NHL Rumors: Bruins to sign Taylor Hall and David Krejci together, Wild need vets to waive clauses, and Ilya Kovalchuk NHL return?
Anthony Scultore
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The Boston Bruins are enjoying the chemistry between David Krejci and Taylor Hall since getting the latter via trade. Now there’s talks of trying to ink both of them this offseason after the Seattle Expansion Draft on July 21st.
Bruins looking to sign Krejci and Hall
Since the trade, David Krejci has notched 11 points in 11 contests. Meanwhile Taylor Hall is loving life as a Bruin with five goals and nine points. The pair are in action against the Sabres today and each picked up an assist on Craig Smith’s opening tally.
According to Fluto Shinzawa, “Both UFAs-to-be could be a package deal between the July 21 expansion draft and the July 28 opening of free agency. Krejci has known no other employer. Hall raised his hand for an extension even before his first shift.”
I noted recently how teams would use free agency to their benefit to protect more players from expansion, and I cited Boston as one of those organizations. Look for something to get done between them late July.
Wild may ask vets to waive no move clauses
The Minnesota Wild are in a bad predicament heading into the Seattle expansion draft. Even if they went the eight skaters route they stand to lose a key player. Sure, they could choose to protect Matt Dumba, but lose a good young forward by doing so. That’s because Zach Parise, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin all have no move clause and must be protected.
As Rory Boylen points out, this conundrum means the Wild could only protect two more forwards in the eight skater scenario. Kevin Fiala, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway can’t all be kept safe without exposing Dumba. It’s being rumored that Minnesota may ask Parise, Zuccarello, and/or Suter to waive their no move clauses. It’s no guarantee they will, which means the Wild could be making some offseason trades soon. A side deal is also possible with the Kraken, but Francis holds all the cards and wants a steep price in the realm of a first round pick.
Ilya Kovalchuk terminates KHL deal
Here we go again.
Ilya Kovalchuk has just won the Gagarin Cup! So where are you going Ilya? Disney World? Nope…possibly back for another stint the NHL.