NHL Rumors: Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The NHL Draft is history, and every team has high hopes for the prospects they added. Now, with free agency moves mostly done, rumors are still around. Clubs are always working to improve their rosters for next season. Some teams are having difficulty creating enough cap space to make moves. In this Sunday edition of NHL Rumors, we will take a look at the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, and the Anaheim Ducks.

Calgary Flames – MacKenzie Weegar

Rumor: Salim Valji – TSN Sports. It looks like MacKenzie Weegar, just like his teammate Jonathan Huberdeau wants to stay in Calgary after being traded there.

A source says Mackenzie Weegar has a “strong, genuine desire” to re-sign in Calgary…I believe both parties will engage next week in conversations about an extension for the Flames defenceman

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— Salim Nadim Valji (@salimvalji) August 5, 2022

While Weegar was the secondary player under Huberdeau in coming to Calgary, he holds some strong statistics that can help the Flames succeed. In his six years with the Florida Panthers, he tallied 27 goals, 94 assists in 306 games. The 28-year-old native of Ottawa, Ontario had eight goals, 36 assists in 80 games last season, which was a career high. Over his NHL career, he has had 483 blocks and 612 hits. That shows his physical attributes that he brings to the Flames. Averaging two hits a game is quite an accomplishment.

Weegar was Florida’s 206th draft pick in the 2013 NHL Draft. He has averaged 19:33 on playing time a game. Weegar looks to augment an already skilled blueline with Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev. He will likely team up with Tanev on the second defensive unit. He is a good penalty killer, so he looks to be on that first unit. All in all, if the Flames can sign him to a long-term deal, they will be glad they did. He is currently signed through the next season with a $3.25 million cap hit. If general manager Brad Treliving can get Weegar re-signed, the trade looks to be a good thing for the Flames going forward.

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Vancouver Canucks – Conor Garland/Tanner Pearson

Rumor: Shane Seney – nhltraderumors.me. With the likes of J.T. Miller and Bo Horvat as pending free agents, the Canucks have some major work to do this season to secure their core.

In order to keep Miller and Horvat (if that is what they truly want to do) they must move a couple of contracts. The likely candidates to accomplish that may be Garland and/or Pearson. Garland owns a $4.95 million deal good through the 2025-26 season. Pearson has a $3.25 million pact good through 2023-24. The Canucks, like many other NHL teams are over the cap limit of $82.5 million which is allowed up until the season begins. Right now, they are over the limit by $2.75 million.

I think Garland is likely to go, too. Atlantic, maybe.

— Steve “Dangle” Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) March 21, 2022

It could be possible that the Canucks may look to trade both Garland and Pearson, seeing that they will need much more cap space to re-sign Miller and Horvat. While both forwards are signed through next season, they may want to get a jump on getting them signed early. Garland had 19 goals and 33 assists in 77 games, while Pearson tallied 14 goals and 20 assists in 68 games. They would, of course, desire to get something in return that doesn’t affect their already tenuous cap situation. This means some NHL rumors may be flying around in the future.

Anaheim Ducks – Three questions heading into the 2022-23 season

Rumor: Shane Seney – nhltraderumors.me. Loaded with some young stars and an intriguing mix of veteran talent, the Ducks look to sneak into the Stanley Cup Playoffs next season. What’s their roadmap to accomplish that?

1. How good will Trevor Zegras be? Zegras will be attempting to fill the role of a Ducks’ legend with Ryan Getzlaf retiring. Zegras is a young, offensively talented player who may be ready for stardom. He collected 23 goals in 75 games last season and look for him to perhaps hit the 35-40 goal plateau this season. He’s that good. With his entry-level contract expiring after this season, he looks to be in for a hefty increase.
2. Can John Gibson‘s play bounce back?  The goalie needs to really improve on his so-so stats of last season. He only had a 3.19 goals-against-average with an average .904 save percentage. If this team intends to be fighting for a 2022-23 playoff berth, Gibson needs to get back to playing better in between the pipes. He was endlessly rumored to be traded to just about every team (ok, a bit of exaggeration there) during the summer, but remains on the roster… for now.
3. How active will GM Verbeek be? He’s already shown some initiative by grabbing free agent blueliner John Klingberg. He also added a pretty good forward in Ryan Strome. He has $18 million in cap space with some of that going to be taken by Zegras. He possesses a first-round draft pick in 2023 and three second-rounders. If Verbeek can make some more intelligent moves, the Ducks have an outside chance of progressing to the postseason for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.

That wraps up another edition of NHL rumors. Be sure to watch for the Wednesday article, and thanks for reading!