In today’s NHL rumors rundown, the St. Louis Blues and Jordan Kyrou are said to be close on a contract extension. What will it look like? Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens have been busy. Rumors are they are working on an extension with Jake Allen and they just signed Cayden Primeau to a new deal.
There’s talk that the Rangers still have an offer on the table for Nils Lundkvist and the Pittsburgh Penguins apparently declined a trade offer for Jason Zucker.
Blues and Kyrou Close to New Deal
As per a series of tweets by Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest the Blues have begun extension talks with Jordan Kyrou. He reports that talks between the two sides have been very good and that he could be looking at something similar to the eight-year, $65 million contract Robert Thomas just signed.
Kyrou, 23, is a center that will factor into the long-term future of the team. He broke out this past season with 77 points and he’ll be looked to take the team forward as names like Ryan O’Reilly move on.
Canadiens and Jake Allen Discussing Extension
The Montreal Canadiens are also looking at locking up an important piece of their roster as Strickland notes that Montreal and goaltender Jake Allen are discussing a contract extension. He writes, “Talks still appear to be in the preliminary stages but both sides want to get it done.” Kevin Weekes is also reporting, that he’s been told the Canadiens are in discussions with Allen on a multi-year deal. Allen is going to become increasingly important for the Habs as news that Carey Price is likely not returning is out there.
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What’s quite interesting is that in the midst of all these talks about Allen, the Canadiens have agreed to terms on a three-year, one-way contract extension (2022-23 to 2024-25) with goaltender Cayden Primeau. Some are wondering if Montreal put the Allen talk out into the world to get that Primeau contract extension done. Also, this all comes after Carey Price posted what looks like a goodbye on Instagram. He wrote, “I just want to thank everyone who has been supportive over the past few weeks, months, and years. It has been a very emotional time for myself. Merci. GO HABS GO.” The photo was of him hanging his hat up.
Also with the Canadiens, Eric Engels is reporting that GM Kent Hughes said that they are looking to make a trade to clear some salary cap space. The team isn’t looking to just dump someone and if the trade doesn’t materialize, that’s okay.
Rangers Have Offer on Table for Nils Lundkvist
According to Arthur Staple of the Athletic, the New York Rangers have at least one offer on the table for Nils Lundkvist. It sounds like the offer has been on the table for some time and the Rangers are looking to do better.
Staple writes:
As for trades, two sources said that the Rangers have been offered a second-round pick for Lundkvist, an offer that’s been on the table since Claude Lemieux, Lundkvist’s agent, requested a trade before the deadline in March. It’s believed to be a high-second rounder — it was likely for the June draft from a team at the bottom of last season’s standings — and the sources indicated the offer of a second for next year’s draft is still good.
source – ‘Rangers notebook: Nils Lundkvist’s complicated situation, Jimmy Vesey comeback, PTO for defensive depth’ – Arthur Staple – The Athletic – 09/07/2022
The report also notes that if he’s not moved, one source put it at “80 percent” that Lundkvist will not attend Rangers camp. He’d prefer to remain in Sweden to keep training.
Penguins Got Trade Offer for Jason Zucker
Dave Molinari of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes that a league source claims the Penguins got a trade offer for Jason Zucker this summer. The move would’ve allowed them to shed the 30-year-old’s $5.5 million average annual value from their salary-cap payroll for the coming season. The move would have been a cap dump and the team that kicked tires was apparently also asking for a first-round pick, which is why Ron Hextall declined. He didn’t want to move the first to shed the money.
