NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers

Welcome to the Sunday edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The Stanley Cup Playoffs are here and the action is hot and heavy. As the playoffs get narrowed down to a field of four, teams are always working to improve their rosters for next season. In this edition of NHL Rumors, we will take a look at the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, and Edmonton Oilers.

Montreal Canadiens – Kirby Dach Possible Trade

Rumor: Per – Jimmy Murphy – montrealhockeynow.com. Should the Montreal Canadiens target Kirby Dach in a trade?

With the Montreal Canadiens looking to rebuild their NHL roster up the middle, the name of Dach becomes an interesting piece. The Habs fully intend to draft Shane Wright first overall, but still, need to add to their center-ice lineup. They went with Nick Suzuki as their top-line center and then had Jake Evans at 2C, Christian Dvorak in the 3C slot and Ryan Poehling in the 4C slot. There have been rumors from NHL scouts that the Montreal club wants to trade Dvorak and his $4.4 million cap hit. The urgency to move Dvorak now is from the fact that he has a modified no-trade clause in the final two seasons of that contract.

If the Canadiens could offer up their 29th pick overall, a roster player (Mike Hoffman, Josh Anderson, or Jeff Petry) and a top prospect, could they pry Dach out of Chicago? Better yet, how about adding Dvorak’s name as part of the trade so he heads back to the Chicago area? He is from Palo, Illinois just a 30-minute drive from the Windy City. There are some possibilities for you.

Los Angeles Kings – Trade Candidates

Rumors: Per – Lisa Dillman – theathletic.com. Dillman feels Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, and Sean Durzi on her list of potential Los Angeles Kings trade candidates. General manager Rob Blake could even listen to trade offers for Quinton Byfield or Arthur Kaliyev but doubt either guy will be moved.

What becomes interesting is does Blake pull off a major trade involving the Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun? Nothing happened at the trade deadline to move Chychrun due to the offers not being acceptable to GM Bill Armstrong in Arizona. With the prospects that Blake has to offer, plus his first-rounder which will be outside of the top 16 choices, will that be enough to entice the Coyotes to move him to LA?

It would certainly fit Armstrong’s plan to rebuild the Yotes. Adding a center like Vilardi and/or Iafallo or plugging in Durzi has to have Armstrong salivating at the prospects. While Vilardi has struggled in the NHL with just 18 goals and 19 assists in 89 games. He is however an accurate shooter with a 14.4 percent accuracy rate. He will be 23 in August and is a restricted free agent. Iafallo is more of a veteran player with 361 games collecting 71 goals, and 97 assists for 168 points. He tallied 17 goals, and 20 assists in 79 games this season. Durzi, 23 could be a good addition to the Yotes blueline with three goals, and 24 assists in 64 games this season. He had 121 blocks and 74 hits, and he shoots from the right side.

If both Armstrong and Blake get together, they could certainly work out a deal which helps both clubs.

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Edmonton Oilers – Will Ken Holland Re-sign Evander Kane?

Rumor: Per – Mark Spector – sportsnet.ca. Forward Evander Kane is giving what they wanted, will Holland return the favour and re-sign him?

Today, Kane is well ahead of schedule to set a new NHL record for goals in a playoff run, with 12 goals in just 11 games. Only 10 men throughout history have scored at that pace, and they have names like Esposito and Lemieux, Messier and Lafleur, Hull and Sakic. He has blended well (and who wouldn’t?) with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl alongside him.

“I knew I was going to be back in the NHL.” Evander Kane. https://t.co/6PDTGS398w

— Mark Spector🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@SportsnetSpec) May 26, 2022

The real question is will Holland have the cap space to re-sign Kane, and how long of a deal do you risk with a player as unpredictable as Kane’s off-ice antics have been?

Holland stated, “I can sign anybody. But someone’s gotta go. If you love everybody, somebody’s not stayin’,” the GM said. “Can you keep him? I can keep anybody. But I can’t keep ‘em all.” 

Holland will have some issues with who stays, and who goes on his roster with only $7.13 million of cap space. Both Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi are RFA’s needing a new contract. They’ve both progressed well and making room for Kane may require some exceptional financial effort. Stay here to get all the NHL rumors regarding Evander Kane.