In today’s NHL rumor rundown, word is that Alex Pietrangelo is close to signing with the Vegas Golden Knights but a deal needs to come first to clear up cap space. The Vancouver Canucks have been reaching out to defenseman in free agency and it’s not clear who they are zoned in on. The Winnipeg Jets are apparently shopping Jack Roslovic and the New York Islanders might be making a couple moves on Monday.
Golden Knights to Trade Nate Schmidt
In an effort to make the necessary cap room for defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, it appears the Golden Knights are shipping out defenseman Nate Schmidt. At first, speculation was that the Florida Panthers were the destination, but Pierre LeBrun has noted that might not be the case.
LeBrun wrote, “Nate Schmidt has not been traded to Florida. Which is not to suggest he won’t be traded. He’s in play. But the Panthers haven’t dealt for him.”
It will be worth watching this situation because once Schmidt goes, a Pietrangelo announcement is likely to follow rather quickly.
Canucks Reaching Out to Defensemen
The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the Canucks have reached out to three different free agent defensemen during free agency. Speculation is they’ve shown interest in Travis Hamonic, Sami Vatanen and Erik Gustafsson.
As it stands right now, the Canucks have five NHL defensemen on their roster after losing Chris Tanev. They’ve been relatively quiet in free agency, other than their acquisition of goaltender Braden Holtby.
Jets Shopping Roslovic?
According to Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press, he’s noted two sources saying the Jets are actively in trade discussions looking to move Jack Roslovic for a left-shot high-end defenseman.
They write:
“He’s a natural centre but hasn’t been able to establish himself at that position. It’s very likely he gets moved,” a source said, adding GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has spoken to a few different teams about Roslovic in recent days.
source – ‘Jets set to deal Roslovic?’ – Mike McIntyre – Winnipeg Free Press – 10/11/2020
Roslovic, 23, is a restricted free agent center who’s been stuck on the Jets’ bottom-six as a winger but has top-six potential. There has been some buzz that there’s a connection between the Golden Knights and Jets involving Nate Schmidt, but it’s unlikely the Golden Knights would want to take back any salary. Should they trade for him, they could flip him to another team.
Schneider Going to Islanders?
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets a deal is being finalized with Cory Schneider and the New York Islanders. The likely connection is Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello from their time together in New Jersey, but it makes the goaltending carousel a bit complicated in New York.
The team already has veteran starter Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin on the roster. Does that mean Schneider has been told he’ll play a lot in the minors and will be signing a two-way deal? Or, is there another move coming from the Islanders?
In other Islanders news, David Pagnotta notes that as teams wait to see what happens in Vegas with Schmidt other teams trying to work on moves, including the Islanders who have been working on trading Johnny Boychuk.
Lafreniere Inks Deal With Rangers
The top pick in this year’s NHL Draft, Alexis Lafreniere has inked his entry-level deal with the New York Rangers just a few days after being picked. Reports are it is in line with previous No. 1 picks entry-level deals despite a tighter salary cap.
It includes a base salary of $832.5K, $92,500 signing bonus, $850K in Schedule ’A’ performance bonuses and $2MM in Schedule ’B’ performance bonuses in all three years.
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