In today’s NHL rumors rundown, are the Pittsburgh Penguins planning a fire sale? If so, who is all available? Meanwhile, outside of J.T. Miller, what names are being linked to a trade between the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers? What has made this such a complicated deal to get done? Finally, was Connor McDavid right to retaliate against Conor Garland?
Penguins Set to Hold Fire Sale?
According to Marco D’Amico of RG.org, the Pittsburgh Penguins are getting set to hold a “fire sale” ahead of the NHL trade deadline. There are a few names off-limits, but the Penguins are reportedly open to trading everyone else.
Captain Sidney Crosby, veterans Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust, and young players Philip Tomasino and Owen Pickering are reportedly the only players the Penguins won’t trade. Names like Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang could be shopped, along with expiring contracts like Matt Grzelcyk, Marcus Pettersson, and others. They’re also open to moving players with term remaining on their contracts, such as Rickard Rakell, Michael Bunting, Kevin Hayes, and Noel Acciari.
The Penguins will retain salary on one more player if it helps.
Canucks and Rangers Trade Complicated
Elliotte Friedman is reporting as part of his latest 32 Thoughts podcast that things have gotten complicated when it comes to a J.T. Miller trade. Friedman reports, “I had heard that Miller had asked for a trade, had finally said ‘Just get me out of here’, but that was denied to me,” said Friedman. “A specific trade request was denied to me by several people.”
It is expected that this will still get done, but when is not known. It is not believed Miller was the one who stopped a trade. He is open to it, per several reports. It could be that the two sides can’t figure out which pieces to include.
Related: Maple Leafs News & Rumors: Matthews, Tavares, McCabe & Woll
Vincent Mercogliano of USA Today Sports tweeted on Sunday, “It’s fairly well known that Vancouver has asked for Braden Schneider” and the Rangers have repeatedly said no to this point. Following Larry Brooks’ report that Mika Zibanejad is not part of the trade discussions, Mercogliano says that Alexis Lafrenière also feels like a bridge too far.
He notes, “But a name at least one source believes was involved in most recent trade talks: Filip Chytil. It’s unclear if Canucks want to go down that road given his injury history, but…
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