NHL Rumors: Senators trade bait, Leafs deadline approach, and Rangers offer for Miller?
Anthony Scultore
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The Ottawa Senators were apparently very busy over the All-Star Break. According to Pierre LeBrun they were receiving a ton of calls from contenders looking to take some of their players.
Ottawa is currently 15-22-4 and are tied for 29th in the NHL. As the deadline approaches they have several pending UFAs that are garnering interest.
NHL Rumors: Ottawa Senators
“Teams around the league, I’m told, over the last three or four days, have made Ottawa a popular target for phone calls,” LeBrun said via theScore. “And I’m told that the Senators were a popular team to reach out to as far as checking out a team that is gonna be a seller.”
Here’s a list of their pending UFA players:
- Chris Tierney, F, 27 ($3.5M)
- Zach Sanford, F, 27 ($2M)
- Nick Paul, F, 26 ($1.35M)
- Tyler Ennis, F, 32 ($900K)
- Scott Sabourin, F, 29, ($750K)
- Josh Brown, D, 28, ($1.2M)
- Anton Forsberg, G, 29, ($900K)
Maple leafs Trade Deadline Approach
Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas spoke to the press on Sunday. During his media availability he provided some insight with regards to how they will approach the Trade Deadline.
“As I’ve stated repeatedly, I’ve got a lot of belief in the group. But in terms of what we’re going to do and whether we’ll add to it or not, I certainly think we want to take as much time as we can and use that to our benefit before deciding to do anything,” Dubas said. “We probably don’t have a whole lot of bullets in the chamber here. We’re gonna have to pick and choose as we set our sights.”
Sportsnet
In recent weeks, there have been reports that Toronto may look to upgrade for the playoffs not with rentals but with players that have term. Of course, that would require trades that shed salary as well.
“I think if the Leafs, all things being equal, could control things, they’d rather acquire a player who has a little bit of term left on their contract rather than a straight rental,” Chris Johnston said on a recent TSN Insider Trading.
Potential candidates that could be shipped out are Alex Kerfoot, Ilya Mikheyev, Travis Dermott, and Petr Mrazek.
Rangers trade proposal for J.T. Miller
The New York Rangers have been attached to J.T. Miller almost as soon as rumors broke he may be on the market.
“One of the teams that has really been all over J.T. Miller to bring him back is the New York Rangers,” Frank Servalli said last month. “Are there younger pieces on the Rangers’ roster that they’d be willing to part with rather than just draft picks? And how important would it be for them to be in a spot where they have that extra year of J.T. Miller and not have to sweat (what his next contract) looks like.”
Fast forward, and the emergence of Rangers’ defenseman Braden Schneider has made highly touted prospect Nils Lundkvist expendable. That has Larry Brooks of the NY Post pondering a trade for Miller.
Offer Lundkvist and Filip Chytil to the Canucks for J.T. Miller, whom the Rangers would have for two playoff runs before he becomes a 2023 free agent. He could anchor what would become an extremely formidable third line the rest of this season or he could take one of the right-wing spots in the top six. And he would represent protection were either Mika Zibanejad or Ryan Strome to go down with an injury.
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Miller, 28, has one more year left on his deal worth $5.25M before becoming a UFA. He’s also been extremely productive with 44 points in 44 games for Vancouver this season.
