In today’s rumor rundown, the St. Louis Blues are looking around the NHL for a better option in goal but stopped in Detroit along the way, the Montreal Canadiens are going to have to get creative if they hope to move out Karl Alzner’s contract, and while no one needs reminding that the Toronto Maple Leafs have less than three days to sign William Nylander, things look like they are going to go down to the wire.
Blues Looking for Options In Goal
TSN’s Darren Dreger reported the St. Louis Blues and GM Doug Armstrong are looking to upgrade their situation in net. Reports are that the Blues have been eyeing Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard. The Blues went so far as to send scouts to the Red Wings game on Monday.
Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard (Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports)
Dreger said that if the Blues are looking at Howard acquiring him won’t come cheaply. The Blues don’t have a first-round pick in 2019 and without it, the Red Wings might be looking for a prospect like Jordan Kyrou or Robert Thomas. If not, the Blues may have to widen their search and consider other options.
With some uncertainty in Edmonton and Mikko Koskinen looking like he could be the starter moving forward, would Edmonton trade Cam Talbot if the return was right?
Related: NHL Rumors: Hextall Replacements, Panarin’s Contract, More
Montreal Has to Get Creative With Alzner
In that same segment, it was reported that the Montreal Canadiens have sent defenseman Karl Alzner to the AHL after he cleared waivers. LeBrun says that Alzner’s agent has permission to speak with other teams about possibly finding Alzner a new team and the Habs are going to try and see what’s out there in a trade.
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Karl Alzner (Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports)
This won’t be easy for Montreal considering the size of Alzner’s contract. They’ll either need to retain considerable salary, throw in another player or take a terrible contract back, swapping bad deal for a bad deal. What is clear now is that agent JP Barry is reaching out directly to teams to help in the process.
Related: NHL Rumors: Kovalchuk, Hextall, Canadiens, More
Nylander Not Signed, No Announcement Coming… Yet
Bob McKenzie also addressed the many rumors regarding William Nylander. As far as McKenzie knows, there is no truth that a deal has been done and a formal announcement is coming. Instead, this could go down to right before the 5 pm Eastern deadline on Saturday. “there’s a really strong feeling that both sides, one or the other, feels that they might get their best offer from the other side right at the deadline. So now it goes to deadline, stay tuned, same old deal.”
Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander battles for position with Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron (John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports)
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet believes the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nylander are “around $300,000/year apart.” The good news is, that’s not far apart in terms of numbers. The bad news is, both sides may feel they’ve moved far enough from their original positions and could reach the point where they’re unwilling to move further.
The latest word Friedman had heard was that the Nylander camp might accept a six-year contract worth around $6.9 million per season but that’s not been offered by the Maple Leafs.
Related: NHL Rumors: Skinner, Bobrovsky, Blackhawks, More
Panthers Trade Pieces
The Athletic’s George Richards recently wrote that forwards Nick Bjugstad, Colton Sceviour, Denis Malgin and Frank Vatrano, as well as goaltender James Reimer, and defenseman Mark Pysyk are possible trade candidates out of Florida. While he says the team is not a seller yet, Richards writes:
But what if they continue on the same path and find themselves looking up at a bunch of teams they need to leap in the standings? General manager Dale Tallon may have to become a reluctant seller.
source – ‘It’s Black Friday, but the last-place Florida Panthers aren’t ready to sell — yet’ – The Athletic – George Richards – 11/23/2018
Flyers Confirm Leading Candidates for GM Job
Steve Yzerman and Ron Francis are among the candidates to fill the Flyers’ general-manager vacancy, Dave Scott confirmed Tuesday.
Scott, the CEO of the Flyers’ parent company, Comcast Spectacor, did not confirm former Minnesota Wild GM, Chuck Fletcher, as a candidate, but many sources have indicated, he may, in fact, be the leading candidate for the job.