In today’s rumor rundown, the Ottawa Senators are dealing with the fallout of the video, and while it might hurt the future of the coaching staff, it doesn’t seem to be affecting the contract extension talks of a star forward. The Canucks are keeping a close eye on a young defensive prospect who headed over the KHL and there is talk about what’s next for the recently fired Joel Quenneville. Finally, with the William Nylander contract situation, teams are starting to hang around the Maple Leafs games in anticipation for a possible trade and that may or may not include a certain Islanders defenceman.
The Ottawa Senators Video
Bob McKenzie said on TSN’s Insider Trading that the trash-talking video which has gone viral and has become the talk around the Ottawa Senators was something the team knew about and thought it had put in the past. In fact, Matt Duchene, who was part of the video is already in contract extension talks despite his vocal complaints in the video itself. Clearly, the team hadn’t made it a huge issue until it went public.
UPDATE: The #Sens players have apologized for their comments.https://t.co/WrGftVtMPU
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 6, 2018
Many of the Senators players involved have apologized but the reality is, this is nothing new in hockey and for pro athletes air who discuss this kind of frustration all the time. The only difference here is that an Uber driver decided to make this private conversation public which is a bad look for the team.
Unfortunately, this video puts the already hot-seat coaching staff of Guy Boucher, Marc Crawford and Marty Raymond on thinner ice as they are all in the final year of their contracts. Pierre LeBrun suggests that this is a situation worth watching.
Related: NHL Rumors: Bobrovsky, Rask, Nylander, More
Canucks Still Watching Nikita Tryamkin
Nikita Tryamkin was one of the Vancouver Canucks young prospects on defense before he headed back to the KHL after his first full season in Vancouver. GM Jim Benning told Sportsnet radio that the team is still hoping he returns to North America at some point and “have not closed that door.”
(Nikita Tryamkin. Photo: hc-avto.ru)
Tryamkin is in the midst of his second season with his hometown Yekaterinburg and averaging more than 19 minutes per game. The massive 6’7″ defenseman has just three points on the season but is still someone the Canucks are watching closely. With players like Chris Tanev, Michael Del Zotto and Alexander Edler not in the picture down the line for the Canucks, Vancouver will need young talent to take their spots as they continue to grow. In a couple years the core of the Canucks defense could include Tryamkin, Olli Juolevi and Quinn Hughes.
Related: NHL Rumors: Kings, Islanders, Wild, More
What’s Next for Joel Quenneville
Pierre LeBrun also mentioned during that segment that recently fired Joel Quenneville will be owed his $6 million for the remainder of this season and next which leaves him with a number of choices and some decent leverage when it comes to whatever job he takes next.
Joel Quenneville, Chicago Blackhawks, Nov. 9, 2017 (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
There are already a number of teams being mentioned including St. Louis, where Mike Yeo is aware he’s on a short leash or in Ottawa where the team may choose to make a change at the end of the season and can’t seem to get out from under all the drama that surrounds the team.
Bob McKenzie suggests Quenneville will get coaching offers during the season but he could wait until the offseason to see what else opens up (and there definitely will be jobs available that aren’t available now.)
Darren Dreger then shifted to focus of the conversation towards Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman who has to be the next on the hot seat in Chicago. He won the battle between coach and GM, but it doesn’t remove him from his share of the blame when you consider the Blackhawks have traded quality players in Artemi Panarin and Niklas Hjalmarsson.
Related: NHL Rumors: Bobrovsky, Ho-Sang, Lundqvist, More
Maple Leafs Games Drawing Attention
Michael Augello of Sporting News Canada tweeted Carolina Hurricanes assistant GM Rick Dudley was listed again to attend a Maple Leafs game. This will be his fifth trip in the past couple of weeks. David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period noted Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray was in the Toronto to watch the Maple Leafs-Golden Knights game and Ducks director of player development Rick Paterson was the Ducks ‘scout’ listed to be in the press box.
As December 1 draws nearer, expect more and more teams to start closely watching the Maple Leafs so that they can determine what pieces would make sense in a potential Nylander trade.
Nick Leddy on the Move?
The New York Islanders may look at moving defenseman Nick Leddy. A while back, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta said he was popping up in conversations and that it remained a possibility to move him.
Nick Leddy – November 24, 2017 (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
It appears his offense has dried up in New York and while the Islanders are winning games, he’s not helping the cause. A change of scenery might be the thing he needs to bounce back. It was not speculated if he would be a part of a trade with Toronto or if the Maple Leafs might have interest in Leddy for their blue line.