In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there are updates out of St. Louis where Patrick Maroon is finding he may not get what he wants, the Chicago Blackhawks feel they are a much better team in better salary cap shape but might not be done yet and the Calgary Flames are looking for the right deals, just not finding them. Are the Vancouver Canucks and Brock Boeser closer to a deal and did something go down between the Islanders and Robin Lehner?
Maroon Wants to Stay
Lou Korac of NHL.com is reporting that unrestricted free agent forward Patrick Maroon really wants to stay in St. Louis. Maroon went home to St. Louis and signed a one-year contract last summer. It was for a lower value than he wanted but the hope was that he’d impress and get a longer-term deal. Despite playing well in the second half of last season, it appears that plan hasn’t worked out.
Korac reports that limited salary cap space is going to see Maroon exit the Blues organization. There are too many restricted free agents on the Blues that need to be locked up and the risk Maroon runs by waiting is having what happened last offseason happen again. He waited too long and lost millions of dollars.
Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports Maroon has several one-year offers from around the league but is waiting for the right fit and at least a “couple years.”
Sticking with the Blues, they have no plans to trade goaltender Jake Allen this offseason, according to Jeremy Rutherford. Allen has two years left on his deal and even with the emergence of Jordan Binnington, Allen is a part of the Blues future.
Related: Oilers News and Rumors: Broberg, Chiasson, UFA’s, More
Chicago Blackhawks Not Done
Despite being one of the busier teams so far in the offseason, the Chicago Blackhawks are not necessarily done making moves. Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago reports the Blackhawks still have three open roster spots, some restricted free agents and a player who might be a bit easier to trade now.
Artem Anisimov received his $2 million bonus last week and he no longer has a modified no-trade clause. He carries a $4.55 million cap hit but only $5 million in salary for the next two seasons. For a team that isn’t in cap trouble, he could be a viable option.
Flames Haven’t Found the Right Deal
We reported a couple days ago that one of the reasons the Calgary Flames haven’t been active in signing free agents is because they are looking to take care of some internal business first.
Flames GM Brad Treliving’s acknowledged to reporters, including Postmedia’s Kristen Anderson, that the team hasn’t found a deal that makes sense just yet.
Anderson writes:
Treliving said they’ve been “active to try to create” cap space, but haven’t been able to find things that fit and expects this “internal business” to take up the “lion’s share” of the summer.
source – ‘Flames GM Treliving calculating equations with impending contracts for Tkachuk, Rittich, Bennett’ – The Calgary Sun – Kristen Anderson – 07/06/2019
Related: NHL Rumors: Big-Ticket Free Agents, Flames, Penguins, More
Boeser Interested in a Four-Year Deal
During a spot on TSN Radio Vancouver, Ben Kuzma said regarding the negotiations between the Vancouver Canucks and restricted free agent Brock Boeser, “I’ve learned the Boeser camp will do a 4 year deal with the #Canucks”
Lou and Lehner Had Something Go Down
It surprised many when Robin Lehner didn’t re-sign with the Islanders and when the team then went and signed 31-year old Semyon Varlamov to four years at $5 million per season.
Larry Brooks of NY Post is reporting there is some belief that something personal may have happened between GM Lou Lamoriello and goaltender Robin Lehner during contract talks. What that something was remains unclear, but it might explain why a goaltender that played so well for the Islanders and was key to their season wasn’t really welcomed back and at the same time, the goaltender happy enough to leave.
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