In his first offseason as general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, Don Waddell could be quite busy.
Waddell confirmed that Jeff Skinner's name on the trade market is not a fabrication.
"It's no secret that we put his name out there and we've gotten a lot of interest," Waddell said Wednesday on Hockey Central at noon.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the Hurricanes were looking for a first-round pick and a prospect in exchange for Skinner.
"He's a big asset for us," Waddell said. "So we gotta make sure we get some kind of asset that we feel is gonna help us either today or in the future for a guy like Jeff."
Another name that has surfaced in the rumor mill is Hurricanes defenseman Noah Hanifin. Waddell said one team called him about Hanifin, but they haven't really thought about making a deal. Instead, the Canes are geared toward making the blue-liner a part of their future.
"Our goal is to get (Hanifin) signed to a long-term deal," Waddell explained.
Skinner is a year away from unrestricted free agency, so moving him would make sense, even though he's a rather consistent goal scorer and an underrated two-way player. He's one year removed from a 37-goal season, and finished second in the NHL with 93 takeaways this past season.
Hanifin, however, is only 21 years old and has shown gradual improvements each season. Trading the former fifth overall pick would seem foolish at this point in his career, unless a substantial haul were to come back in return.
According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the embattled Canadian franchise plans on using its fourth overall pick during Friday’s NHL draft.
This could change right up until Friday night on the draft floor, but I'm told the #sens are still planning to make a pick at No. 4. Would mean their first-rounder next year is transferred to Colorado to complete the Duchene deal.
If the Senators do, in fact, pick a player with their first-round pick in Dallas, they will dramatically reduce their odds of drafting American prodigy Jack Hughes in 2019 thanks to a condition in the Matt Duchene trade.
Duchene was flipped to Ottawa last November as part of a three-way deal with the Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators. The trade included a conditional first-round pick, swapped from Ottawa to Colorado, which forces Senators GM Pierre Dorion to fork over either the club's 2018 first-rounder or its 2019 first-rounder.
Hughes, who is being hailed as the next great NHL superstar, destroyed the USHL this past season, recording 48 points in 24 games as a 17-year-old forward on the United States National Team Development Program. The consensus top prospect for next year's draft is the younger brother of 2018 blue-chipper Quinn Hughes.
On the flip side, there will be a number of quality prospects available to the Senators in the No. 4 spot. Assuming they remain seated through three picks, forwards Brady Tkachuk and Filip Zadina, as well as defencemen Evan Bouchard and Noah Dobson, are prime options.
O'Reilly is one of the best two-way centers in the game. He finished this past season with 24 goals and 61 points in 81 games, but was also one of three players in the NHL with at least 65 takeaways, but less than 40 giveaways. He also set an NHL record for faceoff wins in a single season, and is a nominee for the Lady Byng Trophy, as he collected just two penalty minutes all season.
O'Reilly has a cap hit of $7.5 million through 2022-23. However, he is due a $7.5-million bonus on July 1, LeBrun adds. His base salary is only $1 million through the remainder of his deal, but he is due a $5-million bonus for the last four years of his deal, per Cap Friendly.
A team with deep pockets, such as the the Canadiens, could look to make a push before July 1, because once that bonus is paid, Buffalo's asking price may go up. A team like the Hurricanes may want to wait until after July 1.
Marc Bergevin has been searching for a legitimate No. 1 center during his entire tenure as the Habs' GM. The Hurricanes haven't had a top-notch center since Eric Staal departed, while the Blues are likely looking to replace Paul Stastny, whom they dealt to the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline.
Both the Hurricanes and Blues have several blue-chip prospects they could offer. The same can't be said for the Canadiens, but they do have nine picks in the first four rounds of the NHL draft they could dangle as trade bait.
It's possible a fresh start could bring new life to O'Reilly's game, as he said after another losing season with the Sabres this year that he "lost the love of the game multiple times."
Since O'Reilly is under contract, the Sabres are fine keeping him if they don't get an offer to their liking, LeBrun says.
The National Hockey League will kick off the 2018-19 campaign with a juicy matchup between the reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals and the Boston Bruins on Oct. 3.
Pacific Division Home Openers:#Ducks – Oct. 8 vs. DET#Coyotes – Oct. 6 vs. ANA#Flames – Oct. 6 vs. VAN#Oilers – Oct. 18 vs. BOS#Kings – Oct. 5 vs. SJ#Sharks – Oct. 3 vs. ANA#Canucks – Oct. 3 vs. CGY#VGK – Oct. 4 vs. PHI
Central Division Home Openers:#Blackhawks – Oct. 7 vs. TOR#Avalanche – Oct. 4 vs. MIN#Stars – Oct. 4 vs. ARZ#Wild – Oct. 6 vs. VGK#Preds – Oct. 9 vs. CGY#Blues – Oct. 4 vs. WPG#Jets – Oct. 9 vs. LA
The 26-year-old forward was arrested at 7:20 p.m. local time Saturday, and as of Wednesday, was free on a $4,500 bond. He's due to appear in court next on June 28.
