In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is still fallout from the first day of free agency. The New Jersey Devils aren’t done, the Oilers have more to do but are working at an experienced pace, and was there more to the Nazem Kadri trade than people realized?
Devils Not Done Adding
Mike Morreale of NHL.com says the New Jersey Devils will continue to look at adding to their roster despite having added Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban and Wayne Simmonds in the past few weeks.
Devils general manager Ray Shero said he’s made a ton of calls and will continue to make more. “We certainly would want to see what’s out there,” Shero said. He added:
“If you have a chance to improve your team you will. We’re still in good shape, cap wise, and we’ve utilized that space well. Our managing partners (Josh Harris and David Blitzer) have been very supportive, and we’ve kind of laid out that when the time is right, we’ll take advantage of a couple opportunities and will continue to do so, if it’s available.”
Related: NHL Rumors: Latest on 53 Free Agents and Trade Targets
Ken Holland Has a Plan For Oilers
While the Edmonton Oilers signed a few players on the first day of free agency, there were no big blockbuster names headed to Edmonton. This despite the fact the Oilers need some dramatic improvements in certain places.
According to Mark Spector of Sportsnet, Holland said of his lack of action:
“In the short term we’re going to try to compete for the playoffs in 2020. Long-term, it’s about building. But short term we need more competition and more pace on the bottom of the roster.
I’ve been a general manager for 22 years. I know when it’s time to pay, and when it’s not time to pay. Ultimately I’m trying to build this team to be an elite team in the Western Conference.
As Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic pointed out, Holland had lots of holes to fill and he prioritized goaltending and depth forwards on the first day of free agency. He’ll now move to finding a scoring winger and it might not be acquired through free agency.
Related: NHL Rumors: Golden Knights, Oilers, Islanders, More
Calgary Flames Interested in Nazem Kadri
Regarding the Nazem Kadri trade to Colorado, Pierre LeBrun reported there were two teams showing interest on Nazem Kadri but were on his 10-team no-trade list. Kadri wouldn’t waive it for those teams and obviously, the Colorado Avalanche weren’t one of them.
Ryan Pike says he believes the Calgary Flames were one of the teams he refused to accept a trade to.
Canadiens Interested in Kyle Turris and Jake Gardiner?
Eric Engels of Sportsnet says that after the Carolina Hurricanes announced they would match the Montreal Canadiens offer sheet on Sebastian Aho, they wouldn’t go the offer sheet route again.
Engels wondered if Bergevin would have interest in Nashville Predators center Kyle Turris. Or, Engels proposes pursuing free-agent defenseman, Jake Gardiner. Engels suggested seeing if the Predators will add another asset in the deal or convince them to pick up part of Turris’ $6 million annual salary-cap hit.
Related: Oilers News and Rumors: Smith, Perry, Chiasson, More
Penguins to Clear Some Space
Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes the Penguins will make another cost-cutting trade. After signing Brandon Tanev, they only have around $1.6 million in salary-cap space. Vensel speculates Nick Bjugstad or Bryan Rust could become trade candidates.
He writes:
Rutherford admitted Monday that there is a “good chance” they’ll have to trade somebody to ensure they are cap compliant for next season.
… So it seems logical that if they need to subtract somebody, it would be a forward pulling in significant paychecks.
source – ‘Five questions left for the Penguins after busy period’ – Matt Vensel – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – 07/02/2019
