In today’s NHL rumors rundown, Paul Byron could be out of the Montreal Canadiens lineup for some time. Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets didn’t make any major changes to their roster, but could those changes be coming next offseason?
The Carolina Hurricanes are likely to sign another player coming off a PTO and the Calgary Flames might be looking for another forward. Finally, what is the latest news on a potential Pierre-Olivier Jospeh trade?
Byron Dealing With Lingering Hip Issues
Marc Antoine reports Paul Byron’s lingering hip issues could see him placed on LTIR. The Canadiens forward is determined to come back, but his future is up in the air, according to GM Kent Hughes. Byron is struggling to recover from hip surgery and reports are that he very well might have played his last NHL game.
Byron will join Carey Price on the team’s LTIR list which will give the team a little bit of breathing room on their salary cap. It remains to be seen whether or not they’ll weaponize that space. There are still plenty of teams over the cap that are going to struggle to get under it. The Canadiens could be a team to watch here.
Jets Could Make Major Changes Next Season
It was believed the Winnipeg Jets might make some changes to their roster this summer. That didn’t really happen but that doesn’t mean the roster is safe. Dan Rosen of NHL.com writes that if the Winnipeg Jets don’t make the playoffs, or lose in the first round, the names that were rumored to be considered as trade options this offseason could go next offseason.
Related: NHL Rumors: Oilers, Kraken, Red Wings, Canucks, Senators
As Rosen points out, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, and Connor Hellebuyck will be UFAs after next season. Pierre-Luc Dubois will be an RFA after this season. All four of these players could be on the move if this 2022-23 campaign goes sideways. He writes, “But if the Jets have a special season, running it back next season, even if Wheeler, Scheifele, and Hellebuyck are on expiring contracts, becomes a real possibility.”
In other Jets news, Murat Ates is reporting that Brad Lambert’s agent, Rick Curran, says he thinks it’s just a matter of time before the Winnipeg Jets 2022 first-round pick gets an entry-level deal done. He notes that contract talks have been positive and there seems to be a good fit between the two sides.
Stepan Likely to Sign with Hurricanes
Chip Alexander writes that Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell thinks that they will be signing forward Derek Stepan after a successful PTO. He noted, “It’s just a matter of figuring out the roster for Monday and the cap for Monday.”
This is the second player the club has signed off a PTO this season as Calvin de Haan earned a contract worth $850K for one year.
Flames Trying to Add Another Forward?
Elliotte Friedman noted in his latest episode of 32 Thoughts, “I think Calgary, some of their forwards. I wonder if Calgary’s still looking at going out for another forward. I wonder if they’re looking at their guys on PTOs and saying, ‘unless those guys really show us something this week, do we feel we have to go out and get someone else?’
Latest News on Possible Pierre-Olivier Joseph Trade
Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph appears the most likely to be player traded off of the Penguins roster and that he’s actively being shopped. The concern in Pittsburgh is that because he’s waiver eligible, a rival club could snap him up.
Vensel writes:
Joseph is now waiver eligible, which means the Penguins could lose him to another team if they try to send him back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. After all, he is a former first-round draft pick who is coming off a good season at the AHL level. So, if the Penguins have indeed placed him on the trade block, it’s not necessarily because they don’t value him. They just don’t want to lose him for nothing.
source – ‘Tough decisions hover over the Penguins as they look to trim roster, get salary cap compliant’ Matt Vensel – Pittsburgh Post -azette – 10/5/2022
There is some chatter that President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke isn’t thrilled by the way the 23-year-old blueliner has played. The combination of a surplus of defensemen and Joseph not being viewed in the best light means a trade could come down imminently.
