NHL Rumors: Red Wings offer sheet, Ilya Kovalchuk Montreal return, and more
Anthony Scultore
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The latest NHL rumors are back! We start things off in Detroit where many wonder if Steve Yzerman may use his large cap space to make an offer sheet.
NHL Rumors: Red Wings offer sheet?
The Tampa Bay Lightning have serious cap issues that they are trying to resolve. One of the moves they are working hard to make is unloading Tyler Johnson. They need every penny in order to retain their two coveted restricted free agents, Anthony Cirelli and Mikhail Sergachev.
There’s been speculation that former Lightning and now Red Wings GM, Steve Yzerman might offer sheet one of them. The belief is that due to Yzerman’s close relationship to Jeff Vinik, the Lightning’s owner, he will not.
Ilya Kovalchuk back in Montreal?
We now shift our focus to the remaining unrestricted free agents since RFA hearings are complete. One of those UFA’s in Ilya Kovalchuk. According to a new article on Sportsnet, the reunion of Kovalchuk and the Canadiens could be a possibility.
Montreal’s Kovalchuk experiment got off to a great start — the veteran proved he’s still got a little magic left in him, and his success looked even better with a $700,000 price tag attached — and saw the club flip him to the contending Capitals for a profit at the deadline. He fell flat in the playoffs with Washington, but it feels likely this wasn’t the last we’ve seen of Kovalchuk in le bleu, blanc et rouge. He’s still a strong candidate to return to Montreal as a free agent on another low-cost contract.
Sportsnet
Panthers Hire Ulf Samuelsson
The Florida Panthers have added former Whalers, Penguins, and Rangers defenseman Ulf Samuelsson to their coaching staff.