In today’s NHL rumors rundown, there is talk that things are quiet on the trade front for the Calgary Flames which comes as a shock to one NHL insider. But, there could be a lot of talk in the offseason. The New Jersey Devils held forward Kyle Palmieri out of the lineup Sunday. Is a trade imminent? The Edmonton Oilers are going to be extremely patient and who are the Winnipeg Jets looking at before the deadline? Finally, why is it less likely the Ottawa Senators are big sellers?
Things Shockingly Quiet For Flames on Trade Front
There’s a lot of talk in Calgary about the team’s lack of success and it seems clear the organization will not be making it out of the 2020-21 regular season. That has led to trade chatter and the timing of Johnny Gaudreau’s issues with new head coach Darryl Sutter are bound to stir up speculation.
Sutter called Gaudreau out for his energy level just prior to his 500th game with the Flames and Gaudreau seemed to shrug off the comments. Still, a recent report by Boston Hockey Now’s Jimmy Murphy suggests some big changes could be coming for falling Flames and Gaudreau’s status with the team is worth keeping an eye on.
Murphy connects Gaudreau to the Philadelphia Flyers, but TSN’s Darren Dreger said during the on DFO Hockey Rundown podcast that it’s real quiet on the trade front for Calgary, which comes as a borderline shock to him. He asks, “How can it be given the way this team has played ’til this point?” Dreger goes on to say that either means clubs around the NHL don’t like the Flames players or they know their big name players like Sean Monahan, Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk will not be moved in season so you might as well wait until the offseason.
Pierre LeBrun says David Rittich might be an interesting piece and the most obvious piece to move before Monday. Frank Seravalli thought that interest might have ticked up in Sean Monahan and he might be the one guy that has a bit of percentage to be moved.
Oilers Will Wait Until the 11th To Do Anything
Dreger said that he doesn’t get the sense general manager Ken Holland will be all that active before this season’s trade deadline. He’s not willing to pay a premium for anyone, including Luke Glendening who the Oilers have been connected to. If they make a move, it won’t be until the final day of the deadline.
LeBrun said that last year’s moves to land Andreas Athanasiou has showed Holland that this is not the year to overspend and things can go badly when you do. Seravalli adds that if the Oilers do land Glendening, there could be interest from the Oilers to extend the depth center on a two or three year deal, thus justifying the cost of acquisition.
Devils Hold Out Palmieri
The Devils announced before Sunday’s game that Kyle Palmieri would not dress due to “precautionary reasons.” Right after the announcement, Palmieri’s agency Bartlett Hockey confirmed that Palmieri was being held out “in anticipation of a trade” in the coming days.
LeBrun then tweeted that both sides were trying to hammer out deal at the final hour but things weren’t going well and all signs were pointing toward the fact that a trade was likely inevitable.
Which Defenseman is on the Jets Radar?
Seravalli says that David Savard is likely the top target for the Jets before the deadline. Stylistically he make sense for what the Jets need, but there’s a bit of a debate about whether or not he’s being overrated. The Blue Jackets are not bringing Savard back as there have been no contract conversations.
Dreger didn’t rule Savard out, but suggests he is down on their list and not their top target. He could move up their list if other targets don’t pan out. Both he and LeBrun believe GM Kevin Cheveldayoff would prefer Josh Manson out of Anaheim but aren’t sure the Ducks are keen to move him. Dreger added, “I don’t think there’s any doubt that Cheveldayoff is going to add a piece, it’s just how do we rate which piece is the best fit and which piece is he willing to pony up and spend the assets?”
The one thing most of the panel of the DFO panel agreed on was that the Jets do not want to move Ville Heinola.
Little Interest in Ryan Dzingel
Dreger says that he is a bit surprised by the lack of interest in forward Ryan Dzingel and LeBrun wondered if it’s because there’s belief around the league that he only scores in Ottawa. “As soon as he arrived in Ottawa, he started scoring again,” says Dreger. He added that things can change with a phone call, but there’s virtually no interest in him around the league.
There’s some chatter that the fact there are three Canadian teams knowing they are out of the playoffs hasn’t helped the Senators who had a ton of leverage prior as the only real selling team.
Jim Parsons is a freelance writer who covers the Edmonton Oilers and news and rumors posts here at The Hockey Writers.
You can also catch him writing at NHLtradetalk.com, The Sportster and hosting weekly video casts, THW News and Rumors Rundown, plus Oilers Overtime.
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