NHL Rumors: Blackhawks cancel practice due to COVID, Anze Kopitar trade talk, and more Penguins fallout
Anthony Scultore
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The Chicago Blackhawks have cancelled practice “out of an abundance of caution due to potential exposure of COVID-19.” This is obviously something to keep an eye on not only for the Hawks but the Blue Jackets who played them last night.
NHL Rumors: Anze Kopitar trade candidate
One look at the L.A. Kings and you clearly see a team in a state of flux. They are looking to rebuild on the fly and have some older veterans with heavy contracts in the way.
One such player is Anze Kopitar who is 33 and carries a $10 million cap hit for the next three seasons. That will take him up to the age of 36 and it would make sense for L.A. to eat some salary and ship him to a contender.
The 6-3′ center is having a great start to the season. In 8 contests he has 12 points, with his only goal being a game winner. For his stellar career, Kopitar has 962 points in 1,081 games.
If the Kings are going to continue in a rebuild direction, moving Kopitar for draft picks and prospects could be the right move. Keep an ear and eye on this one closer to the NHL Trade Deadline.
NHL Rumors: More fallout in Pittsburgh
There’s still plenty of chatter coming out of Pittsburgh in the aftermath of Jim Rutherford’s abrupt resignation. When it comes to who they want as the next GM, it appears the Penguins have a shortlist.
Per Rob Rossi of The Athletic, the list includes:
- Chris Drury, Assistant GM NYR
- John Ferguson Jr, Director of Player Personnel BOS
- Ron Hextall, LAK
- Chris MacFarland, AGM COL
- Scott Mellanby, AGM MTL
As far as the reason for fallout, there is still a lot of dispute around the rumor that Rutherford was looking to trade players like Kris Letang or Evgeni Malkin and was told no by ownership.