NHL Rumors: Pittsburgh Penguins, Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The 2022-23 regular season is just about done and players will be evaluated. Now, with the trade deadline past, the focus shifts toward deals that 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 Pittsburgh Penguins, Winnipeg Jets, and the Vancouver Canucks.

Pittsburgh Penguins – Time to Clean House?

Rumor: Per – Dan Kingerski – pittsburghhockeynow.com. General manager Ron Hextall and his staff should be questioned by their bosses over the rebuilding side of Hextall’s plan.

This doesn’t involve trade rumors, but the Penguins will be worth watching in the offseason. There’s no doubt that they have not improved compared to last season. They’re the oldest team in the league and have played like it on too many nights this season. Making the playoffs should save Hextall’s job but that’s not a certainty with the Florida Panthers nipping at the Penguins’ heels. Hextall’s been feeling the heat from fans and pundits (like Kingerski) over the course of this season. That should be concerning to the club’s owners. This especially holds true if the Pens miss the playoffs after qualifying for 16 straight seasons.

Kingerski believes head coach Mike Sullivan’s job is safe but the Penguins need a retooling of the veteran players surrounding Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. “No one should be safe, including Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust and Jeff Petry.” However, he acknowledged Jeff Carter and his $3.125 million cap hit will be back next season.

Winnipeg Jets – What’s wrong with Mark Scheifele?

Rumor: Per – Mike McIntyre – winnipegfreepress.com. Mark Scheifele’s offensive struggles have contributed to the club’s slide in the standings in recent weeks. 

Scheifele’s play is a big reason why there are rumblings around the league that the Jets could undergo a major makeover this offseason. That’s especially true with Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Connor Hellebuyck and Pierre-Luc Dubois all a year away from unrestricted free agency.

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff must finally accept that the Jets have gone as far as they can with this core and it may be time to make some changes. Scheifele and Wheeler are most likely to go, as well as Dubois if he’s unwilling to sign a long-term extension. He has stated he’s like to play for the Montreal Canadiens.

Cheveldayoff could be reluctant to move Hellebuyck as reliable starting goalies are difficult to find these days. Nevertheless, he should also determine whether the former Vezina Trophy winner still fits within the Jets’ long-term plans. The winds of change seem headed to the Winnipeg area, especially if they falter and miss the postseason, or get eliminated early in the playoffs.

Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers or Josh Morrissey seem safe since they have several years remaining on their contracts. Building around those three players and developing young players like Chaz Lucius, Rutger McGroarty and Brad Lambert seems to be the best plan going forward.

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Vancouver Canucks – Conor Garland

Rumor: Per – Michael DeRosa – nhltraderumors.me. Three potential destinations for forward Conor Garland.

• Boston Bruins – He was rumored to be heading to Boston before he was dealt to the Canucks. Being that he is a hometown (Scituate, Massachusetts) guy, it seems a no-brainer to acquire him. The Bruins will have five unrestricted free agents and two restricted free agents, so there could be room in their cap budget to add the feisty forward. If the Canucks were to retain some salary, that may just seal the deal. He’s having a down season (14-G, 27-A) and could be revitalized playing in Boston.
• Columbus Blue Jackets – The Blue Jackets are just horrible this season, and adding a right-winger with some flare may just be what they need. They have the cap space to take on his $4.95 million deal good for the next three seasons.
• Detroit Red Wings – The Wings are heading in the correct direction and adding a middle-six forward like Garland would be exceptional. They certainly have the cap space to do so with $29.7 million to work with to acquire a playoff-caliber team. Steve Yzerman will work his magic and it may just include acquiring Garland which could indeed help.

Garland trade rumors have been around for a bit now, so expect teams interested in him to make their move this summer.

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