Jake Muzzin being placed on long-term injured reserve could end up having a significant impact on the Toronto Maple Leafs and their trade deadline plans.
Since Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is willing to spend to the cap, Toronto moving Muzzin’s $5.625 million to LTIR has resulted in plenty of speculation as we inch closer to the March 21 NHL trade deadline.
Another Canadian team involved in trade rumours is Vancouver, and fans on both sides of the country have wondered if a trade between the Leafs and Canucks is realistic, especially with J.T. Miller’s name being floated out there.
Most of Vancouver’s roster is locked up for next season and GM Patrik Allvin acknowledged there’s no rush to make a decision on whether or not to move Miller, who has one remaining year on his team-friendly contract ($5.25 million AAV) before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
“I’ve been impressed with the way he plays, the way he cares, and I think he’s been probably, since I’ve been here, the most consistent player,” the Canucks GM told Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre earlier this week. “I think that’s probably something we’re planning as a staff, to sit down together this summer and see which guys are going into the last year of their deals. We want to see where they are, their mindset and what they want to do and if there is a fit here.”
That hasn’t stopped the rumour mill from churning, though, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman saying during the Toronto-Columbus broadcast earlier this week he’s “on the J.T. Miller train” if Leafs GM Kyle Dubas decided to use his LTIR space to make things interesting.
The Athletic’s Canucks reporter Rick Dhaliwal said Wednesday, “Toronto called Vancouver yesterday to see what it would take to get J.T. Miller,” before adding he believes the Leafs also checked in on Luke Schenn, who was taken by Toronto in the first round of the 2008 draft.
Miller wouldn’t come cheap, considering his favourable contract situation and that he’s having another productive year. Performances like Thursday’s two-goal, two-assist showing in a blowout against the Flames will only drive the price up for inquiring teams.
With 57 points in 51 games, Miller would force a team like Toronto to dip into its relatively deep prospect pool. The Maple Leafs hold their own first- and second-round picks this year but lack selections in rounds 3-6. In 2023 and 2024, the team is fully stocked, with picks minus next year’s seventh-rounder.
Like most teams preparing for a lengthy post-season run, the Maple Leafs could use some improvements at all three levels. Adding an impact forward such as Miller would be flashy but it wouldn’t solve anything in terms of blue-line help. Schenn would help some, but Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak, Hampus Lindholm and Robert Hagg are also among the type of pending UFA blueliners the Leafs and other teams could target.
Forsberg’s future Filip Forsberg has worn a Predators uniform in all 536 regular-season and 82 post-season games he has skated in yet the forward’s time in Nashville could be winding down.
Longtime hockey insider and Blues reporter Andy Strickland reported this week Nashville is actively looking for a partner to facilitate a Forsberg trade.
Nashville faces an interesting predicament because the team is leading the Western Conference’s wild-card race. On one hand, longtime Preds GM David Poile could seek something in return for a high-end rental player such as Forsberg. On the other hand, they could keep Forsberg if they feel a lengthy playoff run is realistic.
The pending unrestricted free agent, whose cap hit has been an even $6 million since 2016, was acquired from the Washington Capitals nine years ago in one of the great one-sided trades of the past decade (Martin Erat and minor leaguer Michael Latta went to the Capitals; the Predators also got a first-round pick, which they used on Seth Jones).
Forsberg, 27, ranks second in Predators history in goals 204 and fifth in both assists (225) and points (429). He has 26 goals and 44 points in 39 games this season.
The Preds have an extra third-round pick and no sixth-round pick in 2022, but beyond that the team possesses all its own draft selections for the next three seasons. Whether it’s a team like Boston with whom many speculate Forsberg would be a great fit, or elsewhere, any team considered a buyer with assets and cap space to spare ahead of the deadline would be wise to inquire.
Elliotte Friedman did mention on The Jeff Marek Show he believes Poile is trying to re-sign Forsberg, saying he thinks “they know the number has to be above (Matt) Duchene and (Ryan) Johansen,” both of whom carry AAVs of $8 million. Friedman expanded on that in his latest 32 Thoughts column.
Time to take Pavelski off the rental board? Any team eyeing an impact rental forward that has considered Joe Pavelski will likely need to look elsewhere. According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Dallas Stars have begun preliminary contract extension talks with the centre that have gone well thus far. Since Pavelski will be 38 at the beginning of next season, Seravalli added term could be as much of a sticking point as salary.
