In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news that the Philadelphia Flyers might try to sign a deal with the older brother of a Maple Leafs rookie, Jacob Markstrom says he wants to stay in Vancouver, the Edmonton Oilers are looking at international options and the Arizona Coyotes and Taylor Hall are finally talking.
Markstrom Wants to Stay in Vancouver
Goaltender Jacob Markstrom was on a conference call with reporters yesterday including Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, and explained that he wants to “stay in Vancouver” and has “no plans of leaving.”
Markstrom has been the hot-button topic in Vancouver the last few months as he played incredibly well and many considered him the reason the Canucks performed as productively as they did this season. He’s going to be an incredible bump in pay but also knows the salary cap situation facing the NHL right now is tricky.
The 30-year old goaltender was having the best season of his career, posting a 23-16-4 record and .918 save percentage when the season was paused.
Flyers to Sign Linus Sandin
Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that Linus Sandin intends to sign with the Philadephia Flyers once the international transfer agreements are finalized. Sandin is the older brother of Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin and is an undrafted free agent who has played the last three seasons in the SHL. Because of his undrafted status, the Flyers can sign him immediately.
Unlike Rasmus Sandin, Linus is a high-scoring winger who recorded 19 goals and 36 points in 51 games this season for HV71. That tied him for third in the league in goals. The Flyers are hoping his game can translate to North America.
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Coyotes Have Spoken With Hall
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period has been reporting that Taylor Hall‘s agent Darren Ferris said that the Arizona Coyotes haven’t approached him about contract talks since the NHL paused the season. Ferris seemed to confirm that on NHL Network radio Chayka noted that isn’t exactly true.
“I’ve talked to Darren a few times. I’ve had multiple conversations with Taylor as well. I think Taylor has the same view in terms of planning for himself and the organization. Obviously, he has a great understanding of what’s going on in the world right now. I think there’s a right time to approach some of these things. Unfortunately, it’s difficult given all of the uncertainty. But we’ll have that discussion.”
Chayka says that what Ferris probably should have said is that the Coyotes and Hall haven’t had any “meaningful back-and-forths” as of yet.
Hall has recently said that he’s still looking for a long-term deal as opposed to doing a short-term deal even with the uncertainty around this seasons salary cap. When asked if the Coyotes would consider a long-term deal, he noted, “There’s certainly implications of this. I’m not saying it doesn’t apply. But we weren’t afraid to have a discussion about a longer-term before, and this doesn’t change that opinion.”
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Oilers Sign Berglund, Debating Over Haas
The Edmonton Oilers have signed defenceman Filip Berglund to a two year ELC. There is some internal discussion about whether or not re-sign center Gaetan Haas, according to the Edmonton Journal.
They write:
The Oilers have signed Swedish draft pick defenceman Filip Berglund but he’s going to stay with his club team Linkoping for this upcoming season and he may come over in 2021 … The Oilers are still mulling over whether to re-sign Swiss free-agent centre Gaetan Haas (10 points, 58 games) as a depth forward.
source – ‘Ryan Mantha’s potential Oilers career never had a chance’ – Jim Matheson – Edmonton Journal – 04/21/2020
Berglund was a third-round selection from the 2016 entry draft and finished last season second among defencemen in points with 20 (5-15-20) in 52 games.
As for Haas, if the Oilers can get him on an inexpensive deal for around $800K, the expectation is that they’ll sign him.
The Oilers also kicked the tires on forward Mikhail Grigorenko but the free-agent forward plans to sign a one-year deal in Columbus. His signing will be for more than Haas (around $1.2 million) and about the same as what Edmonton was offering Anton Slepyshev to return.
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