NHL Rumors: Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Avalanche

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 Sunday edition of NHL Rumors, we will look at the Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, and the Colorado Avalanche.

Will Evan Bouchard be offer sheeted? Two Canadiens’ players who could be on the move. How will the Avs replace Gabriel Landeskog this upcoming season?

Edmonton Oilers – Evan Bouchard

Rumor: Per – Josh Wegman – thescore.com. Three teams that should sign Oilers’ Bouchard to an offer sheet.

The highly underused ploy of signing a young NHL player to an offer sheet has some merits, yet is hardly ever used. Bouchard has played extremely well gathering 83 points over the last two seasons. He didn’t stop in the postseason either collecting 26 points in 28 games. While that is good for the Oilers, what’s not so great is that he is a restricted free agent and hasn’t been signed yet. That could be due to the Edmonton club having just $5.6 million in cap space. The projected contract for Bouchard’s services could run the team $5.47 million AAV over a six-year term.

But, what if another team signs him to an offer sheet worth $8.58 million for five years? It would cost the prospective team a first-, second-, and third-round pick in 2024. See, that’s why it’s not too popular. For Bouchard, that would be ideal, since he could still become an unrestricted free agent at the ripe age of 28.

So which teams could be thinking of signing the up-and-coming defenseman to an offer sheet?

• Buffalo Sabres – Adding another cornerstone defenseman to a blue line that already features a pair of No. 1 picks in Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power would be dynamite. A righty in Bouchard to complement lefties Dahlin, Power, and Mattias Samuelsson (an underrated defender locked up for seven years) would be ideal, too. The Sabres should be ripe for making the playoffs for the first time in… well forever and adding Bouchard would be icing on the cake.
• Carolina Hurricanes – Don Waddell is the only active GM to have signed a player to an offer sheet, having stolen Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the Montreal Canadiens in 2021. The Canes have even less cap space than Edmonton with only $2.52 million to attract Bouchard. If they can find a way to get double the amount of space they currently possess, they can make a run at Bouchard. The Hurricanes are already an excellent defensive team allowing just 2.56 goals a game, second-best in the league.
• Seattle Kraken – The Kraken have $9 million in cap space which gives them an advantage in perhaps getting Bouchard to join them. The Seattle club could use Bouchard and even if they don’t get him, that means their division foe, the Oilers will be put in a corner with cap space issues. Seems like a win-win for the Kraken.

Montreal Canadiens – Two forwards who could be traded

Rumor: Per – Michael DeRosa – nhltraderumors.me. The two forwards are not in the Habs long-term future.

Eric Engels has stated that the two forwards may be moved before the offseason ends. Teams who missed out on the free-agent frenzy starting on July 1st, may be interested in adding them to their rosters.

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Hoffman, 33, appeared in 67 games last season with the Canadiens, adding 14 goals and 34 points. Although his days as a top-six forward are over, he could still be a decent third-line scoring forward for a team looking for a boost. Armia had seven goals and seven assists in 43 games and could be a valuable, energetic fourth-line contributor.

Hoffman has a $4.5 million cap hit through next season and Armia’s deal is for $3.4 million good through the 2024/25 season. Gaining some cap space is always a good thing, especially if you are already $3.5 million over the cap limit.

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Colorado Avalanche – Wanted: Gabriel Landeskog replacement

Rumor: Per – Rob Couch – nhltraderumors.me. There could be three options to fill the gap left by Landeskog’s injury.

Could Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, or Tomas Tatar do the trick? While Kane won’t even sign with a team until he is over his offseason surgery, he would be an awesome replacement for Landeskog. We will need to wait and see how his recovery goes.

Tarasenko had been involved in NHL rumors for a bit and was rumored to be heading to the Carolina Hurricanes until he decided to hire a new agent. Now, we wait to see where he ends up. One thing is certain, he would look really good in an Av’s uniform.

Tomas Tatar recorded 20 goals and 48 points in 82 games. He could certainly help the offensive power of the Colorado club.

Of course, the Avs would much rather have their captain back on the ice contributing. Every player recovers from injuries at a different pace so we will need to wait and see how Landeskog does.

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