Pavelski’s cap hit since signing in Dallas three years ago has been an even $7 million. After a subpar first season with the Stars, Pavelski leads the team with 46 goals and 105 points over the past two seasons.
Dallas is firmly in the Western Conference wild-card race, so Jim Nill also has several difficult decisions to make in regards to pending UFAs John Klingberg, Alex Radulov and Braden Holtby.
Will the Kraken be busy sellers at first deadline?
Seattle’s inaugural season has not gone according to plan and the expansion franchise appears to be clear a seller heading into the deadline. Mark Giordano is chief among the possible rental players. GM Ron Francis will work with the veteran blueliner, who has a limited no-trade clause, and Seattle could retain salary no problem to alleviate a team taking on Giordano’s entire $6.75-million cap hit.
Although he’s not having his best season, he’s only three years removed from his Norris Trophy-winning campaign and the 38-year-old remains effective in a variety of in-game situations.
Calle Jarnkrok and Marcus Johansson are among Seattle’s pending UFA forwards who could also be moved. Friedman wrote Friday that Washington could be a landing spot for Jarnkrok.
Is Chara on the block after breaking record? Zdeno Chara just passed Chris Chelios for most games played by a defenceman in NHL history and it looks like Big Z’s name will remain in the headlines leading up to the trade deadline. The soon-to-be 45-year-old is expected to draw interest from around the league. Last week, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford mentioned the future Hall of Famer as one of five possible defencemen the Blues could target – Chiarot, Giordano, Jakob Chychrun and Hampus Lindholm being the others.
A report from NYI Hockey Now suggested the Isles will look to the trade market to see if any contending teams would be interested in Chara, but GM Lou Lamoriello reportedly did not want to begin the process until after Chara broke the record.
Oilers goalie situation
“The Edmonton Oilers have at times this season actively looked at getting a goalie. That’s no secret. We all know it. That’s out there.”
That’s one thing Friedman told Marek this week before adding Oilers GM Ken Holland has made it clear price is an issue. Edmonton has overpaid for netminders in the recent past in free agency and doesn’t want to repeat those mistakes via the trade route.
CALGARY – The Calgary Flames have re-signed defenceman Ilya Solovyov and centre Cole Schwindt, the NHL club announced Wednesday.
Solovyov signed a two-year deal which is a two-way contract in year one and a one-way deal in year two and carries an average annual value of US$775,000 at the NHL level.
Schwindt signed a one-year, two-way contract with an average annual value of $800,000 at the NHL level.
The 24-year-old Solovyov, from Mogilev, Belarus, made his NHL debut last season and had three assists in 10 games for the Flames. He also had five goals and 10 assists in 51 games with the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers and added one goal in six Calder Cup playoff games.
Schwindt, from Kitchener, Ont., made his Flames debut last season and appeared in four games with the club.
The 23-year-old also had 14 goals and 22 assists in 66 regular-season games with the Wranglers and added a team-leading four goals, including one game-winning goal, in the playoffs.
Schwindt was selected by Florida in the third round, 81st overall, at the 2019 NHL draft. He came to Calgary in July 2022 along with forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenceman MacKenzie Weegar in the trade that sent star forward Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
KING CITY, Ont. – Oman scored 10 runs in the final over to edge Nepal by one wicket with just one ball remaining in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 play Wednesday.
Kaleemullah, the No. 11 batsman who goes by one name, hit a four with the penultimate ball as Oman finished at 223 for nine. Nepal had scored 220 for nine in its 50 overs.
Kaleemullah and No. 9 batsman Shakeel Ahmed each scored five in the final over off Sompal Kami. They finished with six and 17 runs, respectively.
Opener Latinder Singh led Oman with 41 runs.
Nepal’s Gulsan Jha was named man of the match after scoring 53 runs and recording a career-best five-wicket haul. The 18-year-old slammed five sixes and three-fours in his 35-ball knock, scoring 23 runs in the 46th over alone when he hit six, six, four, two, four and one off Aqib Ilyas.
Captain Rohit Paudel led Nepal with 60 runs.
The 19th-ranked Canadians, who opened the triangular series Monday with a 103-run win over No. 17 Nepal, face No. 16 Oman on Friday, Nepal on Sunday and Oman again on Sept. 26. All the games are at the Maple Leaf Cricket Ground.
The eight World League 2 teams each play 36 one-day internationals spread across nine triangular series through December 2026. The top four sides will go through to a World Cup qualifier that will decide the last four berths in the expanded 14-team Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Canada (5-4) stands second in the World League 2 table. The 14th-ranked Dutch top the table at 6-2.
