I’m today’s NHL rumor rundown, Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning shoots down rumors of a Brock Boeser trade, while the Minnesota Wild officially sign Kirill Kaprizov. Alex Pietrangelo says he wants to stay in St. Louis and Ken Holland of the Edmonton Oilers says all contract talks for his free agents will have to wait.
Benning Says He’s Not Trading Boeser
Earlier Monday Canucks GM Jim Benning met with the media (virtually) to talk their upcoming matchup against the Minnesota Wild. As expected, the rumors about Brock Boeser possibly being traded came up and Benning was quick to shut them down.
He specifically told TSN 1040 on Monday, “I have no intention of trading Boeser. I haven’t had one conversation about that, so I don’t know where this stuff comes from.”
Well, that settles that.
It doesn’t mean a conversation won’t happen at some point down the road, only that is hasn’t happened yet. The Athletic’s Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal Boeser spoke with Boeser about the rumors and the comments and confirmed that he was assured he wouldn’t be moved.
Per the article, Boeser said:
“I’ve felt I’ve always been pretty honest with the media, and I feel like it was really unnecessary — and even the timing of the tweet was questionable with us getting ready to make a deep run. The last time I checked, the trade deadline has passed.
source – ‘Canucks Phase 3 training camp: ‘Unfit to play’ and the Brock Boeser dunkfest’ – Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal
THN 1040’s Matt Sekeres (who reported the rumors) said he still believes he’s correct and that, of course the active GM won’t admit to the rumors and put the player in an awkward spot.
In other Canucks news, Vancouver Canucks announced that forward Micheal Ferland has been deemed “unfit to play” and will not join the team for the opening of its training camp. There are questions about whether or not he’ll join the team at all.
Related: The Legendary Career of Roberto Luongo
Wild Sign Kaprizov
Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Kirill Kaprizov has officially signed with the team after yesterday’s rumors of a deal were close. He reports that the contract will include a European Assignment Clause for next season.
One of the stipulations is that if the Wild decide to try and assign him to their AHL team, he can instead go overseas. He also has the opportunity to go play for an other team overseas before the 2020-21 season if the Wild have no issues loaning him out.
Ted Lindsay Award Finalists Announced
With the official completion of the regular season, the league and player’s association released the finalists the Ted Lindsay Award. The award is given to “the most outstanding player in the NHL” as voted on by members of the NHLPA.
The three finalists this year are Leon Draisaitl (EDM), Nathan MacKinnon (COL), and Artemi Panarin (NYR). Draisaitl is probably the favorite having already won the Art Ross Trophy and having scored 110 points in just 71 games.
Related: 16 Active NHLers Destined for the HHOF
Pietrangelo Wants to Stay in St. Louis
The Score’s Sean O’Leary cites comments from Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to NHL.com’s Louie Korac that Pietrangelo would like to re-signing with the St. Louis Blues. There has been plenty of talk about whether or not the Blues would be willing to let him leave based on upcoming contract demands as the captain is in the final season of his seven-year, $45.5 million deal and will potentially become an unrestricted free agent.
Because of the uncertainty surrounding next season, Pietrangelo admitted he and GM Doug Armstrong haven’t held any contract talks. He figures that will happen once the playoffs are over.
Holland Says All Deals Will Have to Wait
When asked about the contracts that need to be done with the Edmonton Oilers, GM Ken Holland told Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now that all contracts will wait until the end of the playoffs to get completed.
Meaning, extensions for players like Ethan Bear, Riley Sheahan, and Mike Smith will happen (if they happen) after the Oilers are done. He says he’s too busy getting his team ready for the play-ins and making it to the bubble to be dealing with those types of contracts.
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