Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The NHL Draft is history, and every team has high hopes for the prospects they add. Now, with free agency moves mostly done, rumors are still around. Clubs are always working to improve their rosters for next season. Some teams are having difficulty creating enough cap space to make moves. In this Wednesday edition of NHL Rumors, we will take a look at the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Dallas Stars.
Montreal Canadiens – Kirby Dach
Rumor: Per – Brian La Rose – habsworld.net. Montreal’s newest center Kirby Dach is in need of a new contract and remains a restricted free agent. While many feel that the Habs have to make a trade first in order to sign him, that’s not necessarily the case.
Per capfriendly.com the Canadiens have just $248,334 of cap space and signing Dach will take much more than that. While trading a player to make room seems to be obvious, other options may exist. If Carey Price is healthy, then they can always waive Sam Montembeault. That would save them $1 million, still not enough. A team like the Arizona Coyotes who currently have no backup goalie may be interested in taking on Montembeault’s services.
Another choice may be to send Paul Byron and his $3.4 million cap hit to LTIR, or if he’s ready to play they could waive him but no team will want to take on his cap hit. So, he would then be assigned to the AHL, saving the team $1.175 million. That would be adequate to perhaps sign Dach to a one-year deal at a projected $1.7 million.
General manager Kent Hughes has some decisions to make, but there’s plenty of time to get it done. Obviously, the Habs want Dach on their roster since they gave up the 13th and 66th draft choices to acquire him.
Pittsburgh Penguins – Possible trade partners
Rumor: Per – Dan Kingerski – pittsburghhockeynow.com. A Pittsburgh Penguins trade may hinge on the four teams lying in wait. Four teams with ample salary cap space and expectations that veer from winning the Stanley Cup to rebuilding, retooling, or simply spending as little as possible.
The cap space “crunch” is hitting 13 NHL teams, including the Pens. In order to remedy that, a list of players they may need to move includes: Marcus Pettersson ($4.025M), Brian Dumoulin ($4.1M), Jason Zucker ($5.5M), and Teddy Blueger ($2.2M). Perhaps even Kasperi Kapanen ($3.2M) may also be included.
So, which teams could GM Ron Hextall possibly be looking at to swing a deal with to reduce his cap issues? NHL rumors could include one of the following.
- Buffalo Sabres – They have $23 million in cap space, so an obvious choice. The Sabers defense has always been an issue and adding someone like Dumoulin may be attractive to them. He could add some veteran leadership to the Sabres’ causes. He was the 51st overall pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2009. Dumoulin was traded to the Pens in June of 2012.
- Arizona Coyotes – The Yotes have $19.4 million in cap room and are in the midst of a rebuild. While the Arizona club is pretty well set on the blueline, their offense needs some improvement. Could either Kapanen or Bluegar interest them? While they are tanking, they still want to be competitive to keep their fanbase interested in coming to a small 5,000-seat arena until a new arena is built in Tempe.
- Anaheim Ducks – $18.84 million in cap space makes the Ducks an option for a deal. The Ducks are slowly heading back to respectability with some young talents like Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras. Add in that they signed free agent John Klingberg and they seem set. They still could use some help on left-defense, or their middle and bottom-six. The Pens may consider making a deal.
- Chicago Blackhawks – The Hawks have their eyes on Connor Bedard, as do the Coyotes. They possess $10.6 million in cap room and could be a possible trade partner with Pittsburgh. A lot depends on the futures of two stars in Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. If they get a deal, the Hawks will need to add some contracts and the Penguins will gladly oblige.
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Dallas Stars – Jake Oettinger
Rumor: Per – Steve Simmons – torontosun.com. Why hasn’t Oettinger Received an offer sheet?
The Stars need to sign Oettinger and Jason Robertson, who both have no arbitration rights. Thus, the slow process of signing them shows that the Stars have the upper hand in negotiations. If teams such as the Arizona Coyotes were to send him an offer sheet worth between $6.5 million – $8 million, could that happen? Maybe. The Coyotes have signed starter Karel Vejmelka for $2.725 million through 2024-25. They have yet to sign a backup goalie, and Oettinger could be a co-starter with Vejmelka, creating an even workload in net.
The Coyotes have the draft picks there if they want to pull the trigger on an offer sheet. The downside is the Stars can match it… or could they? Robertson is a rising star and they will need to satisfy his excellent 2021-22 season where he threw in 41 goals and 38 assists in 74 games. The Stars only have $10.3 million in cap room. Something’s got to give.
Stay connected right here at Full Press Hockey’s NHL rumors to find out what happens.
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