Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! Teams are always looking to improve. Now that the trade deadline has passed, they are looking toward the postseason and next season. The teams will evaluate free agents over the next three months until free agency begins on July 1st.
In this Wednesday’s edition of NHL Rumors, we will examine the Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, and St. Louis Blues.
NHL rumors in this edition include:
With the Flyers hanging onto a playoff spot, was it a good tactic for head coach John Tortorella to call out his team? What does the future hold for the Red Wings? Will the Blues begin a retool this offseason?
Philadelphia Flyers – John Tortorella
Rumor: Per – Nathan Grella – sportskeeda.com. Following a poor performance against the Islanders, Tortorella slammed his team’s play, highlighting their second-period performance as “embarrassing.”
Torts can be a forceful head coach that either works for you or burns you. His disappointment was evident, with his team barely hanging onto a playoff berth. Yes, these professional athletes are paid excessive salaries to get the job done. It’s Tortorella’s job to motivate them and call them out when they don’t do their jobs. He is spot on when getting that message across to his players.
John Tortorella came out swinging postgame:
“There are certain people that they don’t have a clue how to play, or just don’t have it in them to play in these type of situations.”
“That was embarrassing in the 2nd period for the Philadelphia Flyer uniform the way we played.”
On… pic.twitter.com/Bxz5J5gOaY
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) April 2, 2024
The Flyers have had their issues this season, yet nobody ever expected them to even be in a playoff hunt. They lost their starting goalie, Carter Hart, when he and others surrendered to London, Ont., police to face charges of sexual assault. They have had injuries and also traded top defenseman Sean Walker.
Breaking: Five members of the 2018 world junior hockey team have been told to surrender to London, Ont., police to face charges of sexual assault, The Globe and Mail reports, citing unnamed sources.
The Globe reports the players, who have not been charged yet, have been given a…— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) January 24, 2024
Tortorella knows his team is close, and he is who he is… will his tactic work, or will this only worsen things? We will soon find out. They have six games remaining, and the Washington Capitals are one point behind them with nine games left.
Detroit Red Wings – Playoff hopes/future
Rumor: Per – Max Bultman – theathletic.com. With just seven games remaining, can the Red Wings make the playoffs?
Of those seven games, they must face the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Toronto Maple Leafs—not easy games by any means. Detroit has plenty of players who can score. It has 13 players in double digits, including 11 of the 12 forwards it dresses nightly. Are they overworking Moritz Seider? He averages 22:13 minutes a game. Even if he is young, there comes a burnout point for some players.
If the Wings fail to qualify for the postseason in the future, are we looking at a coaching change? Suppose the Red Wings continue their free fall from a Stanley Cup playoff position. In that case, Yzerman might consider a change in his coach in the offseason. If that is indeed the route he decides to take, the man at the top of the list of desirable candidates on Yzerman’s shortlist would be former St. Louis Blues coach Craig Berube.
It is a perfect fit for Berube, who will have some options as head coaching positions open up after the season ends.
St. Louis Blues – Retool?
Rumor: Per – Jim Rutherford – theathletic.com. Are the Blues planning a major shakeup this summer?
Rutherford thinks the Blues could move from Sammy Blais, Kasperi Kapanen, and Marco Scandella. It seems up in the air if the Blues will deal Pavel Buchnevich. He has a $5.8 million cap hit through next season, with a modified no-trade clause. Buchnevich was involved in NHL rumors before the trade deadline, and if the Blues miss the playoffs, he could be a valuable trade asset. He has tallied 26 goals and 32 assists this season.
Rutherford: If Blues trade Buchnevich, it’s time to start calling this a rebuild.https://t.co/DGcoOvq4LN #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) March 7, 2024
What about young Jake Neighbours? Rutherford says, “Based on what we’ve seen this season, I don’t think we can put a ceiling on him yet. He’s scored 25 goals going into Thursday’s game, and he’s just 21 years old. I think it’s fair to say that he could be a 30-goal scorer in the league, if not a few more, for years to come.”
On trading Jordan Binnington, he stated, “It all depends on this: Does Armstrong still want to put a competitive team on the ice in 2024-25, or does he want to focus two or three years down the road? That is no disrespect to Joel Hofer; I think he’s been terrific. But remember, it’s not just about Hofer starting 50 to 55 games. And if Hofer is doing that, who’s playing the other 20 to 25 games and giving you what Hofer is giving you now? So, if Armstrong wants to be competitive, keep Binnington. But if Armstrong and fans aren’t opposed to this process taking a little longer, I think they could get a nice return from clubs that would become Stanley Cup contenders with Binnington in the crease.”
One thing is sure: with GM Doug Armstrong, you never know what he has up his sleeve.
This edition of NHL rumors concludes. Be sure to catch our next article, and thanks for reading!