NHL Rumors: Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The 2022-23 regular season is over and players as well as front offices will be evaluated. Now, with the season completed, 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. Teams who were eliminated from the postseason need to assess what happened and make adjustments. 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, while teams are competing in the playoffs. In this Sunday edition of NHL Rumors, we will look at the Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers, and the Minnesota Wild.

Ottawa Senators – Alex DeBrincat

Rumor: Per – Lyle Richardson – thehockeynews.com. Will the Ottawa Senators consider trading DeBrincat this summer?

On April 10, the Senators GM Pierre Dorion indicated his club will qualify the winger’s rights ($9 million) even if the two sides fail to reach an agreement on a long-term extension. It would buy more time to negotiate a long-term contract. Then, four days later there was this.

“From what I heard this morning, I think we’re talking about a guy who has no inclination of signing here,” said Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. “He said he’s open to having discussions but I found what he said was very non-committal. He didn’t show any signs that he’s going to sign a contract extension here.”

“The Senators won’t keep him unless they can get some kind of long-term extension in place. They’ve had the door open since they acquired him last July. There have been no substantial discussions between DeBrincat, his agent, Jeff Jackson, and Dorion. I think there’s a possibility that at the draft, we may see Alex DeBrincat get moved.”

DeBrincat followed that up by stating that he was “definitely open for anything.” Dorion would be taking a risk to qualify DeBrincat for one more year only to see him leave after that. The solution to that would be to deal him this summer and get an excellent return. A player of DeBrincat’s caliber would draw some high-pitched interest from other teams. If DeBrincat is so uncertain about his future plans, it doesn’t seem he’s too motivated to stay in Ottawa. Dorian’s hands may be tied while the new ownership gets put in place. One thing is certain the name Alex Debrincat will be included in NHL rumors as the summer approaches.

Edmonton Oilers – Kailer Yamamoto

Rumor: Per – Allan Mitchell – theathletic.com. Is Oilers’ Kailer Yamamoto playing his final games for Edmonton?

Yamamoto has had difficulty scoring goals and things haven’t come easily for him, falling from 20 in 2021-22 to just 10 this year. He signed a two-year contract worth $3.1 AAV in August of 2022 and the Oilers are wondering if that was a mistake. The team has many other options. The cap can be a factor, and if Ryan McLeod or Warren Foegele (both less expensive) can fill the role and deliver more production, Yamamoto may not have a roster spot for next season. There are also candidates coming through the system (Dylan Holloway and Raphael Lavoie will push during training camp, Holloway possibly in these playoffs).

Yamamoto only had 10 goals, 15 assists during the season playing in 58 games. He had some injuries to overcome as well. On this play in the LA Kings series, one can see how he didn’t try to stop Adrian Kempe‘s charge to the net. That can’t happen.

My goodness, @adriankempe. 🧃 #StanleyCup

🇺🇸: @espn ➡️ https://t.co/g4oafYRGBc
🇨🇦: @sportsnet ➡️ https://t.co/TVdJNrxm98 pic.twitter.com/LqvxQsPwnO

— NHL (@NHL) April 26, 2023

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So far, his offensive issues, coverage lapses and lack of foot speed leave him as a candidate for possibly being traded. He’s still young at 24, and could be an attractive forward somewhere else. We will soon find out.

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Minnesota Wild – Free agency/trade options

Rumor: Per – Joe Smith, Michael Russo, Shayna Goldman – theathletic.com. The Wild only have about $8 million in cap space. That forces some tough decisions to be made.

The trio of writers looked at which players the Minnesota Wild could re-sign and cut loose or trade this offseason. Among those that are likely to go, Matt Dumba, Gustav Nyquist, Oskar Sundqvist, and John Klingberg top the list. They also include Alex Goligoski, Calen Addison, Jon Merrill, Marcus Foligno, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman, and Marc-Andre Fleury (he wants to stay) as cost-cutting candidates. When it comes to Zuccarello, they mentioned: “Trading him would free up $6 million, but the Wild would risk infuriating the one player they can’t afford to: Zuccarello’s BFF, Kirill Kaprizov. Rather than trading him now or in-season, if he can still perform, the Wild would probably be interested in re-signing him to a two- or three-year extension in the $3 to $3.5 million range.”

The likely candidates to be traded would be: Matt Dumba ($6M), Gustav Nyquist ($2.75M), Oskar Sundqvist ($2.75M), and John Klingberg ($3.5M). The players they may prioritize to stay include: Brandon Duhaime, Mason Shaw, Ryan Reaves, and Sam Steel.

Don’t forget that the Wild will still be forced to pay the contracts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter totaling $14.7M for the 2024-25 season due to their buyouts. Ouch. That has really hurt them.

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