NHL Rumors: New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The 2022-23 regular season is over and players as well as front offices will be evaluated. Now, with the season completed, the focus shifts toward deals that may go down this summer. What about free agency?

Clubs are always working to improve their rosters for next season. Teams who were eliminated from the postseason need to assess what happened and make adjustments. Some teams are having difficulty creating enough cap space to make moves. Others are experiencing severe injuries to star players. Trade rumors/signings are over for now, while teams are competing in the playoffs. In this Sunday edition of NHL Rumors, we will look at the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

New York Rangers – Sheldon Keefe

Rumor: Per – Larry Brooks – nypost.com. If Keefe is fired from the Leafs, should the New York Rangers go after him?

Of late, general manager and head coaching jobs are opening up like crazy. While Sheldon Keefe is still under contract through next season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, that may change after he has gone 1-4 in playoff-round wins. No doubt he was given a group of excellent players and they still couldn’t get past the second wild-card team in the East, losing in five games to the upstart Florida Panthers.

When teams who have skilled rosters don’t succeed, it almost always means the head coach’s job is on the line. As far as Keefe goes, he has valuable experience dealing with star players in Toronto. He could very well be a good fit in New York. The New York Rangers too are searching for answers as they went to the Eastern Conference Final last season, and followed that up with a seven-game loss to the rival New Jersey Devils this year. Just like things must change in Toronto, the same goes for New York.

If Keefe were headed to the Rangers, he would instantly inherit a much better goalie in Igor Shesterkin. He also would have the likes of Adam Fox, K’Andre Miller, and the hitmeister Jacob Trouba on a much improved blue line. For Keefe, it would seem that he may have an even better shot at a Cup than he would in Toronto. Stranger things have happened, and there doesn’t seem to be much of a choice for the Leafs to continue down the road of destruction they have traveled for so long. Keefe will get his walking papers and consequently so will Kyle Dubas. More on that later in our NHL rumors article.

New Jersey Devils – Free agent decisions

Rumor: Per – James Wilson – nhltraderumors.me. There exists a multitude of free agent decisions that the Devils must execute. Who goes and who stays?

At the top of that list is Timo Meier. It will cost the team $10 million to retain the option for his rights. They show about $34.3 million in cap space available for next season. So, adding the salaries of six other free agents and the $34 million is gone quickly… and that’s with present salaries, not including raises. Obviously something must be done. Keeping Meier will be the priority. He is a key player for the franchise going forward.

TIMO TIME IN THE PLAYOFFS 🔥

First goal of the playoffs at the perfect time for Timo Meier pic.twitter.com/Xy4YMjZ3gY

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 7, 2023

Yet, there are Jesper Bratt ($5.45M) (RFA), Tomas Tatar ($4.5M), Miles Wood ($3.2M), Erik Haula ($2.375M) Damon Severson ($4.167M), and Ryan Graves ($3.167M) to also consider. Tough decisions. As it sits now, losing Meier or Bratt would be detrimental to the Devils going forward. It may come down to retaining Meier or Bratt, but one of them needs to stay… ideally, both if the money is there.

The Devils cap nightmare worsens when one considers the amount each of the above free agents may be worth on the open market. Here’s the sad news. With expected raises in most cases, the grand total comes to $38.5 million. Well above their cap limit. Much will need to be construed as to the long-term fit for any of the free agents. As decisions are made, the Devils blue line could use an upgrade. Adding a player like Matt Dumba would be nice if they can fit it in their budget.

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Pittsburgh Penguins – Kyle Dubas

Rumor: Per – Dan Kingerski – pittsburghhockeynow.com. Toronto GM Kyle Dubas is a person of interest in the Penguins’ GM search.

With Kyle Dubas becoming a free agent GM, the NHL rumors are swirling that he would be a good fit in Pittsburgh. According to Kingerski, the next Pens’ GM needs to be a cap wizard, aggressive on the NHL trade block, and appreciative of analytics (though not deferential to them). Dubas knows how to get quality players and work some cap magic to allow it to fit into his budget. He makes excellent trades as exhibited by acquiring players like Ryan O’Reilly, Noel Acciari, Luke Schenn, and Jake McCabe.

No doubt head coach Mike Sullivan would like nothing better than to have a GM like Kyle Dubas. He gets results, but in Toronto it didn’t work and that has to be on the lack of star players not performing up to expected levels in the postseason. Can Dubas transform a roster that is aging, overpaid (he sure has experience here) and looking to get back into the postseason? You bet.

While this is all speculation, stranger things have happened. If Dubas gets his walking papers, and don’t forget his contract expires after the season ends, the Penguins should be first in line to acquire him as their new GM. No brainer. It will certainly be an entertaining summer filled with NHL rumors.

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