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 Sunday’s edition of NHL Rumors, we will examine the Salt Lake City/Arizona team, the Boston Bruins, and the Philadelphia Flyers.
NHL rumors in this edition include:
How aggressive will the new Salt Lake City team be in free agency and trades once the Coyotes sale is completed? Is Patrick Kane headed to Boston? Will John Tortorella be going to the Flyers’ front office?
Salt Lake City – Free agency/trades
Rumor: Per – Elliotte Friedman – sportsnet.ca. For some time now, Arizona has indicated it will be aggressive. And now, everybody is starting to see why.
With the pending sale of the Arizona Coyotes to Ryan Smith, owner of the NBA Utah Jazz, the new franchise is getting lots of cap space to make changes. The Coyotes/SLC team looks to have over $41 million to sign free agents and make a splash in free agency. What does that mean? Free agents such as Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Sam Reinhart, and Jake Guentzel may be within their reach.
And don’t forget that the Coyotes have a goldmine of draft picks going forward. Over the next three years, they have accumulated 20 picks within the first three rounds. They can only have 50 players signed to contracts, so you know there will be some wheeling and dealing.
While the relocation is definitely painful for the Arizona fanbase, in the long run, it will be a well-deserved relief from all the drama that has accumulated in the desert. Per Friedman, “Ryan Smith is not going to bring a team to Utah that’s going to be under-funded and playing with one hand tied behind its back,” he continued. “He’s got a team that’s growing, he’s got a team that’s got a lot of good, young players and picks and prospects, and he’s gonna sell them on, ‘You know what? Everything that you went through for the last few years, you’re not going to be going through that anymore. You’re gonna be taken care of.'”
Ultimately, the Coyotes’ fate was determined by their inability to obtain an arena solution. Alex Meruelo didn’t deliver as he promised, and the NHL couldn’t wait any longer.
Boston Bruins – Patrick Kane
Rumor: Per – Jimmy Murphy – bostonhockeynow.com. With over $21 million in cap space, the Bruins may look to add the future Hall-of-Famer.
“I think just with the situation I was in and coming in and being here for maybe three-quarters of the season or whatever it was, it’s just this year, and then we’ll see what happens,” Kane said.
“I haven’t really thought about it much,” Kane added. “Obviously, it’s in the back of your mind. It’s gonna come up eventually. Obviously, it’s not an easy decision on deciding where you want to play where you think you’d fit best. Hopefully, all that stuff figures itself out.”
There were rumors last offseason that GM Don Sweeney wanted to add Kane to his roster, but the cap space he had to work with didn’t allow it. Kane has recovered remarkably from his hip surgery. He has collected 20 goals for the 16th time in his 17-year NHL career. He has 46 points in 48 games in Detroit this season. If Sweeney can’t come to terms with winger Jake DeBrusk, he would certainly consider adding Kane to his lineup. The thing is, Kane won’t sign for $2.75 million as he did with the Red Wings. He will want and certainly deserves more.
As the Detroit Red Wings fight for the last playoff spot, Kane added an assist to Dylan Larkin’s game winning overtime goal to keep the Wings relevant. It’s plays like that that intrigue Sweeney to have Patrick Kane on his squad.
Philadelphia Flyers – John Tortorella
Rumor: Per – Kevin Kurtz – theathletic.com. The ample speculation that Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella could move into a front-office role at some point got ramped up again recently.
Tortorella’s final season in Columbus in 2020-21, he requested a transition into management rather than continuing to serve as the team’s coach. But then-general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen rejected the proposition, and Tortorella departed after the season.
According to former #CBJ GM Doug MacLean, John Tortorella parted ways with #CBJ because he wanted to move into management in his last year, but Kekalainen wouldn’t allow it. Says he wouldn’t be surprised if torts moves into #LetsGoFlyers management as soon as after this year. pic.twitter.com/1f4fdzeho1
— John Puck (@johnpuck1992) March 24, 2024
If the Flyers indeed end up on the outside of the playoff picture, that’s going to leave some sour tastes in people’s mouths. And some of Tortorella’s decisions and actions — like getting kicked out of a road game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and suspended for two games, harshly criticizing the team after a loss to the New York Islanders on April 1, scratching captain Sean Couturier for two games, and overplaying goalie Samuel Ersson — are going to be fairly scrutinized.
If Torts moves to the front office, someone like Craig Berube may be an excellent replacement. He knows Keith Jones (president of hockey operations) quite well and has been seen at Flyers’ games. Moving Tortorella to the front office from behind the bench may be the best decision.
That concludes this edition of NHL rumors. Be sure to catch our next article, and thanks for reading!