NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The 2022-23 regular season is more than halfway done and players will be evaluated. Now, with the trade deadline past, the focus becomes what deals may go down this summer? What about free agency?

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 over for now, but teams will be gearing up for the playoffs. In this Sunday edition of NHL Rumors, we will look at the Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Ducks, and the Arizona Coyotes.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Auston Matthews

Rumor: Per – Andy Strickland – #stlblues. On the Cam & Strick podcast, asked could the reigning MVP be on the move this summer?

Could the reigning MVP be on the move this summer? 👀🔥

Comment your teams best offer for Auston Matthews ⬇️💰 pic.twitter.com/wc5SuQMlqR

— The Cam & Strick Podcast (@CamandStrick) March 8, 2023

It was brought up that if the Maple Leafs fail to sign Auston Matthews this year, then they may have to move him. The thought of losing a player of Matthews caliber for nothing would freak out Toronto fans so much, they would all need to seek therapy. He will become the highest-paid NHL player by the time his contract worth $11.634 million deal expires at the end of the 2023-24 season.

Let’s face it, every NHL team who could afford him at the going price of $13-14 million will be after his services. That would include as of now according to capfriendly.com, about nine teams. The three top teams with enough current cap space would be the Chicago Blackhawks with $41.2 million, the Anaheim Ducks with $40.9 million, and the New Jersey Devils with $35.6 million. Of course, many factors can contribute to the amount of cap space each team has with trades, free agent signings taken into account.

When one considers the Maple Leafs always present cap issues, it becomes rather clear that unless the cap limits rise significantly the Leafs won’t have enough to pay Matthews $13-14 million. With their present cap space and taking into consideration the re-signing of players they would be at about $87.8 million WITHOUT including Matthews’ salary. That would put them $4.3 million OVER the cap limit excluding what Matthews would demand.

Now, IF the Toronto club can go deep into the playoffs, or win the Cup, they will most certainly keep #34 around. If, on the other hand, they take another early exit, Matthews would become the most sought after player on the trade market. This could be very interesting and would dominate NHL rumors this offseason.

Anaheim Ducks – John Gibson

Rumor: Per – Pierre LeBrun – theathletic.com. The Ducks netminder may become more attractive over the summer to playoff teams who didn’t go all the way this season.

Gibson, who is 30 will be halfway through his eight-year $51.2 million deal. With a $6.4 million cap hit and teams having more cap flexibility this offseason, will he be traded? He holds a 12-team modified no-trade clause and could certainly find some success on a better team. The Ducks are dead last in goals allowed with a terrible 3.98 goals per game average. Putting some improved defense in front of GIbson will surely help his statistics.

Goalies don’t typically get traded much but even before the trade deadline but we saw a goalie swap between the Los Angeles Kings and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

LeBrun mentioned he knew of a few clubs who may have discussed Gibson internally, but nothing transpired. That could change over the summer as trade activity typically increases. This may be it for Gibson to join a team with Cup aspirations as the Ducks are nowhere near that level even if they become fortunate enough to draft one Connor Bedard. If Gibson could head to a team like the Pittsburgh Penguins, his fortunes could instantly become uplifted.

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Arizona Coyotes – Nick Schmaltz

Rumor – Per Pierre LeBrun – theathletic.com. The Yotes didn’t trade Schmaltz, although there were rumors of a possibility of it happening.

Schmaltz who is 27 years old, has a reasonable contract at $5.85 million AAV. The problem is it is backloaded with $24.45 million due in the final three years. That makes him need to be paid $8.15 million per year in cash value. Why is that important? Because NHL teams are still cap strapped after a crippling pandemic that saw empty seats and little revenue.

Now, Schmaltz is averaging 0.94 points a game as he was last season. The important issue is that he is injured quite a bit. In the five years he has been in Arizona, he has only participated in 251 games, not including the remainder of the current season. In fact, he has missed 16 games this season due to injuries. So, he’s one of those players who is great when he’s healthy.

It may depend on what other teams may offer for Schmaltz to allow GM Bill Armstrong to move him. One thing is certain, if the Coyotes were to trade Schmaltz, Clayton Keller would have a fit. The two players have connected quite often on the team’s top line. The duo has combined for 27 scoring plays between them. More than likely, Schmaltz will remain a Coyote. With the expected addition of Logan Cooley, a projected first line of Schmaltz, Keller and Cooley would definitely be a sight to witness.

That concludes this edition of NHL rumors. Be sure to catch our next article, and as always thanks for reading!