NHL Rumors: Trade Deadline what ifs; and Seattle Kraken waiting for season to finish before selecting a coach
Anthony Scultore
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The NHL Trade Deadline postmortems have begun as we learn about the What Ifs. Yesterday we wrote about how a team out West had a better offer for Taylor Hall but he chose to go to Boston. It was also learned that the Montreal Canadiens were one of the teams ready to sign Tony DeAngelo if he and the Rangers terminated his contract.
Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts blog has a few more of those interesting tidbits. Let’s summarize.
NHL Trade Deadline What Ifs
- Avalanche considered David Rittich before going with Devan Dubnyk
- Canadiens asked about Ryan Getzlaf, he wasn’t interested
- Flyers considered Alex Goligoski
- Jets considered Alex Goligoski before adding Jordie Benn
- Jets were looking at trying to make a big deal but decided not to in the end
- Maple Leafs thought about Connor Garland before pulling the trigger on Nick Foligno
- Oilers were in on Patrick Nemeth before the Avalanche got him
- Penguins tried to trade for Travis Zajac before the Islanders landed him
Seattle Kraken waiting for season to end before selecting a coach
Ron Francis is sitting patiently and waiting for the NHL season to play out. He’s in no rush to select a head coach at the moment. Before he does, he wants to know exactly who will be available when this season ends.
“That really hasn’t changed,” the GM said about the team’s self imposed deadline to name a coach by the end of June. “I think you look at the guys who are sitting out there currently without jobs. You look at guys that are currently working that maybe have expiring contracts. You look at others that may be looking to make a change, and you’re not really going to know a lot of that until the next month or two.”
One coach in particular that is on an expiring contract is John Tortorella. There’s a belief that the Blue Jackets and Torts share a mutual interest in going their separate ways. Another prime candidate could be Gerard Gallant who has the experience of leading the Vegas Golden Knights out of expansion.