In today’s NHL rumors rundown, the Minnesota Wild have announced that they’ll be buying out the contracts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter? What’s next for the team and for both players? Meanwhile, there is still mixed reaction in Edmonton after Oilers GM Ken Holland made a trade to land Duncan Keith but paid full price to do so. The New York Islanders are trying to trade Nick Leddy, the Vegas Golden Knights might be trying to move Reilly Smith and the Toronto Maples could look at trading Alex Kerfoot.
Wild to Buy Out Parise, Suter
Wild general manager Bill Guerin has made a huge decision for the franchise on Tuesday. He’s informed both Parise and Suter that their contracts will be bought out and each will become a free agent on July 28th. The move will save the Wild $10 million on the cap this season, but it will also require the team to take on $13 million in dead cap space in two years time and $15 million in three and four years from now.
NEWS: #mnwild General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the club will buy out the final four years of the contracts of forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter.
More information » https://t.co/hd3D1naoA0https://t.co/04tHQ6T88p
Where each will end up isn’t known, but insiders are already connecting Parise to the New York Islanders. Rumors have surfaced the past couple of seasons that GM Lou Lamoriello would have been interested in acquiring Parise and reuniting with him (Parise played under Lamoriello in New Jersey).
Suter will have plenty of interest. He’s a veteran who played 22 minutes per game for Minnesota last season.
Oilers GM Taking Heat For Keith Trade, Not Confident About Larsson
The Oilers finalized a deal for the Duncan Keith, sending Caleb Jones and a conditional third-round pick to Chicago in the exchange. Where fans are really bothered is that Ken Holland absorbed all of Keith’s $5.5 million salary for the next two seasons, not using any leverage to save money on the trade.
The news of Suter’s availability will only frustrate Oilers fans more because this is a player that could have been just as useful without giving up any assets to acquire him and at a likely lower cap hit. Holland was quite defensive during his media available when asked if he could have pressure the Blackhawks more, saying, “What did you want me to do, get him for free?”
Holland suggests this wasn’t a numbers decision, arguing against the idea that analytics played a key role in his decision to add Keith. Instead, he looked at the “record book” and discussed what experience Keith brings and how he can help the team in a more limited role.
Holland also commented on how the Keith deal affects his negotiations with Adam Larsson and said, “I’m not pretty confident, but I’m not not confident.”
As per Jonathan Willis of The Athletic, the Islanders are shopping 30-year-old LD Nick Leddy. Willis writes, “He has one year left at a $5.5MM cap hit, and played 23 minutes per game for the conference finalists last year. It’s an expansion thing. ” Willis adds that the Islanders aren’t expecting a huge return because the team is needing to shed salary.
But two league sources indicated that the Islanders are shopping the 30-year-old defenseman this week so they would not have to leave him unprotected and potentially lose Leddy to Seattle for nothing…. but Leddy is still a useful top-four defenseman, so there almost certainly wouldn’t be any asset included in the deal, which is a plus.
source – ‘Is there interest in Vladimir Tarasenko? Could Nick Leddy be shopped? What we’re hearing about the Islanders as they enter the offseason’ – Arhtur Staple – The Athletic – 07/12/2021
Staple adds in that same article that two sources have indicated that Vladimir Tarasenko would indeed be open to an Islander trade. While his list of teams he’d accept a trade to isn’t small Tarasenko can control where he goes because of his full no-trade clause.
Rielly Smith on Move out of Vegas?
Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff suggests that Vegas Golden Knights winger Reilly Smith could be traded as the team tries to improve their depth at center. He is on Seravalli’s trade list at No. 6 this week. Smith has a year left on his contract with an annual average value of $5 million and posted 14 goals and 25 points in 53 games for the Golden Knights this past season.
Considering the Maple Leafs are likely to lose Kerfoot in the expansion draft, that he comes up as No. 20 on Seravalli’s trade list should not be a surprise. If Kerfoot is left exposed, he would be an attractive option. Seravalli wonders if the Leafs will try to trade him elsewhere before the expansion draft.
Seravalli writes:
“The trick is any return short of future assets would also require protection from Seattle. That may ultimately result in losing Kerfoot from the roster, plus whomever the Kraken decide to then take – which could be defenseman Travis Dermott. Like many teams, the Leafs are weighing that out at the moment.”
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.”
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NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Serbia and Albania are set to co-host the men’s Under-21 European Championship in 2027 in a soccer project that aims to overcome political tensions.
UEFA said Thursday only the Serbia-Albania bid met a deadline this week to file detailed tournament plans. Belgium and Turkey had declared interest earlier in the bidding process scheduled to be decided at a Dec. 16 meeting of the UEFA executive committee.
The Serbian and Albanian soccer federations teamed up in May to plan organization of the 16-team tournament played every two years that needs eight stadiums to host 31 games.
Albania soccer federation leader Armand Duka, who is a UEFA vice president, told The Associated Press in May that “it’s a 100% football project” with “a very good political message that we can get across.”
Weeks later at the men’s European Championship held in Germany, historic tensions between the Balkan countries — which in soccer included a notorious drone incident at a Serbia-Albania game in 2014 — played out at separate games involving their senior teams.
