NHL Rumors: Tony DeAngelo trade talks dead, Canucks shakeup coming, and more
Anthony Scultore
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The NHL rumor mill has gone a little on the quiet side. Is it the calm before the storm or the inevitable hang up of a cap crunch and quarantine restrictions on travel?
NHL Rumors: Tony DeAngelo trade talk has died down
In the aftermath of DeAngelo being waived, and reports the Rangers would be willing to retain 50% of his salary trade chatter was rampant. Four teams came to the forefront in Calgary, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Detroit.
When it turned out the Rangers were not willing to retain that much salary the rumor mill came to a halt. So where do we stand on the DeAngelo trade rumor front? As far as I can tell, nowhere and Jeff Gorton has gotten the word out that he’s just as content to buy out the defenseman this summer if need be.
Larry Brooks noted the same in a recent column, but states at some point the Rangers are going to need to get him back skating. The NHL trade deadline is fast approaching and contenders’ inhibitions to trade for the DeAngelo will lose them quickly for a chance for the Cup.
NHL Rumors: Canucks shakeup coming
The Canucks have lost 5 in a row, which is the longest active losing streak in the NHL Worst yet, they aren’t showing any real signs of snapping out of this funk. Which means someone is on a hot seat.
Travis Green is the most likely victim to fall in season if he can’t shake this team out of its funk. Boisterous hockey personality, Don Cherry thinks the team quit on Green. Head coaches are usually the first to fall, but GM Jim Benning isn’t safe at all. In fairness, most of the criticism needs to fall as his feet. He traded for Tyler Toffoli and failed to find a way to keep him.
The indictment of Benning was recently laid out in the The Athletic. “Vancouver’s facing that cold, hard truth today,” Harman Dayal writes. “The story of the 2021 Canucks isn’t “Oh, they had a rough offseason and lost key players in Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev and Tyler Toffoli,” it’s bigger than that. It’s about everything that came before the fall of 2020.”
Bottom line, it’s on Benning who let Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Troy Stecher, and the aforementioned Toffoli walk away for nothing. He also didn’t acquire Matt Dumba when he had the chance. They’re in cap hell and it’s not looking good for their prospects in the tough North division.
Something is going to give. Jake Virtanen maybe a start, but I’m hearing whispers that J.T. Miller is being shopped. Changes are coming – sooner rather than later as losses mount.
NHL Rumors: Flames would like roster player for Sam Bennett
Luke Fox of Sportsnet provided a quick update on the Sam Bennett saga in Calgary. It looks like if Brad Treliving trades Bennett he wants a roster player back.
Treliving would prefer a roster player in return, which explains Larry Brooks’ report that he’s doing some due diligence on the Rangers’ Tony DeAngelo. And we’d have to assume Treliving will be wary of dealing Bennett within the division, lest he come back to bite the Flames (see: Tyler Toffoli versus Vancouver).
Sportsnet