NHL Rumour Roundup: Latest on Rantanen, Boeser and Schenn brothers
There’s only a week to go before the March 7 deadline and the mercury is rising.
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There’s only a week to go before the March 7 deadline and the mercury is rising.
All eyes are on Carolina, where — crazy as it sounds — there’s been all kinds of speculation about Mikko Rantanen being traded for a second time this year if he and the Hurricanes can’t figure out the framework of a new deal.
Speaking on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted everyone might be able to take a bit of a breath after the Canes’ big 5-2 win over Buffalo on Thursday night. The victory put a halt to the struggles of both team and player, as Rantanen had a goal and an assist in what was surely his best night in a new uniform. “Everything that Carolina needed to happen happened, because now everyone is going to calm down a little bit,” Friedman said.
Let’s see where things go from here.
Essentially, Friedman believes the Canes will take all the time they can in exploring the possibility of inking Rantanen to a new deal. As he points out, if Carolina does not move Rantanen before the deadline, it will be the only club that can offer him an eight-year deal, as a player must be on a club’s pre-deadline roster to get maximum term. He believes Carolina’s standing offer to Rantanen is roughly $12.6 million per year, which would match the number Rantanen’s old teammate, Nathan MacKinnon, draws in Colorado. Is that enough to get it done? Friedman thinks the swirl of rumours right now will eventually give way to some clear direction.
“We’re all going to be guessing until we have some clarity, and I would assume we’ll have some level of clarity about the way this is going early-to-mid next week,” he said.
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Another name making the rounds right now is that of Seth Jones. The big defenceman has been making noise about leaving Chicago since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, and it’s clear both team and player are ready to move on. That said, this is an incredibly layered situation thanks to Jones’ huge cap hit ($9.5 million through 2027-28), the player’s no-trade clause and the fact Chicago has a specific type of return in mind.
“The Blackhawks don’t’ want a futures deal, they want players,” Friedman said. “Young-ish NHLers who can play now. They don’t want to be in a situation where they don’t have players around [Connor] Bedard anymore.”
Flipping from one Central team to two others in the division, the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators are hot talking points these days. The teams both employ a Schenn brother and there’s ongoing speculation Luke — who played his 1,000th NHL game earlier this season with the Preds — and Brayden — the Blues captain who hit game No. 1,000 Thursday night in Washington — might wind up on the same squad before the deadline ends.
Not so fast says insider Frank Seravalli.
“I think it’s a bit of a longshot,” Seravalli said on the Daily Faceoff Live podcast on Thursday. “For one, you’re talking about adding almost $10 million in salary in one shot. Two, you’re dealing with the full no-trade for Brayden Schenn, which complicates things quite a bit. I think it would have to take a pretty special circumstance to get him to waive. It’s not that they wouldn’t like to be together again, but they’ve already done that once. They did it in Philadelphia for three-and-a-half years. Do you really want to uproot both of your families to make that happen (again)?”
Seravalli also dropped one final Central nugget when he suggested Minnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov might not return to action any time soon.
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32 Thoughts: The Podcast
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.
“What I’m hearing behind the scenes isn’t great, and he may be out for a while,” Seravalli said.
The Wild were raised in the context of being a potential landing spot for Minnesota native and pending UFA Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks. Seravalli — despite the geographical connection — didn’t necessarily see a match with the Wild. He did, however, believe the Los Angeles Kings would make a call — and not just on Boeser.
“I think the Kings would be a great fit, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Kings are a team that make a splash,” he said. “After three [consecutive] first-round exits, they’ve got to change it up, they’ve got to do something a little different. [However], I don’t think for a second Quinton Byfield is actually available.”
Seravalli also surfaced the idea Boeser could remain a long-term Pacific Coast resident right where he is. Term, he believes, is the real talking point between Boeser and the Canucks. But with the winger already representing a $6.65-million cap hit, Seravalli notes it’s not like the AAV is going to take some crazy jump on the team’s books.
“I’m not closing the door, by any stretch, on Brock Boeser continuing to be a Canuck,” he said.
As with Rantanen, we could have a much better handle on Boeser’s future in a matter of days.
