In today’s NHL rumors rundown, players on the Vancouver Canucks roster have been warned that potential changes won’t just be made to the coaching staff. Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs did show interest in trading for Ethan Bear. Why didn’t the deal go down?
The Edmonton Oilers have been scouting the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Kraken are taking an odd development route with top draft pick Shane Wright.
Canucks Players Warned There Could Be Changes
During the 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Elliotte Friedman noted that the Canucks are happier after two straight wins, but their lousy start means that the radar is up and the roster isn’t safe. Friedman notes that management has let the players know that if changes come, it won’t just be coaches who go.
Related: Canucks Fill Massive Hole With Bear, Pederson Trade
Most fans know that head coach Bruce Boudreau’s job is already on the hot seat. Friedman added, ”But I think one of the storylines that came out of this was that Vancouver Canucks made it very clear to some of their players that if there were changes made, they wouldn’t just be potentially the head coach.” He adds, ” I heard what they told some players were this, there’s been two coaches now with this group, it isn’t working so far, so if anybody who thinks we’re going to sit back and wait and see the change we’re going to make you might be mistaken and the changes might be with the roster.”
Maple Leafs Did Show Interest in Bear
Friedman also offered some details about the trade between the Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes for defenceman Ethan Bear. One of the things people wanted to know, was if the Toronto Maple Leafs were involved in any trade conversations. He noted that they were.
Friedman said:
“ I think Toronto did look at it, I think the issue was Vancouver was willing to go were Toronto wasn’t with the extra draft pick and with all the salary the Leafs would have to take, Toronto didn’t want to do that, to add the extra pic, because one of the reasons is if they trade one they could have as few as three this year, [Timothy] Liljegren could and [Jordie] Benn could be back next week.”
Oilers Scouting Canadiens, Could Have Interest in Savard
The Oilers have won three-straight road games but there’s still some chatter the blue line could use a little improvement. Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal writes that the team has been out there scouting and potentially taking notes on veteran right-shot blueliners that could help.
He writes:
The biggest Oilers boosters would admit the club is missing a certain element on their back end: A RHS, pure shut-down defenceman. I wonder if David Savard in MTL Has caught Ken Holland’s gaze? A $3.5m cap hit, something would have to go out for him to come in. The Oilers have had eyes in Montreal recently.
source – ‘The Edmonton Oilers goaltending controversy? What controversy? 9 Things’ – Kurt Leavins – Edmonton Journal – 10/30/2022
Situation in Seattle Getting Frustrating
Jeff Marek reports that the situation in Seattle when it comes to top prospect Shane Wright has people frustrated. He is not improving in each game he plays, but part of that is because he’s playing so little. He was healthy scratch for his third straight game and the coach and GM of the team can’t seem to see eye to eye on how much he’s been on the ice.
GM Ron Francis publicly commented that his less than seven minutes of ice time per game is “not ideal” but Marek doesn’t think Francis wants to send him back to Kingston. Francis believes Wright is best suited to play in the NHL, which it appears coach Dave Hakstol doesn’t agree with.
