NHL Rumors: Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The 2022-23 season is over and now the focus shifts toward the new season.

What about free agency? The NHL draft is in the books. Trades and free agency began July 1st as teams look to make improvements to their rosters. In this Sunday edition of NHL Rumors, we will look at the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, and the Winnipeg Jets.

Pittsburgh Penguins – Matt Grzelcyk

Rumor: Per – Dan Kingerski – pittsburghhockeynow.com. With the odds of landing Erik Karlsson decreasing, does GM Kyle Dubas have his sights on a replacement?

Dubas seems to have an interest in a mobile, offensive defenseman. Matt Grzelcyk is a left-handed puck-mover with a high hockey IQ and quick skates who makes good breakout passes. His only downfall may be that he is only 5-foot-9. Last season he collected four goals and 22 assists in 75 games and he is signed to a $3.687 million contract through the 2023-24 campaign. The Boston Bruins currently have eight defensemen on their roster and acquired young Ian Mitchell from the Chicago Blackhawks in the Taylor Hall trade. Mitchell is a restricted free agent and the Bruins will want to re-sign him. With the blueline getting crowded, Grzelcyk may be the odd man out.

No doubt that the Pens may have had their sights set on adding Karlsson, but his contract will be a challenge for whatever team tries to acquire him. Grzelcyk is no Karlsson but he will certainly add to the blueline of the Pittsburgh club. The problem the Penguins may have is their cap situation. They are currently $2.32 million over the cap limit of $83.5 million. They can cut that down by dealing Mikael Granlund and his $5 million salary to Boston. Let’s see if that creates some NHL rumors.

Chicago Blackhawks – Alexis Lafreniere

Rumor: Per – Rob Ellis – nhltraderumor.com. Lafreniere has been involved in NHL trade rumors for over a year. He has not lived up to the hype of a first-overall pick. Could he be headed to Chicago?

It seems that Lafreniere needs a change of scenery. Could adding him on a line with newly drafted Connor Bedard work some magic for both players? Throw in a veteran like newly added Taylor Hall and that could be a special line. It’s not quite clear what it will take to get Lafreniere going but he needs to figure it out. GM Kyle Davidson has added some good draft picks and made some productive trades.

So, how would a prospective trade like this work? Well, the Blackhawks would need to give up Lukas Reichel and a 2024 first-round pick to get Lafreniere. That may sound steep, but Lafreniere was the first overall pick in 2020. This could work out well for both clubs when you evaluate it. While Reichel is still young at 21, he has terrific potential. He tallied seven goals, eight assists in 23 games last season. Lafreniere is also 21 but has played in the NHL for three seasons with 216 career games under his belt. The Hawks are still in a rebuild, but adding a talent like Lafreniere could really boost their exit from the rebuild, as they attempt to be competitive again.

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Winnipeg Jets – Lawson Crouse

Rumor: Per – Michael DeRosa – nhltraderumors.me. The Jets lost Pierre-Luc Dubois, and need another tough, big forward to replace him. Enter Lawson Crouse.

According to the fourthperiod.com, Crouse could be pursued by the Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs (no cap space), or the Buffalo Sabres. He makes a lot of sense for Winnipeg. They are going through many changes and have already lost Dubois and Blake Wheeler. Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck could be next. Adding Crouse would give their forward group some missing muscle. He tallied 24 goals and 21 assists last season which was his best production in Arizona thus far. He has an inexpensive $4.3 million contract good through the 2026-27 season.

While it would be a huge loss for Arizona, they are still in a rebuild and can expect to receive a good prospect and some draft picks to ease the pain. One such prospect could be Gabriel Vilardi whom the Jets received in the Dubois trade with the Los Angeles Kings recently. He had a very productive season collecting 23 goals, 18 assists in 63 games. When the Coyotes were attempting to trade Jakob Chychrun, Vilardi’s name was mentioned, so there is interest in the player. He is a restricted free agent and has not been re-signed yet.

The advantage for Arizona is they would lose that $4.3 million contract and signing Vilardi may not cost that much. That gives them room to make other additions to the team, plus they get younger. For the Jets, who have $8.57 million in cap space, they can easily pick up Crouse’s contract. It sounds good on paper, so let’s see if this pans out in NHL rumors going forward.

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