NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild

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 Wednesday edition of NHL Rumors, we will take a look at the Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Minnesota Wild.

Montreal Canadiens – Mike Hoffman

Rumor: Per – Rob Ellis – nhltraderumor.com. Will the Canadiens trade Mike Hoffman for Tyson Barrie?

The Habs are searching for a right-shot defenseman who is experienced at taking the puck out of the defensive zone. Tyson Barrie fits that bill. The two players have identical salary cap hits set at $4.5 million each, good through the 2023-24 season. The Canadiens are looking to replace Jeff Petry whom they traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 16th.

For the Edmonton Oilers, Hoffman would give them a scoring forward in their top nine. He tallied 15 goals and 20 assists in 67 games last season. While that is a far cry from his six 20-plus goal performances over his 11-year NHL career, it would add another piece to the offensive arsenal for the Edmonton club. They are hungry to earn the chance to hoist the Cup. Hoffman could certainly assist in that endeavor.

Many may have thought that the Canadiens would move Christian Dvorak before Hoffman, but it looks like Dvo will be around a bit longer. This proposed trade certainly helps both teams. They each satisfy their needs. Stay with NHL rumors to see how this one plays out.

Tampa Bay Lightning – Three questions for the 2022-23 season

Rumor: Per – Corey Long – nhl.com. Can the Lightning overcome player departures, injuries, and what about Brandon Hagel?

Here’s the three questions for the Lightning:

1. Will Hagel perform well in a top-nine role? While he had 21 tallies in 55 games with the Chicago Blackhawks before heading to Tampa Bay, he only managed four goals in 22 regular season games, and just two in 23 playoffs games. If he can pick up his game this new season, the Lightning may be back for their fourth consecutive Cup Final.
2. Will they really miss Ondrej Palat and Ryan McDonagh? Palat went to greener pastures by signing a five-year $30 million deal with the New Jersey Devils. The salary cap limitations that Tampa Bay faced forced their hand. McDonagh was traded to the Nashville Predators on July 3rd. Mikhail Sergachev is expected to fill the gap of McDonagh being dealt. He signed an eight-year $68 million contract on July 13th.
3. Can they avoid costly injuries? Three consecutive appearances in the Cup Final has taken its toll on the health of the Lightning. While they struggled through due to their excellent depth, they will need to find a way to stay healthy this season if they intend to be Cup contenders again.

One thing all NHL fans discovered is to NEVER count out the Lightning.

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Minnesota Wild – Bill Guerin can put the squeeze on NHL GMs

Rumor: Per Justin Wiggins – zonecoverage.com. With $5.74 million in cap space, Guerin may be tempted to use it to his advantage.

With 12 NHL teams over the cap limit of $82.5 million, the Wild may be able to take on a bad contract to acquire assets for the future. Next year’s draft is supposed to be exceptional. As other teams get desperate to get cap-compliant, Guerin should be on their speed dial to work a deal. While giving up a first-round pick may be a bit steep, it could happen.

Two such teams are the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers. Boston has 24 players on their current roster, one over the limit. The Bruins are really injury-bitten and may be open to sending Guerin a draft pick to get his roster down. Taking a player like Nick Foligno who is injured a lot, could help the Wild. Guerin has had an interest in Foligno in the past. But at $3.8 million, unless he’s on LTIR, would it be worth the gamble?

That concludes this edition of NHL rumors. Be sure to catch our next article on Sunday, and thanks for reading!