Watson was selected 18th overall by the Predators in the 2010 NHL draft. In 216 regular-season games for Nashville, Watson has registered 23 goals and 24 assists to go along with 254 penalty minutes.
In 2017, Watson was a part of a public-awareness campaign along with his Predators teammates called "Unsilence the Violence," a project focused on bringing an end to violence against women.
The move paid immediate dividends, as Panarin silenced critics and put together a career-best 82-point season - then added seven points in six playoff games - without Patrick Kane by his side, while his trade counterpart, Brandon Saad, struggled mightily to kick off his second stint in Chicago.
Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen looked like a genius for orchestrating the trade, but nearly 12 months to the day he acquired the Russian sniper, he finds himself on the opposite end of the spectrum, as news broke Tuesday that Panarin isn't concerned - at least, not at this point - about discussing a contract extension with Columbus, and the club will gauge how much interest the trade market has in its superstar.
Safe to say there will be a lot.
Players of Panarin's caliber rarely become available. The 26-year-old has one more season at $6 million before hitting unrestricted free agency. Perhaps Panarin is declining to commit as a tactic to create leverage, betting on himself to have another huge year in 2018-19 before having his pick of the litter when it comes to lucrative offers next summer. Should the Blue Jackets shop him as a rental, teams may be reluctant to mortgage significant pieces of their future for only one year of service.
That said, the possibility of a trade-and-sign remains, wherein Panarin guarantees an interested team that he will agree to new terms once joining, increasing his value. Panarin's name suddenly in the rumor mill creates the buzz and speculation hockey fans crave this time of year. Here are three teams, with possible assets included, that should get Kekalainen on the phone to see if they can work out an arrangement.
St. Louis Blues
2018-19 projected cap space: $12.9 million Assets to offer: F Robby Fabbri, 2018 first-rounder (29th), F Klim Kostin, F Robert Thomas
First and foremost, Panarin and Vladimir Tarasenko are longtime friends, and the Blues are almost sure to get a nod of approval from their best player to make a deal happen.
The Blues are coming off their first playoff miss since 2010-11, and if they were to ship Fabbri, a restricted free agent, they'd have no pressing contracts of impact to manage. Elsewhere, Kostin and Thomas are highly regarded prospects in the organization, but if packing one or both could add Panarin into a forward corps already featuring Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn, and Jaden Schwartz, it could be worth the sacrifice.
Buffalo Sabres
2018-19 projected cap space: $19.1 million Assets to offer: F Ryan O'Reilly, F Sam Reinhart, Two 2019 first-rounders
O'Reilly is one of the big fish on this summer's trade board, albeit for reasons unknown. The 27-year-old is one of the top two-way centermen in the league and is under contract at $7.5 million until 2023. Unloading his salary would create endless possibilities for the Sabres, and the thought of pairing Panarin on a top line with Jack Eichel, compounded with the pending arrival of Rasmus Dahlin, could accelerate Buffalo's seemingly never-ending rebuild.
In addition to O'Reilly, the Sabres own San Jose's 2019 first-rounder as part of the Evander Kane deal, and also could consider dealing the rights of RFA Sam Reinhart, who scored 20 goals in 44 games once the calendar flipped to 2018.
Anaheim Ducks
2018-19 projected cap space: $9.2 million Assets to offer: 2018 1st-rounder (23rd), 2019 1st-rounder, F Jakob Silfverberg, D Brandon Montour, F Sam Steel, F Max Jones
The Ducks would certainly have to get creative to facilitate a trade for Panarin, but on the heels of a first-round sweep, general manager Bob Murray was adamant his club needs to change its approach, mainly by getting younger and quicker.
Anaheim has a nice collection of assets to potentially part with, starting with Silfverberg, who is bound for unrestricted free agency after next season. That diminishes his value a touch, but the Ducks could include prospects Steel and Jones to sweeten the pot. Otherwise, Montour - currently an RFA - is the young right-shot defenseman all teams covet and could form a dominant D-corps in Columbus with Seth Jones and Zach Werenski already in place.
A key issue for the Ducks' hypothetical pursuit of the Bread Man is an impending extension for All-Star goaltender John Gibson, who's up for a new deal after next season. No one said it would be easy, but finding a way to get it done could be the exact change Murray is looking to make.
(Salary cap info courtesy: CapFriendly) (Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
The Stanley Cup will pay a visit to Humboldt, Sask. along with several NHL players in August.
An event jointly held by the NHL and NHLPA to help the community will take place in Humboldt on Aug. 24, the league and the players association announced Tuesday, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.
The event will occur in conjunction with Saskatchewan-born and raised Washington Capitals forward Chandler Stephenson bringing the Cup there that day, as he said he would in the afterglow of the Capitals' championship victory earlier this month.
