Wednesday’s list of NHL rumors includes the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, and Vegas Golden Knights. Let’s see what is the latest.
Toronto Maple Leafs – Three Players Who May Be Gone
Rumor: Per Stanley Sweeney – nhltraderumors.me. The Toronto Maple Leafs tend to spend to the salary cap limit and possess quite a few hefty contracts to manage. These three players may not be back next season because of it.
Analysis:
- Justin Holl – The 29-year-old right handed defenseman has been the subject of NHL rumors for a while now. Expect to see him dealt during the season or at the latest during next summer. His play has not been up to par and at a salary of just $2 million, there will be teams lining up to grab him.
- Pierre Engvall – He can play center or on the wing and has collected 10 points in 29 games playing on the fourth-line. Once the Leafs fourth unit is healthy again, he may be scratched. He stands 6′-5″ but hasn’t shown much of a physical game. As restricted free agent next season he is likely to be dealt elsewhere.
- Alex Kerfoot – The issue with Kerfoot is not his play… you guessed it it’s the Leafs salary cap dilema. With Jack Campbell needing a new contract, the leaves Kerfoot to become expendable. He will be too expensive with his $3.5 million deal good through next season. One team who may be interested in having Kerfoot back on their roster is the Colorado Avalanche. Keep CSM’s NHL rumors in your reading list.
Vancouver Canucks – General Manager Search
Rumor: Per Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast on the Canucks GM search: “{Mark} Hunter could be in the middle of this cause they want to be build up their scouting, he knows young players, and also, the other thing about Mark Hunter is if they want him they could probably get him now.”
Analysis: Jim Rutherford, the president of hockey operations and interim GM hopes to hire an assistant GM sometime this week. “I’m waiting to see if that’s possible or not. The hockey department is light and we’ve got to get a few people in place. We’ve got the salary cap and the analytics departments covered now — co-ordinated with league to make sure that everything is right — and we’re going to strengthen that as quick as we can.”
The Vancouver Canucks have won four straight since replacing Travis Green with Bruce Boudreau. The next step in their transition, is to get the front office finalized.
Vegas Golden Knights – Alex Pietrangelo
Rumor: Per Stanley Sweeney – nhltraderumors.me. Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is expected to be named to Team Canada’s Olympic Team. One problem though, he’s not sure if he’s going to play.
Analysis: Pietrangelo commented about some concerns he has. Given the fact he has a young family and there’s a ton of unknowns at this point. ‘Pietro’ spoke to the media over the weekend and had this to say about the potential of saying ‘thanks but no thanks’:
There’s a lot of things, especially guys with families, that we’re taking a look at. I’m not going to make a decision until we get all the answers, because I think those are hard to come by right now. `I’ve got four kids that are under the age of three and a half. For me to be potentially locked up there for five weeks plus the Olympics, that’s a long time being away from my family.’ If we’re not going to go or we are going to go, us with families, we’ve got stuff to plan.
Pietrangelo has valid concerns. Pietrangelo may be quarantined for a five weeks. Needless the say Team Canada would miss his excellent play. He has five goals and 14 assists in 27 games. The big stat is he has put his 6′-3″, 210 pound frame in front of 63 shots which leads the team. He is a workhorse who plays 25:30 minutes a game. That’s not easy to replace.
Tough decision for him.
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