Oman (2-2 with one no-result) stands sixth, ahead of Nepal (1-5).
Canada won all four matches in its opening tri-series in February-March, sweeping No. 11 Scotland and the 20th-ranked host Emirates. But the Canadians lost four in a row to the 18th-ranked U.S. and host Netherlands in August.
Canada which debuted in the T20 World Cup this summer in the U.S. and West Indies, is looking to get back to the showcase 50-over Cricket World Cup for the first time since 2011 after failing to qualify for the last three editions. The Canadian men also played in the 1979, 2003 and 2007 tournaments, exiting after the group stage in all four tournament appearances.
The Canadian men regained their one-day international status for the first time in almost a decade by finishing in the top four of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in April 2023 in Bermuda.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024
PENTICTON, B.C. – Rick Tocchet has already warned his Vancouver Canucks players — the looming NHL season won’t be easy.
The team made strides last year, the head coach said Wednesday ahead of training camp. The bar has been raised for this year’s campaign.
“To get to the next plateau, there are higher expectations and it’s going to be hard. We know that,” Tocchet said in Penticton, B.C., where the team will open its camp on Thursday.
“So that’s the next level. It starts day one (on Thursday). My thing is don’t waste a rep out there.”
The Canucks finished atop the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9 record last season, then ousted the Nashville Predators from the playoffs in a gritty, six-game first-round series. Vancouver then fell to the Edmonton Oilers in a seven-game second-round set.
Last fall, Jim Rutherford, the Canucks president of hockey operations, said everything would have to go right for the team to make a playoff push. That doesn’t change this season, he said, despite last year’s success.
“The challenges will be greater, certainly. But I believe the team that we started with last year, we have just as good a team to start the season this year and probably better,” he said.
“As long as the team builds off what they did last year, stick to what the coaches tell them, stick to the system, stick together in good times and bad times, this team has a chance to do pretty well.”
Some key players will be missing as Vancouver’s training camp begins, however.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced Wednesday that star goalie Thatcher Demko will not be on the ice when the team begins it’s pre-season preparation.
Allvin did not disclose the reason for Demko’s absence, but said the 28-year-old American has been making progress.
“He’s been in working extremely hard and he seems to be in a great mindset,” the GM said.
Demko missed several weeks of the regular season and much of Vancouver’s playoff run last spring with a knee injury.
The six-foot-four, 192-pound goalie has a career 213-116-81 regular-season record with a .912 save percentage, a 2.79 goals-against average and eight shutouts across seven seasons with the Canucks.
Allvin also announced that veteran centre Teddy Blueger and defensive prospect Cole McWard will also miss the start of training camp after each had “minor lower-body surgery.”
Vancouver previously announced winger Dakota Joshua won’t be present for the start of camp as he recovers from surgery for testicular cancer.
Tocchet said he’ll have no problem filling the holes, and plans to switch his lines up a lot in Penticton.
“Nothing’s set in stone,” he said. “I think it’s important that you have different puzzles at different times.”
The coach added that he expects standout centre Elias Pettersson to begin on a line with Canucks newcomer Jake DeBrusk.
Vancouver inked DeBrusk, a former Boston Bruins forward, to a seven-year, US$38.5 million deal when the NHL’s free agent market opened on July 1.
The glare on Pettersson is expected to be bright once again as he enters the first year of a new eight-year, $92.8 million contract. The 25-year-old Swede struggled at times last season and put 89 points (34 goals, 55 assists) in 82 games.
Rutherford said he was impressed with how Pettersson looked when he returned to Vancouver ahead of camp.
“He seems to be a guy that’s more relaxed and more comfortable. And for obvious reasons,” said the president of hockey ops. “This is a guy that I believe has worked really hard this summer. He’s done everything he can to play as a top-line player. … The expectation for him is to be one of the top players on our team.”
A number of Canucks hit milestones last season, including Quinn Hughes, who led all NHL defencemen in scoring with 92 points and won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top blue liner.
Several players could once again have career-best years for Vancouver, Tocchet said, but they’ll need to be consistent and not allow frustration to creep in when things go wrong.
“You’ve just got to drive yourself every day when you have a great year,” the coach said. “You’ve got to keep creating that environment where they can achieve those goals, whatever they are. And the main goal is winning. That’s really what it comes down to.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
