NHL Rumors: Vegas Golden Knights, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens

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

In this Sunday edition of NHL Rumors, we will examine the Vegas Golden Knights, Ottawa Senators, and the Montreal Canadiens.

NHL rumors in this edition include:

Will the Habs move on from defenseman Alec Martinez? Which two players will the Senators need to move to make some cap space? What will the Habs do with Mike Hoffman?

Vegas Golden Knights – Alec Martinez

Rumor: Per – Jesse Granger – theathletic.com. With cap space always an issue, will Martinez be moved? 

At 36, Martinez still has one year left on his contract calling for a $5.25 million cap hit. The Golden Knights’ cap space is set at -$4.15 million, and even counting the $5 million salary of Robin Lehner being on LTIR, they will have less than $1 million in cap space to make any moves. The progression of both Nicolas Hague and Zach Whitecloud allows the Vegas club the opportunity to move on from Martinez. 

According to Granger, “I think Hague and Whitecloud are already at the point at which they’re capable of playing top-four roles. Hague has already done it quite a bit, playing alongside Alex Pietrangelo on the top pair for long stretches. In the playoffs, he was actually second on the team in even strength ice time with 16:58 per game. That pair regularly played big minutes against top lines. They’ve arrived.”

There is no doubt that Martinez is a big part of this championship team, yet it may be time to consider moving him at his age and the price of his contract. The Vegas team is evolving and going younger must be a consideration for the future.

Ottawa Senators – Two players to trade to help with cap issues

Rumor: Per – James Wilson – nhltraderumors.me. The Ottawa Senators are facing a cap space crunch following their recent signing of Vladimir Tarasenko.

To keep restricted free-agent center Shane Pinto‘s future with the team, they must check out cost-cutting options, considering trades for defenseman Erik Brannstrom and goaltender Anton Forsberg.

Erik Brannstrom goes coast to coast and snipes one home for a terrific goal, putting the Sens back up by 2!#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/PKpxfAnZtT

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 24, 2023

Brannstrom has a $2 million cap hit and will be a restricted free agent after this next season. He had a decent 2022-23 season with two goals and 16 assists in 74 games. Forsberg has a $2.75 million salary through the 2024-25 campaign. He could be expendable with prospect Mads Søgaard taking over the backup role behind newly acquired Joonas Korpisalo in net.

The Sens certainly want to keep Shane Pinto on the roster and to do that, they must create some cap space. They currently sit at $895,953 in cap space which will not do it to sign a player of Pinto’s capabilities. Losing Brannstrom may sting a bit, but signing Tarasenko became a must with the departure of Alex DeBrincat. Brannstrom will undoubtedly bring back a good return in any deal, so it makes perfect sense to see what his market value will be in a prospective trade.

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Montreal Canadiens – Mike Hoffman

Rumor: Per – Arpen Basy – theathletic.com. What will the Habs do with Mike Hoffman? Could he realistically be waived?

According to Basy: “I would expect Joel Armia to be in the opening night lineup, but I don’t feel nearly as confident about Mike Hoffman. I think there’s a very real possibility he gets waived and assigned to Laval. Roster spots for young forwards are at a premium, and I don’t think Canadiens management is willing to allow a development opportunity pass them by with the slight hope that playing Hoffman could lead to a trade at the deadline.”

This doesn’t sound too encouraging for Hoffman’s future in Montreal. His tenure in Montreal has not been worth his $4.5 million contract. He has tallied 29 goals, 40 assists in 134 games. His days of being a dominant goal scorer seem to be slipping away. From 2014 to 2020, he averaged 28 goals a season. Over the last three years, he has only managed 46 goals. Whether or not the Habs see fit to waive him as a solution is yet to be determined, he faces plenty of competition for a forward roster spot. To buy out his contract, it would cost the Canadiens $3.33 million, with a savings of only $1.67 million.

The status of goalie Carey Price and his $10.5 million cap hit doesn’t appear to be changing. That will provide must-needed cap relief, but Hoffman may just be spending the next season in the AHL or on another NHL team. Playing time for younger players will be the priority, and for Hoffman, his usefulness as a forward may be coming to an end.

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