NHL Rumors: Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The 2022-23 regular season is nearly halfway done and players will be evaluated. Now, with the trade deadline quickly approaching, 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. Trade rumors/signings are still prevalent. In this Christmas Day edition of NHL Rumors, we will take a look at the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, and the Florida Panthers.

Boston Bruins – Three Soon-To-Be Free Agents

Rumor: Per – Adam Gertz – bleacherreport.com. It may be early, but these three players’ contracts will expire after this season.

The Boston Bruins are leading the NHL with a 27-4-2 record. So, no worries, right? Well, unless you’re fine with three of your best players going to free agency after this season. David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, and David Krejci will have their contracts expire in July next year. While Bergeron is 37 years old and Krejci is 36, they are still invaluable players for Boston. Bergeron has 13 goals and 14 assists, and Krejci has 10 goals, 16 assists in 28 games. That is in comparison to David Pastrnak’s amazing 24 goals and 23 assists. 

Needless to say, all three of these players need to stay put in Boston, especially if they win the Cup this season. Pastrnak should be getting a contract in the $10 million range. He could accept less as both Bergeron and Krejci did to stay with the Bruins. It seems that the Bruins’ management tends to convince players to take a lower contract.

Just take Brad Marchand for instance, he has averaged 84 points excluding this season since he signed his eight-year $49 million deal. That means his AAV is just $6.125 million. What a steal. So, if Bergeron and Krejci want to sign another short-term deal or not, the big question is where will Pastrnak be playing to start the 2023-24 season?

Vancouver Canucks – Elias Pettersson

Rumor: Per – Elliotte Friedman – sportsnet.ca. Pettersson was stated as being the only “untouchable” in Vancouver. Really?

Friedman immediately brought up the obvious point… what about Quinn Hughes? He is in the second year of a six-year $47.1 million contract. While it seems strange to say Pettersson is the only untouchable, things have been beyond strange in Vancouver this season. Not only are they floundering with a 15-15-3 record and are six points from a wild-card spot. That could be why most every player is not safe.

Pettersson is having a terrific season with 15 goals and 26 assists, which averages out to 1.32 points per game. But, so is Hughes with 28 assists in 29 games. There are many players who have been mentioned in NHL rumors as to being on the trade block including most recently, Bo Horvat, Conor Garland, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Brock Boeser. They are players who may be gone sooner or later. Vancouver is attempting to determine their path to success, but seem to have hit some roadblocks. At the very least, Hughes should not be someone whom they trade unless they get an offer too hard to refuse.

Around Full Press Hockey

NHL: Paul Maurice: “It’s A Special Place And You Could Feel It”

NHL Rumors: NHL Rumors: Ottawa Senators, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings

NHL: NHL Power Rankings: Devils Holding Onto The Top Spot

NFL: Remembering John Hadl: “A Great Player, A Great Athlete

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

PODCAST: Full Press Hockey Weekly Ep 38: NHL Season Preview: Golden Knights, Maple Leafs, Johnny Gaudreau

Florida Panthers – No Playoffs?

Rumor: Per – Frank Seravalli – dailyfaceoff.com. The Panthers must play .670 hockey to get to the postseason. Can they do it?

While at the time acquiring Matthew Tkachuk seemed like a no-brainer, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning club is eight points out of a wild-card spot. Perhaps the loss of MacKenzie Weegar is turning out to be more substantial than the loss of Jonathan Huberdeau, who only has 24 points in 32 games. Weegar’s production has fallen off from 0.45 points a game to just 0.21 with the Flames. Could it be that the Panthers underestimated the value of Weegar’s play in Florida?

As Seravalli stated in the video, if the Panthers fail to make the playoffs, they will be the first NHL team to do so after having the best record the previous season. The Panthers are just 3-7 in their last 10 games and if they can’t figure it out soon, the playoffs will be just a dream. With a dismal record of 15-16-4, something must happen to make this team wake up and realize they are better than this.

The statistics don’t lie. Last season the Panthers were first in scoring with a 4.11 goals per-game average. This season they are 14th with just 3.23 goals a game. Last season they were 12th with 2.95 goals allowed per game and this season they are 21st giving up 3.40 goals a game. It hasn’t helped that Sergei Bobrovsky is not playing anywhere near his $10 million contract worth. He has just a 7-11-1 record, and a .895 save percentage to go along with a 3.29 goals-against average.

It seems to have been one of the most incredible downfalls of team that has happened in recent NHL history. They did change coaches from a very successful Andrew Burnette (51-18-6) to Paul Maurice too. It seems like nothing much is working in Florida. Bad decisions are coming back to haunt them.

That concludes this Christmas edition of NHL rumors. We here at Full Press Hockey wish to extend our fondest holiday wishes to all our readers.