An Albania player was banned for games by UEFA for using a megaphone to join fans in nationalist chants, including targeting Serbia, after a Euro 2024 game against Croatia. Fans of Albania and Croatia earlier joined in anti-Serb chants, leading UEFA to impose fines for discrimination.
UEFA also fined both the Albanian and Serbian federations in separate incidents at Euro 2024 for fans displaying politically motivated banners about neighboring Kosovo.
After historic tensions were heightened by the 1990s Balkans conflicts, in 2008 majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo declared independence for the former Serbian province. Serbia refuses to recognize that independence and considers Kosovo the cradle of its statehood.
An Albanian fans group daubed red paint on the federation offices in May when the cooperation with Serbian soccer for the Under-21 Euros was announced.
“We did have a few negative reactions from fans, mainly, and some interest groups,” Duka said then, “but not from the Albania government.”
UEFA has shown broad support for Serbia and Albania under its president, Aleksander Ceferin, who is from Slovenia.
The next annual congress of UEFA’s 55 national federations is in the Serbian capital Belgrade on April 3, and an executive committee meeting in September 2025 will be held in Tirana, Albania.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s mayor has revealed the terms of the deal negotiated with the city’s pro basketball team for a new $1.3 billion arena downtown.
The agreement reached earlier this month calls for the Philadelphia 76ers to finance the entire project, with no city funding involved. There is, however, a provision that would let the NBA team make annual payments in lieu of taxes averaging $6 million per year. The agreement also calls for a $50 million investment in businesses, neighboring communities and the city’s schools to blunt the project’s impact, Mayor Cherelle Parker said during a news conference Wednesday night.
“I truly am proud having made this decision and negotiated an agreement that will definitely ensure that our Sixers are staying home right here in Philadelphia, where they should be,” Parker said.
City officials also released drafts of the nine bills and two resolutions needed to authorize the project, including measures that allow the city to acquire the arena property and change zoning rules. Parker said her administration would hold a series of town halls in the coming months where residents could discuss concerns about the proposal.
Team owners say their planned “76 Place” project would improve a struggling retail corridor near City Hall and capitalize on the city’s public transit. They also have vowed not to renew the lease on their current space, a circa 1996 arena in the city’s South Philadelphia sports complex, when their lease runs out in 2031.
The proposal has drawn significant opposition from activists in the city’s Chinatown area, who fear it would disrupt or displace residents and businesses. They say the city has ignored concerns that the project will increase vehicle traffic in their pedestrian-friendly neighborhood and force vulnerable residents — older people, low-income families and new immigrants — to move out. Parker on Wednesday renewed her pledge to preserve the area, which is just over a block from the proposed arena site.
If ultimately approved by the City Council, demolition work in the area would begin in 2026 with construction starting two years later. Officials hope to open the arena in time for the 76ers’ 2031-32 season.
Karl-Anthony Towns was born in New Jersey, went to college in Kentucky and has spent the entirety of his NBA career in Minnesota.
His roots, however, are in the Dominican Republic. And to continue paying homage to his late mother’s homeland, Towns announced plans Thursday to help build a state-of-the-art basketball training facility in that country, one where youth will get top-notch coaching and access to physical therapy, classroom space, meeting space and more.
Groundbreaking in Santiago, Dominican Republic, is set for next year, with plans calling for completion in 2026.
“I’ve been very fortunate to live the American dream,” said Towns, the four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection who is about to enter his 10th pro season, all with the Timberwolves. “But for me, having a different set of eyes, seeing it through my mother’s eyes and what she had to do to really even feel like an American, I wanted to bring the resources that we have here to there and give kids the opportunity to have the best equipment and the best chances possible to not only make money for their family but also pursue their dreams.”
Jacqueline Cruz-Towns died in April 2020 of complications related to COVID-19. She was the center of her son’s world, the woman who taught him about the importance of faith and family, sacrifice and hard work. The fact that this facility — Towns is partnering with GO Ministries and World Youth Clubs to make it happen — is going to be built where she’s from is not a coincidence.
“It was really important for me to give back to my community, a country that’s given me everything, gave me my mother and gave me this love of the game of basketball,” Towns said. “It’s given me the word love, both of family and understanding how to treat people.”
Towns, also in tribute to his mother, has represented the Dominican Republic in multiple international tournaments going back to 2011 at the junior level. He most recently starred for the island nation at the 2023 World Cup in the Philippines, averaging 24.4 points in five games.
This basketball facility is part of a complex that also includes two soccer fields, four baseball fields, covered outdoor basketball and volleyball courts and an educational facility. Towns said it has taken time to find the right people to actually execute the programs on the ground — he has known and trusted some of them for years — and now the “building blocks are set,” he said.
And above all else, his mother — who took him to church often and even when the family was struggling taught him the value of trying to help others — would approve.
“It is the safe haven for some of these kids who have found themselves in different situations and have a lack of resources,” Towns said. “To be able to give these kids a chance to dream and to really think of the dream — maybe they don’t make the NBA, the WNBA, professional baseball, become a professional volleyball player or a great soccer player — but now they get to dream. For them to be able to grow their life skills, their social skills, and also to learn how to have a passion and to be determined about something and have dedication, I think this is amazing.”
