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Ek’s Note: As I continue to finalize the rumor chart today, Hockeybuzz Columnist Kevin Allen jumps into my spot with this great article...
Here are 15 moves NHL teams or players should make this summer:
1. Oilers acquire a credible goalie under age 39. Elvis Merzlikins? Joonas Korpisalo? Maybe put a call into the Islanders about Semyon Varlamov. Talk to UFA’s Linus Ullmark and Freddie Andersen.
2. Penguins need to get bigger, stronger and more physical. Someone has to go. It could be Jake Guentzel. The Penguins will move Jason Zucker.
3. Edmonton general manager Ken Holland should try to come up with enough assets for Detroit’s Steve Yzerman to take James Neal’s contract off his hands to open up more cap space. With his team still a couple of years away from competing, Yzerman will eat bad contracts in exchange for assets that will help him.
4. Buffalo Sabres should shake up about half of their roster, just like Florida did last offseason. Identify your core players and then work around the edges of the roster to change it up.
Start by looking around the AHL for some guys who are hard to play against like Ryan Lomborg.
5. Carolina Hurricanes should also talk to Ullmark and Andersen about sharing the net with Alex Nedeljkovic. It’s time to move beyond Petr Mrazek.
6. The Penguins should explore the goalie market. They might find a better option than Tristan Jarry.
7. Colorado Avalanche should look trade Devon Toews or Samuel Girard. The three defenseman keepers for the expansion draft are Erik Johnson, Cale Makar and one of those two players. Johnson must be kept because he’s got a no-movement clause. He’s also very popular with the fan base. Would advise against negotiating with Seattle not to take one of those. The lesson learned from the Vegas expansion is that the players given up (Alex Tuch and Shea Theodore for example) are a bigger loss than what would have occurred had the expansion team taken the player. Better to trade with a neutral party.
8. Blue Jackets should call the Capitals about Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Blue Jackets need an offensive center and the Caps need to clear cap space. He has a modified no-trade clause. Maybe he would like to play in Columbus.
9. Flames should finally trade Johnny Gaudreau. It’s time for both parties.
10. Seattle should use the No. 2 pick draft University of Michigan center Matty Beniers, a hard-working, two-way player who could be the coach’s favorite for a decade.
11. Sabres should hire Don Granato permanently as head coach. He’s a good fit, especially for the younger players. He can teach and coach.
12. Rangers should hire Rick Tocchet. He will improve the team’s defensive play and be thankful to have the offense he didn’t have in Arizona.
13.Flyers should be aggressive in trying to acquire Seth Jones from Columbus. Imagine an Ivan Provorov-Seith Jones pairing.
14. Dougie Hamilton should stay put in Carolina. The Hurricanes and the Carolina fan base appreciates him more than the Bruins and Flames did.
15. Oilers should re-sign Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Adam Larsson and then call the Rangers about Anthony DeAngelo. Fans want the Nugent-Hopkins cap money to be used for two players. I think the Oilers would miss Nugent-Hopkins contributions.
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