In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news from the Boston Bruins’ brass about their contract status with a few players. There is also buzz surrounding what the Montreal Canadiens might do this off-season and how they can target 10 teams with potential salary cap issues. Tyler Toffoli of the Vancouver Canucks talks about the potential of re-signing in Vancouver and the Edmonton Oilers, along with the hockey world loses a beloved player.
Bruins Hope To Find Resolution With Krug
Conor Ryan of the Boston Sports Journal tweeted that Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney is hoping to bring back defenseman Torey Krug. Despite comments from Krug that he’s not sure where he fits and that he’s concerned he may have played his last game for the Bruins, Sweeney hopes that is not the case.
“We’ve had very good discussions with Torey’s group — we just haven’t found a landing spot yet. … We’re hopeful that we’ll find a resolution,” Sweeney noted. He continued: “I dearly hope Torey (Krug) hasn’t played his last game (with the Bruins) this year or going forward.”
Montreal Canadiens Poised to Strike?
Arpon Basu and Marc-Antoine Godin of The Athletic write that the Montreal Canadiens are in a good position to take advantage of a potentially flat salary-cap for 2020-21. Noting their cap space and flexibility, they figure the plan is to target cap-strapped clubs in need of shedding salary before next season.
They listed 10 teams that would struggle with a salary cap that doesn’t increase and wrote:
If the Canadiens could be convinced to part with their first-round pick or two of their three second-round picks in 2020, they could potentially acquire a true impact player.
source – ‘Why the Canadiens are positioned to take full advantage of a flat NHL salary cap’ – Arpon Basu and Marc-Antoine Godin – The Athletic – 04/07/2020
There have also been rumors the Canadiens might look at another offer sheet situation and note, “No matter how that played out, it wouldn’t be wise to think Bergevin wouldn’t try it again just because it didn’t work the first time.”
Louis-André Larivière of TVA SPORTS also recently wondered if Bergevin might target Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev with an offer sheet. Bergevin traded Sergachev three years ago to the Lightning for Jonathan Drouin.
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Tyler Toffoli’s Status With Canucks
Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet looked at the potential extension talks between Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning and recently acquired forward Tyler Toffoli. Benning has interest in re-signing the pending unrestricted free agent but Toffoli isn’t quite sure what he’ll do.
Toffoli says he enjoyed his time in Vancouver but hasn’t really thought about what comes after this season. With the uncertainty surrounding salary caps, that makes sense. Toffoli said:
“The guys treated me awesome, the fans were great, the coaching staff … everything was awesome. When that time comes that I’ve got to start thinking about all this — and honestly, I haven’t really thought about any of it — we’ll go from there.
“The only conversation that we’ve really had is to see where this season is going to go. That’s not my decision, where the cap’s going to go. Like I said, nobody could have ever imagined this happening and this scenario.”
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Condolences to the Cave Family
We noted earlier today that Edmonton Oilers forward Colby Cave passed away from complications stemming from a brain bleed. Our best wishes and condolences go out to the Cave family, his teammates and friends.
You will be missed.
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