In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there are updates on the Montreal Canadiens and their search for some goaltending help, the Edmonton Oilers have landed their man, and there is plenty of speculation surrounding P.K. Subban and Evgeni Malkin.
Montreal Canadiens Looking for Reliable Backup
Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports that Montreal Canadiens backup goaltender Antti Niemi has already been informed he won’t be back next season with the team. He’ll need to find a spot and the Canadiens will need to find a backup to fill that void he leaves behind.
Some will argue the Canadiens can use Charlie Lindgren who is signed for one more year on a one-way deal, but Engels suggests he needs to have competition in camp and a challenge to earn the spot.
Engels also suggests that potential candidates on the free agent market include Cam Talbot, Brian Elliott, Curtis McElhinney, Anders Nilsson, Keith Kinkaid, and Michael Hutchinson.
It is expected the Flyers will try to re-sign Talbot so it’s more likely he comes off this list.
Related: NHL Rumors: Holland, Smith-Pelly, Avs, Sabres, More
Oilers Will Announce Ken Holland as Next GM
Ryan Rishaug of TSN posted on Twitter that he’d heard Ken Holland had accepted the job as the next GM of the Edmonton Oilers.
Holland had some concerns about the challenges he’d be facing working in the market and TSN’s Gord Miller wrote:
“When the Oilers circled back with an offer this week, Ken Holland called friends in the game to get their thoughts. One of them warned him about the poisonous atmosphere around the team. “You’ll get killed on social media,” he warned. “I’m not on social media,” Holland replied.
It is assumed that the Oilers went with Holland because of his experience and felt that, as good as some of the interviews were, putting a non-experienced GM in this position just wasn’t the right move.
Related: NHL Rumors: Maple Leafs, Oilers, Malkin, More
Evgeni Malkin Out to Prove a Point
In a tweet posted by Igor Orenko, he wrote that Evgeni Malkin thinks he has something to prove after a poor season in Pittsburgh. Saying that he’s heard trade rumors before and that they don’t make him nervous, he is going to use his time in Russia to prove he’s good.
“I had a bad season and I’m going to get me out of the pit. Sometimes criticism is justified. This time it’s probably justified,” Malkin said.
One of the trade rumors that came up was a swap between Pittsburgh and Nashville which would see P.K. Subban head to the Penguins with Malkin coming to the Predators.
Related: NHL Rumors: Islanders, Canucks, Maple Leafs, More
Predators and Flyers Deal?
Speaking of P.K. Subban, there is also some talk out of Philadelphia that the Flyers should look at Subban if he is truly available. The centerpieces of the speculated trade would be Subban and Jakub Voracek.
Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer suggests the Flyers could use a player of Subban’s talents on their right side and line up nicely with Ivan Provorov.
The Flyers and Preds have a trade history as do the two GM’s, but this doesn’t mean a deal would be more likely here than anywhere else. Carchidi writes:
Just because Subban fits all the boxes, however, doesn’t mean it will be easy for Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher to bring him to Philadelphia. If Subban is shopped, and Nashville is expected to deal one of its defensemen for a much-needed scorer, there will be other interested teams.
source – ‘Trading Jake Voracek for P.K. Subban makes sense for Flyers’ Philadelphia Inquirer | Sam Carchidi -05/03/2019