude a 17-year NHL head coaching career for the now 60-year-old Tippett. He was fired by the Oilers after a 23-18-3 start to the season.

Tippett, a longtime NHL player as well, got his first crack as a head coach in the 2002-03 season with the Dallas Stars. After six seasons in Dallas, Tippett joined the Coyotes organization for the next eight years, serving as their head coach from 2009-2017. There, he guided the team to the 2012 Western Conference Finals and was the Jack Adams Award winner in 2010, his first year in Phoenix/Arizona. That year remains the only 50-win, 100-point season in franchise history.

Through 1,285 games as a head coach in the NHL, Tippett finishes with a 648-475-162 record. It’s an all-time points percentage of .567. In 82 playoff games, Tippett went 34-48.

 

Barrett Hayton To Return Saturday

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

While Blackhawks goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is unsure if he’ll be staying in Chicago past next month’s trade deadline, it seems like he’s making plans for next season.  The veteran told reporters, including NHL.com’s Tracey Myers, that while his playing days are coming to a close, he’s hoping to play a 19th season in the NHL:

I don’t have that much left, right? So enjoy this season and hopefully next season again. After that, I don’t know.

Fleury is a pending unrestricted free agent and carries a pricey $7MM AAV but there has been some speculation of some contending teams being interested.  While he doesn’t carry full trade protection, the Blackhawks have assured him that he will have a say on where he goes, if he winds up being moved. Fleury mentioned that while he has yet to speak to management about the possibility of a trade, he believes his agent Allan Walsh has been in touch with the team about that.

More from the Western Conference:

  • While the Stars appear to be likely to part ways with pending UFA defenseman John Klingberg, they’re hoping to avoid a similar fate with center Joe Pavelski as Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News notes that Dallas is hoping to re-sign the 37-year-old. The veteran has a $7MM AAV and is on pace for a career high in points as he has 52 in just 47 games so far.  There’s a strong case to be made that he’s worthy of a raise but the length of his next contract will be a big factor.  If he was to go year-to-year, Pavelski could theoretically maximize his earnings but at this stage of his career, a multi-season commitment would certainly be appealing.  With the Stars looking to keep the veteran, that should take him out of trade speculation for the time being.
  • The Coyotes will welcome center Barrett Hayton back to the lineup on Saturday against Los Angeles, reports Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports (Twitter link). The 21-year-old has received a significant bump in ice time this season with his ATOI jumping up by more than five minutes a night but it hasn’t resulted in a jump in production as he has just two goals and four assists in 26 games so far.  Hayton has been out for nearly six weeks with a hand injury and with his entry-level deal expiring this summer, he’ll be looking for a strong finish to his season to bolster his case for his second contract.

Construction Continues On ASU Facility

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The NHL has released the Three Stars for last week and unsurprisingly, Jacob Markstrom takes the top spot. The Calgary Flames goaltender earned his league-leading eighth shutout, made 46 saves against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and then backstopped the Flames to another win against the New York Islanders. With a career-best .926 save percentage on the season, Markstrom has catapulted himself directly into the Vezina Trophy conversation in recent weeks and is one of the biggest reasons that Calgary has turned into a Stanley Cup contender.

The second and third spots went to Patrik Laine and Nico Hischier respectively, both coming off six-point weeks. Laine, who is heading into the summer as a pending restricted free agent once again, now has 27 points in 27 games for the Blue Jackets this season. His game-winning goal with just a few seconds left against the Montreal Canadiens was a perfect example of the incredible power he can generate, and why he’s such a feared goal scorer when playing his best. Hischier meanwhile had five goals of his own, taking him to 13 on the season. While he doesn’t generate the same kind of press that some other first-overall picks have, Hischier has quietly been an excellent performer for the Devils since entering the league in 2017, racking up 176 points in 273 career games while providing strong defensive play down the middle.

  • Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jaroslav Halak has been clear that he doesn’t want to be traded, according to Elliotte Friedman who joined Rick Dhaliwal on CHEK TV today. While Halak’s name continues to be in the rumor mill, the goaltender holds full control of his future with a no-movement clause and will not be traded without his approval. The 36-year-old has a .903 save percentage in ten appearances and will earn a substantial performance bonus for his next start.
  • If you want to get an idea of what Arizona Coyotes games will look like next season inside Arizona State University’s rather small facility, Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports was tweeting out photos of the construction. The small arena is expected to have a capacity somewhere between 3,000-5,000 when it is completed and will house both the ASU Sun Devils and Coyotes for the next several seasons.

Barrett Hayton Could Return From Injury Next Week

at CDT | by 2 Comments

New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton isn’t returning to the ice for the team’s Super Bowl Sunday matchup against Pittsburgh, but Devils team reporter Amanda Stein says he’s getting closer to returning to the lineup from a jaw injury that’s kept him out of the lineup since the beginning of January. Hamilton has been practicing with the team but is still getting comfortable with the helmet protection required for him to safely play as his jaw continues to recover. New Jersey has won just four out of 15 games with Hamilton out of the lineup. They undoubtedly miss his production and play-driving ability from the back end.

Some more injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill says forward Vladislav Namestnikov is questionable for tomorrow’s game against the Minnesota Wild, meaning that brothers Givani Smith and Gemel Smith could both draw in and play their first game together in the NHL. Defenseman Nick Leddy is also probable to return after sitting out with an upper-body injury for the past two weeks. Namestnikov has provided good value this season on his $2MM cap hit, proving to be an important depth piece for Detroit with 13 goals, 10 assists, and 23 points in 49 games. Detroit has played Gemel Smith in just one game since claiming him off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning almost a month ago.
  • Per PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan, Arizona Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong says that young center Barrett Hayton could return to the team’s lineup this coming week, potentially as soon as February 19th against the Los Angeles Kings. Hayton, selected fifth overall in 2018, had six points in 26 games this season prior to suffering a hand injury in early January. He’d been getting chances in a top-six role prior to the injury, something that’s likely to continue with his return.

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