In today’s NHL rumors rundown, there is less-than-stellar news when it comes to the recovery of a broken thumb for Edmonton Oilers prospect Dylan Holloway. Meanwhile, the Ottawa Senators have apparently offered Brady Tkachuk an -eight-year deal. While the St. Louis Blues are still working on a Vladimir Tarasenko trade, it looks more and more like the two sides will have to make nice to start the season, and are the Minnesota Wild growing frustrated with Kirill Kaprizov?
Holloway’s Thumb Not Healing as Expected
According to Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal, “After Dylan Holloway’s surgery (broken thumb) this spring, Oilers hoped it would be completely repaired for rookie camp next week but it’s iffy the winger takes part. Doctors will see if the hand is fully healed after looking at some pictures…”
Bruce McCurdy clarified by adding, “Broken scaphoid, reportedly. A very tricky bone to mend, & very concerning.”
This is not good news for the Oilers or the player as Holloway has a legitimate shot of cracking the main roster out of training camp if he’s healthy and playing up to the level many scouts think he can.
Senators Offer Tkachuk an Eight-Year Deal
As per Shawn Simpson of TSN, the Senators have made it public that they have offered Tkachuk an eight-year deal. Already rumored, this confirms the team is leaning towards a long-term extension versus a bridge deal. He adds, “I’m guessing a Tkachuk 8-year deal comes in at $68 million. First 4 years AAV of 7, last 4 AAV of 10. Anything higher is too much.”
Previous reports note that Tkachuk loves it in Ottawa and has considered the long-term extension. That said, the overall competitive outlook of the team and the money offered are key factors in his decision.
Simpson believes the sides will keep working on trying to get a long-term deal worked out right up until training camp is about to start. If they don’t reach a long-term deal by then, they’ll quickly shift to a bridge deal. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet noted that Senators GM Pierre Dorion said on the Fan 590 yesterday that they are confident that they will have a deal done prior to camp.
Blues Ready to Mend Fences With Tarasenko?
According to Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com, “A few teams are reported to still have interest in Tarasenko, but a trade doesn’t seem to be the given it once did”. The reporter adds, “If Tarasenko remains with the Blues, fences will have to be mended. He has two seasons remaining on the eight-year contract he signed July 7, 2015.”
Tarasenko is practicing with the Blues, so he’s not trying to force the hand of the team by sitting out. The hosts of the Cam and Strick podcast noted that it’s a pretty simple fix for Tarasenko to get back in the good books of the staff. He simply needs to talk to the medical staff/head athletic trainer Ray Barile and apologize for how this all went down.
Latest on the Kirill Kaprizov Talks With Wild
Michael Russo of The Athletic has been following closely everything that’s going on between the Wild and Kaprizov and during his podcast, shared the latest information he had on the contract negotiations. In short, there is potential frustration growing behind the scenes that could get ugly.
The team has been really patient with this,” said Russo. He added, “I will tell you what, a lesser GM might just pull the contract altogether at this point.” Anthony La Panta said that Kaprizov might be in a situation now where he needs to go to his agent and say, ‘I appreciate you fighting to get me every dollar you can, but we need to get this deal done so it’s not a distraction for my teammates.’
Both hosts suggested that things in the locker room could get sticky if Kaprizov misses any time over a tiny bit of money that he and his agent seem to be holding out for. Russo said there’s got to be guys in the locker room hearing the team is offering $9 million over five years and wondering why it had to be turned into such a clown show.
Russo also noted that while other reports have the two sides leaning towards a five-year deal, key aspects of the contract negotiations have not even begun. He explained that as he understands it, neither side has discussed the structure of a contract yet. Saying the two sides need to work out backloading the deal, no-move and no-trade clauses and more.
