NHL Offseason News and Rumors

 Offseason News and rumors


10 most notable signings after day 1 of Free Agency 


1#) Brandon Saad signed a 5 year contract with the Blues worth $22.5 Million and a AAV of $4.5. Saad can produce in a top 6 role and help replace the loss of Schwartz and Hoffman and should be a reliable Forward 


2#) Corey Perry has signed a 2 year contract with the Lightning worth $2 Million and a AAV of $1 Million. Perry is a Valuble bottom 6 Forward who can score and provide leadership for the Bolts


#3)Nick Ritchie signed a 2 year contract with the Maple Leafs worth $5 Million and a AAV of $2.5 Million. Ritchie has a great year with Boston last year and should find himself on the 1st or 2nd line helping to score


#4) Ondrej Kase signed a 1 year deal with the Maple Leafs worth $1.25 Million. Even though Kase has been heavily injured the past two season he should be a solid top 9 Forward who can produce for Toronto 


#5) Jon Merrill signed a 1 year contract with Minnesota worth $.850 Thousand. Merrill will help fill the Void left by Soucy and Suter and should fight for a starting role in the top 6.


#6) Mathieu Perreault signed with the Canadiens on a 1 year deal worth $.950 Thousand. Perreault is a very good and productive bottom 6 winger who can provide experience and goals just like perry did with the young Canadiens last season.


#7) Mikko Lehtonen re-signed with the Blue Jackets on a 1 year deal worth $.900 Thousand. Lehtonen is a bottom pairing D-Men and should get more playing time then last year with all the Moves Columbus has made.


#8) Derek Stepan signed a 1 year $1.35 Million dollar contract with the Hurricanes. Stepan didn’t have a good year last season with Ottawa and should improve as he will most likely be the Canes 4th line center


#9) Michael Raffl signed a 1 year contract with Dallas worth $1.1 Million. Raffl is a dependable 4th line forward and should also play on the penalty kill for Dallas.


#10) Jani Hakanpaa signed with Dallas on a 3 year $4.5 Million dollar deal with a AAV of $1.5 Million. Hakanpaa should challenge for a spot on the 3rd pair and make good use if he gets the opportunity.



Trade Rumors from Anaheim, Arizona, Boston


#1) Will Anaheim trade pending UFA’s Manson, Rakell, or Lindholm before the start of the Season to bring in a top scorer.

The Ducks have not fixed their scoring problem this Offseason after finishing dead last in scoring last year and could still look to improve before the start of the season in October. Their defence is great and that leads me to believe that they might consider moving one of their D-Men whose contract will be up at the end of next year which would be Manson or Lindholm. If they could pair one of those two D-Men with one of their underperforming Forwards ans maybe a 2nd or 3rd round  pick to get a scoring Forward I would do that.


#2) Kessel and Dvorak could still be traded by the Coyotes 

The Coyotes have had a busy offseason dealing Kuemper to Colorado, OEL and Garland to Vancouver, and Hill to San Jose, while also taking on bad contracts such as Beagle, Eriksson and Roussel in the OEL trade, and Ladd from NYI, Gostisbehere from PHI, and Stralman from Florida. They also now have 2 1RD picks and 5 2RD picks in next years draft and could not be done yet. Dvorak is the best trade chip for Arizona as teams who miss out on a player like Eichel could circle back and get Dvorak from Arizona while Kessel has a year left on his current deal and could bring a nice scoring touch both on 5-5 and on the power play and could be traded to a contender.


#3) Debrusk the best trade chip to help the Bruins get a better 2nd line Center

David Krejci left Boston to play in the Czech Extraliga and that now leaves a hole at Center and they are also not the best team on the left side of defence. They don’t have very many options, on Center Coyle could take over as 2nd line Center and on the left side of Defence they could go with Grzelyck, Forbort, and Reilly but they may have to make a trade if they really want to improve and trading DeBrusk could be a start. DeBrusk had a awful season last year and could do with a change of scenery and if the Bruins could include a couple of Draft Picks and a prospect they could possibly get a 2nd line Center or Dynamic Left Side Defensemen.

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