In today’s NHL rumor rundown, defenseman Andy Greene has made it clear he wants to play another season in the NHL. Does that mean he’ll return to the New York Islanders? Vegas Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer commented on the possibility of his team getting a bye in the playoffs and he’s not a fan of the idea. Finally, will the Philadelphia Flyers trade Shayne Gostisbehere and the Pittsburgh Penguins trade Matt Murray?
Greene to Continue His NHL Career
Of the many names that have popped up in rumors that this may have been their last season in the NHL, remove Andy Greene’s name. He’s made it clear he wants to play another season in the league whether this season resumes or not.
Newday’s Andrew Gross writes, Greene has no intention to retire at the end of this season and said, “Oh, yeah, for sure, in my mind, I’m definitely going to play.” What he didn’t say was where.
Gross writes:
“Greene said he has had no discussions about his long-term future with Lamoriello, who signed Greene as an undrafted free agent out of Miami (Ohio) in 2006. He went on to play 923 games over 13-plus seasons with the Devils.”
source – ‘Islanders defenseman Andy Greene says he ‘definitely’ plans on playing next season” – Andrew Gross – Newsday – 04/04/2020
Greene also said that he’s planning to wait and see what happens with this season and the direction the NHL goes before having those discussions. In respect to another contract, he said, “I’m not going to worry about it. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
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Flyers to Trade Gostisbehere
Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi writes that it’s extremely likely the Philadelphia Flyers will trade Shayne Gostisbehere within the next year. He says that due to the expansion draft in 2021, and with the team likely to only protect three defensemen, Gostisbehere is the odd man out.
Carchidi notes:
“Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, and Phil Myers would probably be the defensemen the Flyers protect. That would leave Shayne Gostisbehere available, though he could have a bounce-back season in 2020-21 to give the Flyers a reason to pause.”
source – ‘Next year’s expansion draft for Seattle will affect moves made by Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher this offseason’- Sam Carchidi – Inquirer – 04/04/2020
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Penguins to Move Matt Murray
Matt Murray could be the odd man out among the Pittsburgh Penguins’ goaltenders says Luke Fox of Sportsnet. Noting that Tristan Jarry lacks arbitration rights so his contract extension should be easier to achieve, goaltender Casey DeSmith is also already under contract for next season.
With over $68.2 million already committed to 15 players, the Penguins can’t afford to keep both Murray and Jarry. Jarry is likely to stay.
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DeBoer Doesn’t Want a Bye in First Round Playoffs
While the NHL is discussing options for possible playoff formats, one idea that has been tossed around is more than 16 teams being included and those teams sitting in first in their divisions to get a first-round bye. Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer is not a fan of that idea.
DeBoer relayed, via SinBin’s Ken Boehlke, “I don’t want to be the team with the bye, sitting there after being off for a month or two months or three months.” He added that it’s one thing to get a break right after you finish a full season, but it’s another to have rested for a long time and then other teams get a chance to get warm by playing out two-out-of-threes and play-in games while you’re sitting there.
He explained:
“There’s a huge advantage to having actually played games. I know the bye sounds like an advantage. And it is an advantage if you’ve been playing an entire 82-game season and you roll into that and you have 10 days to prepare for the next round. But when you’ve been sitting around for months, it’s a disadvantage. From a fairness point of view, that would be a concern for me.”
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