In our final NHL rumors rundown before the NHL Trade Deadline, we’re going with a number of quick hits as the final hours wind down. Included is talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks, and Los Angeles Kings.
Sabres Make Hall Trade Official
It broke late Sunday night, but Monday morning, the Buffalo Sabres made the Taylor Hall trade official. “We have acquired forward Anders Bjork and a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft from the Boston Bruins in exchange for forwards Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar.”
David Pagnotta writes: Hall had a no-movement clause. Was told that the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals were interested and in the running yesterday. It doesn’t sound like the Edmonton Oilers were really ever part of the discussion despite the speculation.
The blowback to the Sabres only getting a second-round pick isn’t necessarily fair. Fewer teams were interested. Part of it was because of the cap, part of it is that Hall has had such a poor season and teams that weren’t really part of the trade talk were simply looking at other players as a priority. There was nobody out there prepared to give a first-round pick.
Also, it does not look like the Sabres will be trading goaltender Linus Ullmark.
Boston Bruins
Dreger said on TSN Trade Center, Bruins were in the mix early in the process on Hall, but other teams jumped into the conversation later in the process. But, it was the Bruins who offered up the best deal and Hall had decided the Bruins were the team. Hall had a no-move clause so he had a ton of control in the trade process.
Stars Want to Keep Team Together
Frank Seravalli reports that there might not be a move to send defenseman Jamie Oleksiak out of Dallas. The Stars are interested keeping the team together. There’s also concerns about the NHL Expansion Draft for the Stars so they may not be a busy team on Monday.
If Oleksiak isn’t moved, Dmitry Kulikov of the New Jersey Devils and Michael Del Zotto of the Columbus Blue Jackets could be players to watch.
Anaheim Ducks
Andy Strickland is reporting, “Hearing Anaheim asking for a 1st-Plus for both Rickard Rakell and Josh Manson. Would consider a top prospect as a 1st but would want two.”
Related: 2021 NHL Trade Deadline: Deal Tracker
Detroit Red Wings
As per David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period:
“A team to keep an eye on today: Detroit. I’m hearing they’re open for business, and have taken calls on guys like Anthony Mantha (as we previous reported) and Tyler Bertuzzi, among others. Plus they have pending-UFAs they’d like move: Staal, Helm, Glendening, Bernier.”
Blue Jackets Could Re-Sign Foligno in the Offseason
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that there is a very good chance that Nick Foligno re-signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets this summer. Luke Fox of Sportsnet agrees and says, “Newly Maple Leafs forward acquired Nick Foligno said the window is still open to re-signing with the Blue Jackets this offseason. He’s only focusing on the Maple Leafs and playoffs right now.”
Washington Capitals
Kevin Weeks writes, “Given circumstances, I can see Bernier potentially going to the Capitals to provide extra veteran help for their team and two young goalies.” This comes after news that Henrik Lundqvist’s comeback hit a snag this week. The Capitals have been rumored to be seeking a goaltender for a playoff push since trade chatter started. That hasn’t changed.
Maple Leafs Goaltending and Defense
The fact that the Maple Leafs landed David Rittich on Sunday via trade indicates that the Leafs were not confident in the health of Frederik Andersen heading into the postseason. Even when healthy, he wasn’t playing as well as Jack Campbell. As such, GM Kyle Dubas felt the need to upgrade.
This is the Maple Leafs goaltending insurance and it’s not a signal that the Leafs will try to move him ahead of the deadline or that another team will try to acquire him. His cap hit won’t count if he isn’t coming back prior to the playoffs so it’s not a huge concern for the Leafs.
As for what else the Maple Leafs might do, Michael Augello reports: “Darren Dreger said that potential depth defensemen targets for the Toronto Maple Leafs include Jamie Oleksiak, Nikita Zadorov, Michael Del Zotto and Erik Gudbranson.”
New York Rangers
Like the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings, the Rangers are a team that are willing to act as a broker for an organization looking to make a move with no cap space. Darren Dreger reports:
Teams haven’t been shy in shopping their cap space. NJD, Det and SJ have all been used as a broker to remedy cap issues to this point. The NYR have approximately $9 mil in space and are among those clubs willing to facilitate financially complex trades as well.
Los Angeles Kings
Pierre LeBrun reports that it could be quiet deadline since GMs were willing to conduct really long interviews with the Trade Center panel on deadline day. One team that could make a move though is the Los Angeles Kings. He writes: “Discussions went late into the night between the Kings and Alex Iafallo’s camp. Still no resolution as of this morning. Going to be interesting to see where that goes…”
He later updated the story to say that the Kings and Iafallo were closing the gap on contract talks.
Penguins and Jeff Carter
LeBrun notes, “Some of the details in the draft picks involved in the Jeff Carter deal: The 3rd round pick can become a 2nd Rd pick if the Penguins reach the Cup final and Carter plays in at least 50 percent of the games.”
Carter has one year left on his current contract at $5.3 million and certainly past his prime. The Kings will retain some salary, but it’s an interesting deal from the Penguins perspective.
