Check out the latest on the Rangers, Islanders and Maple Leafs in the Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup.
THE ATHLETIC: Arthur Staple recently looked at what New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury could do to free up salary-cap space for next season.
Goaltender Igor Shesterkin still needs a new contract. So does defenseman K’Andre Miller, Kaapo Kakko and Will Cuylle. He’ll also have to decide about pending unrestricted free agents Ryan Lindgren, Reilly Smith and Jonathan Quick.
New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba (NHL Images).
Staple believes all arrows point to Jacob Trouba getting moved in an offseason trade. He’ll have a year remaining on his contract with an average annual value of $8 million. Drury could move the 30-year-old defenseman without having to retain salary or include major assets to get a deal done.
Drury doesn’t have many cost-cutting trade options outside of Trouba. Center Mika Zibanejad’s hefty contract is almost untradeable and they’d only get $700K in savings next season if he were bought out. Chris Kreider would draw interest but moving him and Trouba could be too much for the Rangers.
Staple also suggested a wild-card move like trading the 24-year-old Miller. He’d fetch a significant return and his absence could be offset by the maturing Braden Schneider and the promising Vincent Mancini.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Drury’s ill-fated attempt to trade Trouba in late June signaled this season will be the blueliner’s last with the Rangers. He’s now got a 15-team no-trade list which gives Drury some flexibility and potential trade partners.
Trading away Miller would be a risky move despite the promising return. Drury must ensure that Schneider and Mancini have matured enough to replace Trouba and Miller.
SPORTSNET: Elliotte Friedman reports the New York Islanders are believed to be seeking help for their injury-battered defense corps. Bluelines Adam Pelech, Mike Reilly and Alexander Romanov are sidelined with Pelech (upper body) out for four-to-six weeks. All three are left-hand shots.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Reilly and Romanov are day-to-day and are expected to return to action soon. Nevertheless, Pelech’s lengthy absence could be difficult to address from within. They’ve called up Grant Hutton and Samuel Bolduc from their AHL affiliate.
They could also be in the market for a scoring forward. Their offense was among the league’s lowest before Mathew Barzal was sidelined for four to six weeks by an upper-body injury. They’ve placed him on long-term injury reserve to give themselves some cap relief to accommodate adding Hutton and Bolduc.
Friedman reports the Toronto Maple Leafs have two players (Jani Hakanpaa and Connor Dewar) on conditioning stints with their AHL affiliate. They have about a week to address their impending roster crunch when everyone is healthy to return.
The Leafs acquired defenseman Matt Benning when they shipped Timothy Liljegren to the San Jose Sharks last week. They’ve let teams know they want to do right by Benning and made him available in the trade market.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The cost of moving Liljegren and his $3 million average annual value through next season was taking on Benning’s $1.25 million AAV. He’s an affordable veteran right-shot blueliner and should draw some interest around the league.