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NHL Rumors: Canadiens, Flyers, Rangers, Oilers – The Hockey Writers

Published

2 years ago

July 17, 2022

In today’s NHL rumors rundown, are the Montreal Canadiens actively acquiring players that have underperformed in other cities? Meanwhile, did the Philadelphia Flyers try to move James van Riemsdyk to get into the Johnny Gaudreau conversation? The New York Rangers are making a plan for this year’s trade deadline and the Edmonton Oilers have some interesting arbitration news upcoming.

Canadiens Believe They Can Turn Around Careers

Apron Basu takes an interesting look at the Canadiens’ offseason strategy and seems to think the Canadiens are open to adding players from other teams that have underperformed with the expectation they can help get them on the right path. He writes in a tweet, “It’s a bit wild to see the Canadiens continue to acquire players with the belief they can get more out of them than other teams have. First it was Kirby Dach, now it’s Mike Matheson. And at the root of it all is Martin St. Louis.”

Mike Matheson, Pittsburgh Penguins (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Basu adds:

Five months ago, this would have been unthinkable, the Canadiens making two trades that banked on their ability to properly develop players. But today, that is exactly what they are doing, and we saw another example in the acquisition of Matheson, even though he is 28 years old. St. Louis is a firm believer that a player can never stop learning, never stop improving, and Matheson will provide an excellent test case for that theory.

source – ‘Canadiens double down on their developmental model by trading for Mike Matheson’ – Apron Basu – The Athletic – 07/16/2022

Could this mean there are more deals like this coming for the Canadiens? Basu also noted that “Kent Hughes says the Canadiens insisted that Mike Matheson be included in the trade, that Pittsburgh did not want to include him” and that Hughes spoke at great length to Kris Letang about Matheson before making the trade.

Flyers Tried to Trade van Riemsdyk

According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli (as cited by WGR 550), the Flyers attempted to shed salary last week by shopping James van Riemsdyk. The 33-year-old winger has a year remaining on his contract with an annual cap hit of $7 million. There’s a lot of talk that the Flyers were interested in Johnny Gaudreau but only if the move made sense from a salary cap perspective.

Elliotte Friedman noted during this 32 Thoughts podcast that he thinks the Flyers thought about Gaudreau — he adds that Gaudreau would like be a Flyer now if Philadelphia showed more urgency to get the deal done — but the Flyers knew they were 40 points out of a playoff spot and have a lot bigger concerns than one signing of Gaudreau could fix. They didn’t believe that allocating that much cap space to one player in a year where the team needs fixing was wise. Trading van Riemsdyk would have made this feasible. Without the trade, the Flyers pulled out of Gaudreau discussions.

Rangers Big Play May Come at Trade Deadline

Larry Brooks of the New York Post believes the Rangers haven’t gone all in during this free agency period because GM Chris Drury wants to ensure he has sufficient cap space over the course of 2022-23 to get into the playoff rental market at the 2023 trade deadline.

Even though the Rangers are projected to have just over $2 million in cap space when the season opens, Brooks projected they would have around $9 million in accrued cap room at the trade deadline in February. This would allow the team to go after a high-ticket player like Patrick Kane out of the Chicago Blackhawks’ organization, or perhaps get into the discussions to acquire J.T. Miller.

Oilers Will Lose One of Puljujarvi or Yamamoto

Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now suggests the Oilers can’t keep both Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto based on their arbitration cases and the reality that Puljujarvi has a pretty good one. Stauffer doesn’t believe the Oilers will have an issue locking up Ryan McLeod, but it may come down to choosing one of Yamamoto or Puljujarvi and that could be what is putting an emphasis on the Puljujarvi trade.

Today is the deadline for both players to file for their arbitration cases and if that doesn’t happen, that means either an extension is close or a trade is. Part of the reason a trade hasn’t happened for Puljujarvi is that teams are worried about the cost of his arbitration case and have insisted the Oilers take back cap space in any deal.

Jim Parsons is a senior THW freelance writer, part-time journalist and audio/video host who lives, eats, sleeps and breathes NHL news and rumors, while also writing features on the Edmonton Oilers. He’s been a trusted source for five-plus years at The Hockey Writers, but more than that, he’s on a mission to keep readers up to date with the latest NHL rumors and trade talk. Jim is a daily must for readers who want to be “in the know.”

Other content contributions include: NHLtradetalk.com, The Sportster and hosting weekly video casts, THW News and Rumors Rundown, plus Oilers Overtime.

For interview requests or to provide content info, follow Jim on Twitter or his social media accounts. They appear under his photo on articles like this one.

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Red Wings sign Raymond to 8-year, $64.6 million contract

Published

11 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.

Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.

The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.

Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.

Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.

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Cousins caps winning drive with TD pass to London as Falcons rally past Eagles 22-21

Published

11 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.

Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.

The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.

Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.

Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.

The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.

And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.

Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.

Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.

Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.

Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.

Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.

With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.

Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.

Questionable call

Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.

Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.

Running wild

Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.

Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.

Foles honored

Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”

Injuries

The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).

Up next

Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.

The Eagles play at New Orleans on Sunday.

___

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Fernandez and Dabrowski headline Canadian lineup for Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Published

22 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.

The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.

Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.

Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.

“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”

Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.

Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.

Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.

Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.

Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.

Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

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