NHL Rumors: Barry Trotz, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The 2022-23 regular season is one-quarter done and players will be evaluated. Now, with the trade deadline quickly approaching, 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. Trade rumors/signings are still prevalent. In this Sunday edition of NHL Rumors, we will take a look at Barry Trotz, the St. Louis Blues, and the Washington Capitals.

Barry Trotz – Landing Spots

Rumor: Per – Bleacher Report Staff – bleacherreport.com. Trotz just so happens to be the hottest coaching free agent out there.

He’s a former Stanley Cup winner and a two-time recipient of the Jack Adams Award, an honor given to the NHL’s best coach. There are a handful of struggling NHL teams who could use his knowledge and experience if he decides to get back into coaching/management. Let’s run down the list.

• Nashville Predators – Current head coach John Hynes just signed a two-year deal. He has been steady and gotten the Predators to the postseason in each of his first three seasons, but they’re a combined 3-11 in those games and haven’t advanced past the first round. The temptation to bring back a very popular Trotz to Music City is always there. He could even take over for GM David Poile who may retire soon. If anyone can take the Preds deep into the playoffs, it would be Trotz.
• Anaheim Ducks – Trotz has proven he can take an expansion team like the Preds to new heights, so why couldn’t he do likewise with the floundering Ducks? Dallas Eakins has not done the job with the team finishing sixth or lower during his reign. Add in that Trotz would be inheriting young talents like Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry and the intrigue begins to build. Then, he could also luck out and get Connor Bedard. Hmm… very interesting.
• St. Louis Blues – This team has NOT lived up to preseason predictions at all. They sit sixth in the Central Division with a 12-15 record just four points ahead of the rebuilding Arizona Coyotes who have two games in hand on them. Trotz can certainly fix their poor 3.89 goals allowed per game issues. While Berube had his success, it seems time for some fresh ideas, and Trotz has plenty of them.
• New York Rangers – The Rangers stand at 14-10-5 which puts them in the last wild-card spot. Not really what was expected of them, and it can’t all be put on the shoulders of head coach Gord Gallant. Again, Trotz can get the Rangers to be more defensively responsible.

What’s the panic level in New York? @AGretz checks in on the Rangers. 🍎 https://t.co/S6w1kcRkv2 pic.twitter.com/trWHYV35PR

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 4, 2022

• Front Office Gig – Trotz is perfectly qualified to be a GM, and he’s already got a good relationship with other NHL teams. When making deals, he would be trusted. Barry has earned it, so some team will take him as their GM.

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St. Louis Blues – Ryan O’Reilly

Rumor: Per –  Joe Yerdon – bleacherreport.com. Five NHL teams who should trade for Ryan O’Reilly.

The talented center who is always good for 50-60 points a season and who is responsible defensively should attract some interest from other teams. Which in turn creates NHL rumors.

Teams like the Florida Panthers who could have a front line of Aleksander Barkov, Anton Lundell and O’Reilly. While it seems too good to be true for the Panthers, it’s because it is. They have traded away their first-round picks in 2023, 2024, and 2025. They have traded away some vital trade capital and it would be difficult to get O’Reilly.

The New Jersey Devils could also come looking for O’Reilly. He could add some insurance to a team with loads of talent already. The Devils could offer draft picks and prospects to make it fly. O’Reilly’s veteran expertise would make the Devils pretty unstoppable.

The Edmonton Oilers could also be interested in O’Reilly. His defensive prowess would be appreciated greatly by superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. He would match up well in the playoffs against Nazem Kadri, Anze Kopitar or Jack Eichel. With Evander Kane possibly out for the season, O’Reilly would be a nice piece to get the Oilers to the Cup Final.

The Dallas Stars are another team where O’Reilly would fit nicely. It would allow them to have a better three-line attack and take some pressure off of aging (but still doing it) Joe Pavelski. Dallas could always offer up some of their NHL and AHL players to make a deal work. The Stars are starting to shine, and O’Reilly would augment that in a huge way.

The Colorado Avalanche could also revere O’Reilly in a return. He played 427 games at the beginning of his NHL career in Colorado and was traded. That was a while ago, and now that the Avs have won a Cup, O’Reilly could surely help them win another. Look at him as insurance against Nathan MacKinnon getting injured. Having O’Reilly to step in would be a large improvement to a team who is hurting at the moment.

Washington Capitals – Brock Boeser

Rumor: Per – Elliotte Friedman – sportsnet.ca. Would a Boeser for Anthony Mantha trade work?

21 this week, including a team that needs (and deserves some help). 32 Thoughts, written version: https://t.co/QFMjTXvra4

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 8, 2022

Could the banged-up Colorado lineup be in the market for a center? It certainly wouldn’t hurt. The two players have about equal salaries with Mantha earning $5.7 million and Boeser $6.65 million. With the Caps not certain when or if Niklas Backstrom may return, they need to replace him. This prospective trade from Friedman could help both clubs. The Capitals need an infusion of something to get them going. They are currently sitting outside a wild-card spot.

The Canucks are a mess, and can possibly be trading their captain Bo Horvat along with Boeser. Changes are coming to Vancouver, and none too soon.

That does it for this edition of NHL rumors. Be sure to check out our next article, and as always, thanks for reading!

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