NHL Rumors: No Sharks buyouts, what’s next for Rangers, aggressive Blue Jackets, and Dumba for Laine
Anthony Scultore
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The NHL rumors keep coming fast and furious these days with no shortage to pick from. There already have been a number of trades and signings with the Stanley Cup yet to be awarded. Let’s get to today’s rumblings.
NHL Rumors – No buyouts for San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are an aging team that needs a lot of help. They only have $14 million in cap space, and must sign at least 6 or 7 players with it. Not much in the grand scheme.
According to Kevin Kurz, San Jose will not be buying out anyone. That means improvement will need to come via trades. That won’t be easy because the Sharks have big money tied up in a lot of older players.
NHL Rumors – Where do the Rangers go after trading Marc Staal
The trade of Marc Staal and his entire cap hit of $5.7 million to Detroit was a pure cap dump. Jeff Gorton now has $20 million in cap space to retain his 4 RFA’s DeAngelo, Strome, Georgiev, and Lemieux.
Even if they sign all four, that’s only 18 players for a 23 man roster. NY could throw in players on ELC’s for a few spots but need to add something of substance via trade or free agency.
The next two moves will likely be the buyout of Henrik Lundqvist and burying some of Brendan Smith’s contract in the AHL. That will bring up the space to around $24 million for the Rangers. Expect the Rangers to be one of the busiest teams heading into the draft.
NHL Rumors – Aggressive Blue Jackets
It appears the rumor mill is buzzing around the Blue Jackets. After doing nothing to replace Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene, it sounds like they will be aggressive this offseason.
Some seem to feel that will mean taking a run at Patrik Laine in Winnipeg. Trades seem like the best way for the Jackets to get things done since they aren’t exactly a top free agent destination.
NHL Rumors – Dumba for Laine
The Minnesota Wild want to get younger and add some scoring to their lineup. In a recent article at The Athletic a suggestion was made about a Matt Dumba for Patrik Laine trade. It makes a lot of sense for a number of reasons.
Primarily, Winnipeg much like Columbus struggles to attract high profile free agents. Dumba is a defenseman that the Jets need and he comes with another three years left on his deal at a great cost. For the Wild, well if you want to get younger and add offense, who better than Laine.