NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins

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. Others are experiencing severe injuries to star players. The new 2022-23 season will begin on October 13th. In this Sunday edition of NHL Rumors, we will take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, and the Boston Bruins.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Kyle Dubas

Rumor – Per – Adam Proteau – thehockeynews.com. The pressure for the Toronto Maple Leafs to finally make it out of the first round continues in 2022-23. All eyes will be on GM Kyle Dubas again this year.

After adding two new goalies in Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov, Dubas is hoping to end the embarrassing playoff record the Toronto club has endured. Dubas is banking his future on Murray coming back to form after a less than respectable showing last season in Ottawa. He was only able to collect a 5-12-2 record with a .906 save percentage and a disappointing 3.05 goals-against-average.

The Leafs are a very talented offensive team. But they need to get some decent goaltending as well as defensive efforts to break the first-round playoff spell. The fanbase won’t have it anymore; Dubas will be under intense scrutiny to improve the team’s fate in the postseason. There just can’t be any more excuses for this team to continually be eliminated in the first round. So, Murray’s performance becomes especially imperative for Dubas to remain the GM. Pressure? You bet!

New York Rangers – Nils Lundkvist

Rumor – Per – Nathan Smith – nhltraderumors.me. The Swedish defenseman who was drafted 28th in 2018 has struggled and it may be time to see what he brings back in a trade.

Rangers trying to trade frustrated Nils Lundkvist https://t.co/IPr4jQPYoe pic.twitter.com/4tWYUvyj88

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) September 1, 2022

The Rangers are looking to win now, and waiting for Lundkvist to develop may take a while. If the team can package him with another young player and a pick, they could seek help at center or grab a top-six forward along the way. With Braden Schneider and Zachary Jones progressing nicely, there may not be room for Lundkvist to crack the New York lineup. The Rangers made it to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final last year. Now they are wanting to improve upon that and go for a Cup.

He could reportedly be headed to either the Montreal Canadiens or the Detroit Red Wings.

The Rangers are reportedly trying to trade Nils Lundkvist before training camp starts. pic.twitter.com/acquIkMMAe

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) September 1, 2022

Lundkvist does have potential and should be easy to trade to a team with patience for him to progress. Right now, the Rangers are looking for a place to trade him. It may be the best thing for him to get additional playing time and sharpen his skills. With only one goal and three assists in 25 games last season, it seems the time is ripe to move him.

Around Full Press Hockey

NHL: Calgary Flames Remain Contenders Thanks To GM Brad Treliving

NHL Rumors: NHL Rumors: Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, New York Rangers

NHL: The Most Pressured Men in Maple Leafs Land This Season

NFL: Best Bets For 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie Of The Year

Full Press Bets: Early 2022 NFL MVP Odds: Bills’ Josh Allen Favored

PODCAST: Full Press Hockey Weekly: Ep 37: NHL Free Agency Recap

Boston Bruins – P. K. Subban/Keith Yandle

Rumor: Per – Jimmy Murphy – bostonhockeynow.com. With right-shot defenseman Charlie McAvoy (shoulder), likely out until December and left-shot Matt Grzelcyk (shoulder), out until at least November, the Boston Bruins will be lacking experienced depth on both sides of their blue line.

Both Keith Yandle and P.K. Subban could bring in experience and help a powerplay that will be missing two of its best weapons from the back end in McAvoy and Grzelcyk. So, according to one source of Murphy’s, “I think both guys would be willing to sign PTOs at this point.” 

Subban has been linked to the Edmonton Oilers, while Yandle would need to be convinced that it would be a good fit for him to continue playing. He could decide to retire. It seems crazy to have both of these two veterans of many an NHL battle fighting for a lineup spot via the PTO method. Yet, they are there now and may want to make the best of the situation. The Bruins could certainly use either one of them with their numerous injuries holding them down at the start of the 2022-23 season.

That concludes this edition of NHL rumors. Be sure to catch the Wednesday article, and thanks for reading!