NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The 2022-23 season is over and players as well as front offices will be evaluated. Now, the focus shifts towards a new league year.

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. Trades/signings are popping up as the draft approaches. Look for trades to pick up as the NHL draft approaches June 28-29th. In this Wednesday’s edition of NHL Rumors, we will look at the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, and the Arizona Coyotes.

Toronto Maple Leafs – William Nylander

Rumor: Per – Stephen Nixon – editorinleaf.com. Three trade destinations for the high scoring forward.

• Winnipeg Jets – The Jets are doing some house-cleaning and both Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck have been involved in NHL rumors lately. It makes more sense to trade for Scheifele than Hellebuyck. Nylander’s salary is set at $6.97 good through the 2023-24 season. He has a modified no-movement clause kicking in on July 1st, which is just a few days away. And, as is usually the case in Toronto, the salary cap issues pretty much dictate what they can or cannot do. This proposed trade would pretty much equal the salary cap commitments of both teams. Scheifele has a deal worth $6.13 million through the upcoming season. Nylander is three years younger, and both are excellent snipers. Unless the Leafs want to throw in a player to reduce their expected cap issues after re-signing Auston Matthews, it really doesn’t help the Toronto club much. Moving Matt Murray at $4.69M, which would reduce their cap significantly. If the Jets move Hellebuyck, they will need another goalie.
• Philadelphia Flyers – New GM Danny Briere is wasting no time in reshaping the Philadelphia roster. One player he was interested in moving in the proposed multi-player trade with the St. Louis Blues was Travis Sanheim. The Leafs are always looking to improve their blueline and at 6′-3″, 181 pounds, he could be just what they need. The Toronto club only has six defensemen under contract, so adding Sanheim would be possible. He carries a $6.25M contract through the 2030-31 season. If Briere deals Carter Hart, throwing in Murray could be good for both teams. Watch for these NHL rumors to develop.
• St. Louis Blues –  With a name like Torey Krug, who nixed the Flyers trade it may be intriguing for the Leafs to go after him. It would take more than that to get Nylander, but the Blues could work it out. If the Leafs add Murray (again, gotta get him moved), the Blues may be willing to add a prospect like Zachary Bolduc, or Zach Dean to sweeten the pot.

Buffalo Sabres – Noah Hanifin

Rumor: Per – Julian McKenzie – theathletic.com. The Sabres are knocking on the playoffs door, and could use Hanifin. 

Adding Hanifin to the already talented blueline in Buffalo is intriguing. With Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power being able to play together if adding Hanifin would give them depth on the defensive end. The proposed trade would see the Sabres adding Hanifin along with the #16 pick from Calgary for Peyton Krebs, who is a Calgary native. The way NHL trends have been going, players are getting nostalgic and wanting to go home.

This proposed trade would move the Sabres down from #13 to #16. But, acquiring Hanifin would definitely be an upgrade they may not want to pass on. Will he sign long-term in Buffalo? That may be a deciding factor. What also may halt this trade scenario is that the Sabres really like Krebs, and may not want to part with him. In the long run, what is best for the team to get to the next level and make the postseason may be a priority.

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Arizona Coyotes – Draft capital

Rumor: Per – Ken Wiebe – sportsnet.ca. The Coyotes come to Nashville with plenty of draft capital, now they get to use it.

The Arizona Coyotes are bringing an abundance of draft capital to Nashville. GM Bill Armstrong holds two first-rounders, a second-rounder, four third-rounders, a fifth, and two sixths for 2023 alone. He knows how to build teams and handle a rebuild. Being patient and evaluating talent has worked for him in the past. Now, he is trying to advance the team a bit, and sorta take the rebuild into an area where the team can be more competitive.

The Coyotes have made it clear they’d like to take a step forward as a franchise and they’ve got plenty of work to do. Bill Armstrong was busy modifying his roster this week, buying out defenceman Patrik Nemeth and forward Zack Kassian while adding defenceman Sean Durzi in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings for a 2024 second-round pick. This cleared the way for the Kings to acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Armstrong also has more than $30 million of cap space at his disposal, though the Coyotes are expected to be closer to the floor than to the ceiling as they play next season in Mullett Arena.

They do have the #6 and #12 picks in the first round and can realistically expect to improve their team. Some projections show the Coyotes grabbing a defenseman with #6, and a forward with #12. The first pick of Axel Sandin Pellikka shows their need of an elite puck-moving blueliner to help their transition and to distribute to those players. Sandin Pellika has those traits. At #12, the Yotes may take Oliver Moore, a center of the USNTDP. He will be headed to the University of Minnesota. He will join Logan Cooley, the Coyotes’ third overall pick in the 2022 draft.

All in all, the Coyotes look to make a killing in the draft… and even if they don’t use all their picks, other teams may make them an offer for a pick. Should be an interesting couple of days.