NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The NHL preseason games have begun and players will be evaluated. Now, with free agency moves mostly done, rumors are still around. Clubs are always working to improve their rosters for next season. Some teams are having difficulty creating enough cap space to make moves. Others are experiencing severe injuries to star players. The new 2022-23 season began on October 7th, and trade rumors/signings are still prevalent. In this Sunday’s edition of NHL Rumors, we will take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, and the Chicago Blackhawks. These will be bold predictions as formulated by Frank Seravalli of dailyfaceoff.com.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Auston Matthews

Rumor: Per – Frank Seravalli – dailyfaceoff.com. Auston Matthews will sign the NHL’s first-ever max contract to stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs: eight years x $16.7 million.

Yes, after Nathan MacKinnon made the news about his $12.6 million contract for eight years, Matthews will outdo that by a large margin. And, why not? He’s shown his worth last season by scoring 60 goals and 46 assists in 73 games. Had he played all 82 games he would have had 67 goals and 52 assists. That should definitely be worth a max contract of 20 percent of the team’s salary cap. That explains the smile on Matthews’ face.

Now, whether that will be enough money left over for other players may or may not be a headache for GM Kyle Dubas. That is true because another of Seravalli’s predictions is that Dubas will be leaving the Leafs after his contract, which expires after the 2022-23 season. No doubt he will have multiple teams after him. Does this mean that the Toronto club will again not go past the first round? Not according to Seravalli’s prediction. He thinks they will FINALLY reach the second round… he didn’t say if they will go any further. They really should, but who knows with this team’s past failures.

New York Rangers – Patrick Kane

Rumor – Per – Frank Seravalli – dailyfaceoff.com. Patrick Kane will be traded to the New York Rangers.

Let’s face it, Kane wants to win another Cup, and being reunited with his buddy Artemi Panarin will certainly increase the Rangers odds of doing that. Seravalli even predicts that Kane will sign an extension. And, why not? He produced another fantastic season with 26 goals, 66 assists to lead the dismal Chicago Blackhawks in 2021-22. Just imagine what he can do with Panarin on his wing. Add in Mika Zibanejad to that line and it spells instant offense. Panarin had 22 goals, 74 assists and Zibanejad had 29 goals, 52 assists.

Kane wants to win a fourth Cup, and his chances of doing so with New York are exceptional. Kane will definitely make the Rangers an instant favorite to take it all. There have been lots of rumors about him being traded here and there, but it is up to him as he decides his own fate. Winning a Cup in New York should be on his mind. One has to admit the combination of Panarin and Kane would be dynamite. Now, the Rangers need to determine how to make it happen.

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Chicago Blackhawks – Connor Bedard

Rumor: Per – Frank Seravalli – dailyfaceoff.com. The Chicago Blackhawks win the 2023 Draft Lottery and earn the right to select generational talent Connor Bedard. 

It seems like with the poor luck that the Arizona Coyotes have had getting the first overall pick, Chicago should be a sure bet. This becomes especially true if the Patrick Kane prediction comes to fruition. No doubt in any trade conversation, the Blackhawks will strongly hold out for draft picks to supplement their rebuilding process. Could this be why the Rangers accepted a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick in the deal which sent Nils Lundkvist to the Dallas Stars?

Chicago adding Bedard would definitely augment their rebuild in a huge fashion. The 17-year-old is ranked first by five different ranking experts. Chicago, just like Arizona are hoping to add him to their roster next summer. The Blackhawks have their own first round selection, plus the top-ten protected 2023 and 2024 first-round choices from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Brandon Hagel trade. The Hawks have six picks in the first three rounds for the next two seasons. Even with some of the choices being conditional, they have set themselves up well to draft some players with potential to make them a contending team again in a few years. Adding Bedard would be an additionally exceptional occurrence for the Windy CIty club.

That concludes this edition of NHL rumors. We will continue with some additional predictions for the upcoming season in our next article on Wednesday. You won’t want to miss it! Thanks for reading.