NHL Trade Rumours

 NHL trade rumours 

Vitek Vanecek expendable as Washington looks for a veteran goalie

Some reports were put out there last week that the Capitals are looking for a veteran goalie and would maybe be willing to trade young backup Vitek Vanecek. Now there was conversations last year around the deadline about a veteran goalie trade for the Caps as they had two young goalies but they didn’t have that veteran backup and when they ran into goalie problems they had to turn to Craig Anderson. Now I think this year they will be more agressive trying to acquire a goaltender and I think they could get something very valuable back for Vanecek cause there are a lot of teams who would like a goalie like Vanecek. In terms of who I think the Capitals would target would be Marc Andre Fleury of the Blackhawks, Semyon Varlamov of the Islanders or Anton Khudobin of the Stars as all would be great backups to Samsonov and all have been mentioned as on the Trade Block at some point this season.

 

Along with Giroux their are to great pending UFA Flyers Defensemen who could gain interest toward the deadline: Rasmus Ristolainen and Justin Braun

Now there has definitely been a lot of speculation about whether the Flyers would trade their Captain or not given where they are in the Standings but there are two defensemen who are also pending UFA’s who could be moved by the trade deadline. The first guy who has been mentioned is Rasmus Ristolainen who the Flyers sacrificed last years first round pick for. It’s safe to say that it has not worked out in Philadelphia and I think that it is very likely that he gets traded given the fact that the Flyers have fallen out of the playoff race and that he is a top 4 right shot defensemen, he currently has (2G-8A-10P) in 37 games played and has $5.4 Million left for this year. Some teams who could try to trade for him in my opinion would be Calgary, Carolina and Toronto as I think they all could use him and they have all also been mentioned in Klingberg rumors. And they other player is Braun who is another Right shot defensemen currently playing in the Flyers top four and given how good he’s played he should be a amazing third pair defender on any team challenging for a playoff spot. He has (2G-7A-9P) in 41 games played and has $3.1 Million left on the deal that expires this year and the way the Flyer are trending I think they would have to at least consider trading him. 

Jacob Chychrun has multiple teams making offers and one legitimate offer from a team

The Arizona Coyotes apparently have a legitimate offer for Jacob Chychrun and there were six teams that were mentioned on the 32 thoughts segment on hockey night in Canada. So as we all know Jacob Chychrun is a hot commodity around the NHL being a young defensemen who is locked up for the next four years at a reasonable price of $4.6 Million dollars and according to Jeff Marek the Coyotes have a legitimate offer for Chychrun but the team wasn’t disclosed and some think that it was a ploy to get the best offers from all the seriously interested teams. Now of the six teams mentioned I think that the best fit for both the player and team would be LA as they are currently in a playoff spot right now and have the picks and prospects to get a deal done and their one hole in my opinion would be at the left side of defence, the second best fit I would have to say would be the Bruins as there is no glaring hole at defence right now and they don’t have as many picks and prospects as LA does but Chychrun plays the type of game the Bruins like playing which is the rough physical style and given that Boston is in a playoff spot I just think that there would be a fit there. Now there were four other that were mentioned but I don’t think they have as much of a fit, Anaheim could look to a player like Chychrun to help on the left side of the defence given that he is locked up long term and they have Hampus Lindholm who is a pending UFA but I am sure that Arizona would ask for Drysdale or Zegras and I don’t think that they would do that, Florida is one of the best teams in the league and they definitely could look to Chychrun as a upgrade on the left side of their blue line as that is there on hole but I think that a guy like Ben Chiarot who is a pending UFA would be more of a fit in Florida, the Rangers have basically the same problem as they do need a left side defensemen and I could see them wanting a top pairing of Fox and Chychrun but I think they should spend less assets on the defensive side and more on a top six forward, while for Columbus the Blue Jackets would be a great for for him and a one two punch of Wereinski and Chychrun on the left side would be great but they are a team who looks like Will miss the playoffs and given that they are more of a rebuilding team I would say that they wouldn’t trade all those assets for Chychrun.

Jonathan Toews, Seth Jones and Patrick Kane are only untouchable players as the Blackhawks gear up to sell

The Blackhawks are open for business as they have made almost every player available or trade as a rebuild is pending. The Blackhawks according to multiple sources have officially been talking to other teams bout players who they would now consider trading. Now they have three untouchables and they are long time Blackhawks Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews who both have very high cap hits and control where they go and defensemen Seth Jones who send the long term 8 year $9.5 Million dollar contract extension that will kick in next year and these are the three untouchables while there are two partial untouchables as the Blackhawks would only consider trading Alex DeBrincat or Kit y Dach if they get a trade offer that they can’t say no to but other then those five they would be willing to move anyone else and some of the more notable names in my opinion are Brandon Hagel, Dominik Kubalik, Dylan Strome, Calvin De Haan, Jake McCabe, Connor Murphy, Marc Andre Fleury and Kevin Lankinen as these would be some notable guys who could be moved. 

Maple Leafs willing to move cap out to acquire help

The Maple Leafs could move out some cap tied up in some of their more depth players before the deadline to try and acquire a player that they currently don’t have enough money for. Recently there have been rumors that the Maple Leafs were one of the teams that was interested in Staras defensemen John Klingberg and that given the fact that they are one of the teams that are pressed up against the salary cap that they could look to move out some of their more expensive depth pieces. Their are three forwards who i think they would consider and one is Ilya Mikheyev who is a pending UFA and currently caries a $1.645 Million dollar Cap hit, Nick Ritchie who hasn’t performed to expectations and has the rest of this season and next at a $1.375 Million dollar cap hit, and Pierre Engvall who is probably to expensive a depth forward for the Maple Leads as he has a $1.25 Million dollar cap hit for this year before he becomes a RFA, and also two defensemen who could be traded would be Justin Holl who has this year and next at $2 Million and is the Maple Leafs are looking for a right shot defensemen who fits in their top 4 given the fact that it is currently Holl’s spot it would make sense to trade him and Travis Dermott who is younger then Holl is also signed for this year and next but at a $1.5 Million dollar cap hit and I think he could probably benefit from a fresh start.