NHL Rumors: Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, 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 toward the new season.

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. The NHL draft is in the books. Trades and free agency began July 1st as teams look to make improvements to their rosters. In this Wednesday’s edition of NHL Rumors, we will look at the Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, and Arizona Coyotes.

Carolina Hurricanes – Vladimir Tarasenko

Rumor: Per – Shayna – theathletic.com. Free agent Vladimir Tarasenko is being courted by six NHL clubs. Is there one favorite where he may sign?

According to Shayna, the Russian winger is very close to signing a free agent deal with the Hurricanes. He had 18 goals and 50 points in 69 games split between the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers last season. His previous contract was for $7.5 million, but he won’t earn that much this time around. His projected contract will be more like a three-year deal for $5 million. With cap space running at about $4.5 million, the Canes may need to determine how to fit a potential $5 million expenditure into their budget.

NHL teams are allowed to go 10 percent over the $83.5 cap limit and teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs have already done that. Unless the Canes or any other team with their sights on Tarasenko have a plan down the road to address the cap overage, they are in trouble. The Hurricanes have been very active signing free agents and re-signing their players needing new contracts. They went after free agents Michael Bunting ($4.5M, three years) and Dmitry Orlov ($7.75M, two years). They also re-signed Frederik Andersen ($3.4M, two years), Antti Raanta ($1.5M, one year), and Jordan Staal ($2.9M, four years).

That may leave little room for adding Tarasenko, but they certainly need his offensive skills. They only tallied 3.2 goals per game, ranking 15th in the league. They are fine defensively ranking second allowing just 2.56 goals a game.

Tarasenko is more than an adequate scorer with 270 goals, 304 assists in 675 career games. He also has valuable playoff experience winning a Cup in 2019 with the St. Louis Blues. Tarasenko could put the Canes over the top in their search for a Cup.

Anaheim Ducks – John Gibson

Rumor: Per Frank Seravalli – dailyfaceoff.com. Seravalli stated while on the Nasty Knuckles podcast this weekend, “John Gibson has asked for a trade.”

🚨 John Gibson’s agent released the following statement, calling this report “false, unjust, and inflammatory” 🚨 @KOSportsInc https://t.co/aSzjN93zgh pic.twitter.com/Sq8onGqUbF

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) July 4, 2023

John Gibson’s agent said the veteran goaltender has not told the Anaheim Ducks that he will refuse to play another game for the hockey club, denying a report made over the weekend by Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. The soon-to-be 30-year-old is entering the fifth year of an eight-year contract that carries a $6.4 million cap hit and has a modified no-trade clause. He has been involved in rumors before, and tending goal on a Ducks’ team with the lowest point total of 58, has its challenges. He did have a terrible year with a 14-31-8 record, a .899 save percentage, and a 3.99 goals-against-average.

Gibson’s career stats are much better. He has a 180-179-59 record, with a respectable .912 SV%, and a 2.83 GAA. It remains to be seen if he will stay in Anaheim, or be traded. Players stuck on a lowly team after a while run out of patience to stick around for a long rebuild. Be sure to follow NHL rumors right here to keep track of Gibson’s next move.

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Arizona Coyotes – Matt Dumba

Rumor: Per Craig Morgan – gophnx.com. The Coyotes have raised some eyebrows in the free agency market. Are they done yet?

GM Bill Armstrong has already made some impressive additions to the Yotes’ roster over the weekend of free agency. He added forwards Jason Zucker, Alexander Kerfoot, and brought back Alex Galchenyuk for the third time. Then, Troy Stecher was also reunited with the popular Nick Bjugstad with the Desert Dogs. Armstrong had already added Sean Durzi on the blueline in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings for a second-round 2023 draft pick. Things are coming together in Arizona, but are they done yet?

With Armstrong, his new motto after some unexpected draft picks is “expect the unexpected.” So, it has been reported by Coyote’s insider Craig Morgan that the team has been courting defenseman Matt Dumba.

I don’t know if a deal will come to fruition yet, but the Coyotes have been pursuing free-agent defenseman Matt Dumba from the get-go.

— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) July 3, 2023

It makes sense with Armstrong trying to transition from the “tanking for Bedard” mode to the next gear to gain some momentum and come out of the rebuild. The team wants to gain some traction and signing the players he has indicates the motivation to excel this next season. They played really well at Mullett arena with a respectable 21-15-5 record. Where they need to improve is their less-than-admirable road record of 7-25-9, which was the worst in the NHL.

Adding Dumba will cost with his estimated contract set at $4.4 million for three years. He had just four goals and 10 assists last season while participating in 79 games. His career stats show 79 goals and 157 assists in 598 games. He could be that stabilizer on the blue line that the team needs, along with his veteran leadership.

Elliotte Friedman of sportsnet.ca mentioned on his 32 Thoughts podcast, that unrestricted free agent defenseman Matt Dumba could be a target for the Arizona Coyotes, who could use some veterans to insulate their young core.

“Matt Dumba has not signed yet, I think this could be where he ends up,” Friedman said. “Arizona has a spot open and I think he’s a player they have interest in.”

Friedman did not rule out Dumba settling for another destination but maintained that Arizona is holding out hope it can secure the 28-year-old’s services.

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