McCann signs a long term extension, Boyd will return in Arizona as well as Waivers and Trade Rumours

 NHL trade rumours and News

Some key signing’s over the past three days 

Travis Boyd who has been playing a real prominent role in Arizona being a top 6 Center and has definitely played better this season the n any other before putting up 10 goals and 24 points in 47 games played has now signed a two year extension with the Coyotes starting next year with a cap hit of $1.75 Million dollars and this to me is a good signing for both the player and the team as the Coyotes get a player who can be a top 9 forward as they head toward their rebuild and Boyd can continue playing in a meaningful role with the Coyotes.

Liam O’Brien who is another Arizona forward and has played well this year also got a contract extension signing with Arizona for 2 seasons as well but only a mediocre raise of 25 thousand to get $.775 thousand over those two years. Now for Arizona this is another signing that they do due to the fact that they have very little amount of players signed past this season and O’Brien can be a penalty killing bottom six forward and definitely help the team for the next couple of years.

The Golden Knights signed Ben Hutton who was a in season signing to a 2 year contract extension starting next year having a AAV of $.850 Thousand dollars per year. Hutton has been bumped around from 3rd pairing roles to being a healthy scratch in Vegas but with their team and the part he has played being a reliable defensemen the Knights liked what they saw enough to resign him. He has put up 9 points in 36 games with Vegas this year and while he will be more of a depth piece next year if tehre are injuries he will definitely be called upon to play.

Columbus signed undrafted free agent right shot defensemen Billy Sweezey to a 2 year entry level contract worth $.762 Thousand and will get started with his pro career in the near future.

Columbus also have a extension with one of their current NHL players as they extend young forward Justin Danforth to a 2 year deal with a increase in money to $.975 thousand dollars per seasons. The Jackets have liked the presence of Danfortg in their bottom six and getting him to a 2 year deal would be good and he should definitely be in consideration for a consistent bottom six role with the team after he has had 7 points in 22 games in his first full season.

And lastly the highest signing over the last couple of days and that is the Kraken who heavily extend expansion forward Jared McCann to a long term five year deal worth a great money value of $5 million dollars per season. McCann has been the best Kraken forward this season putting up 21 goals and 33 points and has definitely earned this extension as I definitely saw him as a long term fit in the Kraken’s top 6 and i think the 5x5 extension makes a lot of sense for both sides.

Cleared waivers

Danny Dekeyser ($5 million pending UFA)

Austin Poganski ($.750 thousand pending group 6 UFA)

Claimed off of Waivers 

Seattle places Austin Czarnik ($.725 thousand pending UFA) on waivers and was reclaimed by the Islanders.

Florida placed Olli Juolevi ($.750 Thousand pending RFA) on waivers and was claimed by the Red Wings.

Tampa Bay placed Andrej Sustr ($.750 Thousand pending UFA) on waivers and was claimed by the Ducks.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Carolina talking extension

Their is now rumours that the Hurricanes are trying to extend Kotkaniemi to a long term deal. It surprised me in the offseason when the Hurricanes made and successfully got Kotkaniemi via the offer sheet for just over $6 million dollars for this year, but now the long term extension talks are in place. Carolina is trying to sign him to maybe between 4-6 years at around $4-$4.5 million dollars on a extension and I definitely can see why they would do this I know a lot of people would think that Kotkaniemi signing fore around four million dollars would still be too much but it would be a lot better then the 6 million dollar qualifying offer and on top of that even though he has been a bottom six forward second line Center Vincent Trocheck is a Pending UFA so there would definitely be a possibility where Trocheck signs elsewhere and Kotkaniemi runs as the second line Center so they could definitely be resigning him soon and watch out for that.

Nick Paul extension still far apart

The Senators have stayed that they want this to be their last year as sellers at the and they are some pending UFA’s that they might want to resign instead of moving and one of those players would be Nick Paul. Now Paul has been a great middle 6 forward over the past few years for the Senators and has been helping on the penalty kill so a team who is going into the playoffs looking for a guy who can put up some numbers (17 points in 55 games), and can be a really useful guy in any situation would be nice and it is starting to look like he will be traded as the Sens and Paul are currently far off on a extension and if they can’t get a extension worked out before the deadline comes then I bet he will be on a playoff team after March 21st.

The Florida teams are linked to Giroux

Over the weekend both Florida teams have reportedly been linked to and have interest in Claude Giroux. First off the Lightning were reportedly interested on Friday and this rumour king of has me scratching my head. The Lightning are going to be a playoff team for sure and they should add before the deadline but they don’t have the cap space they did last year so even if their was a third party involved and the Flyers took on a contract I just can’t see the Lightning making it work plus what great young player would they give up in a deal, actually let me know what you think would be in a Giroux trade to Tampa. And Florida does make a bit more sense, Giroux could die into the Panthers cap space if there was a third team involved then I think the Panthers could definitely make that move, and also the Flyers are reportedly interested in Tippett so getting him as a center piece in a Giroux deal would be great for the Flyers but if I was the Panthers they already have one of the best forward groups in the NHL and I would focus on using as much assets as it takes to get a D-Men instead of a forward given that defence is their number one hole.

Weber’s contract could be moved

The Canadiens captain has reportedly had his career draw to a close by the sounds of it because of some possibly career ending injuries and now the Canadiens could look to trade his big contract elsewhere. The Canadiens are a team who is really pressed to the Cap right now and they could definitely use at least some relief on the cap and moving Weber’s contract when he is probably not playing anymore and is still signed for 5 years at $7.857 Million dollars would be good for Montreal would be good. The places where he could wind up being traded to would be a team like Arizona or Buffalo who needs extra money to get to the cap over the next few years or a team like Minnesota who could add him to their LTIR pool and take some more money off of their cap with the IR contract are the most likely destinations for the probably ended career of Shea Weber.

Max Comtois drawing interest 

The Ducks have a lot of question marks to answer in the next two weeks and one name who hasn’t been mentioned to possibly be on the move until very recently would be young forward Maxime Comtois. Now Comtois had a very big role last season and it lead him to being the Ducks leading point player last year with 33 points in 55 games but with young players finally playing like they were supposed to, players  like Terry, Milano and Zegras among the improved palyers Comtois has really had a more laid back role this season only having 8 points in 33 games and is definitely nowhere close to his production last year. And apparently now teams are asking about him, in the right organization playing in a consistent middle six role I would definitely think he could reacquire his scoring ability and whether it is in a bigger package or just him I do feel he is a likely candidate to be moved before the deadline.

P.K Subban not resigning, to be traded

On a recent interview with Devils GM Fitzgerald he said that he informed Subban that they would not be extending him and that he could get moved before the deadline. Subban has not had a great season recently and all signs indicate that he is now only a veteran third pairing D-Men who can still score. In 53 games this year he has scored 3 goals and has 18 points not good for someone currently in the last year of their $9 Million dollar cap hit. It would be hard to trade him to a team with that high of a cap hit but if the Devils take off half the price by retaining 50% some teams would be interested and if a third party takes even more cap off I think that they would definitely be able to have a taker then but we will have to see if Subban gets dealt by now through March 21st.