NHL Rumors Roundup: Canucks worry about Pettersson offer sheet; P.K. Subban; Sharks; and Senators
Anthony Scultore
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In the aftermath of the Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet, the Vancouver Canucks were concerned that another team may decide to do the same with Elias Pettersson.
Elliotte Friedman noted as much in his latest podcast. “The one team that has been concerned about an offer sheet all summer has been Vancouver,” he said. “When they saw what happened with Kotkaniemi they wondered ‘uh oh will that happen to us’ with Pettersson.”
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NHL Rumors: Pettersson contract
“I want to stay [in Vancouver], but I also want to play for a team that’s winning and has the chance to go far into the playoffs every year,” Pettersson said in a recent Swedish interview. The talks are still ongoing with his agent JP Barry thinking bridge deal.
Per CapFriendly, Vancouver has around $10 million in cap space to get deals done. The expectation is that it will take more than that to sign Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.
“We’re going to look at everything, but I think anything for Pettersson will be five or under, and then we have to look at with Quinn whether or not we can do a little more or not,” Barry explained after the season. “We’ll probably explore some of that, but that’s where we are right now.”
P.K. Subban will be trade bait this season
The 32 year-old defenseman scored 19 points in 44 games on a struggling Devils team last season. P.K.also has one year remaining on his contract that comes with a $9 million AAV. New Jersey signed Dougie Hamilton to a monster long-term deal worth $9 million a year this summer making Subban expendable.
All signs point to the dynamic rearguard being on the block all season and most likely moved by the trade deadline.
One team that has been consistently attached to Subban are the Boston Bruins who continue to see how they could add him. Per Boston Hockey Now, they note that it will likely take NJ eating half that cap hit to make it happen. Both the Bruins and Maple Leafs may be interested if they do.
Sharks rumors
Tomas Hertl will be a UFA at the end of this season. At this point and time, the Sharks have not seriously engaged with Hertl’s camp about an extension.
In a recent Czech interview with iDNES.cz, Hertl gave an update. “I wonder if San Jose will want to re-sign me and if I’ll want to stay there,” he said as translated by Kevin Kurz. “I don’t want to think about it so it doesn’t negatively affect me. I’ll start the season and see how it turns out.”
Hertl will be 28 years-old when his current deal with a $5.625M cap hit expires. Last season, he recorded 43 points in 50 games. For his NHL career he’s registered 323 points in 503 contests.
Elliotte Friedman noted that the Montreal Canadiens prior to trading for Christian Dvorak spoke with the Sharks about Hertl, and the Capitals about Evgeny Kuznetsov. Another team Montreal called were the Flames about Sean Monahan.
Since Hertl is still with the Sharks, it would at least indicate to me the price is high or they may want to keep him.
As for Evander Kane, he has no trade market and is a buyout candidate.
Senators not worried about Tkachuk offer sheet
TSN’s Shawn Simpson reported that Brady Tkachuk’s camp has been frustrated with the Senators. Thus far they have not received a “legitimate offer” from Ottawa.
“This is Drake Batherson’s day and I think we should give Drake his due credit,” Sens GM Dorion said after signing his other RFA. “All I’m going to say about Brady is that we’re not going to negotiate in public. We’ve had productive, positive discussions with Brady’s camp.”
While the two sides continue to work on a deal, Friedman reports that the Senators are not concerned about an offer sheet for Brady.
The Sens are trying to build their team around Brady Tkachuk. In three seasons with the team, the 21 year-old forward has 125 points in 198 games. Of course, Ottawa knows he is just scraping the surface of his potential. A deal is expected before the season starts.
