Off-Season Watch: Avs still open to re-signing Compher
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Ahead of the NHL Draft on June 28-29 and the opening of free agency on July 1, TSN.ca keeps you up to date with all the latest rumours and speculation from around the NHL beat.
Something brewing in Philly
Multiple reports indicate that a 'big' trade is brewing involving the Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues, centered on Kevin Hayes.
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger indicates that the trade may not be completed on Saturday and could roll over into Sunday.
A belief is that the trade is being slowed by a player who has to waive their no-trade clause to allow the trade to process.
Kings interested in Dubois?
It's no secret the Winnipeg Jets could be major sellers this summer, including when it comes to their star centre in Pierre-Luc Dubois.
According to a piece in the The Athletic co-written by TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun as well as Eric Duhatschek and Michael Russo, the Los Angeles Kings are one of the teams that may be interested in acquiring the 25-year-old native of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que.
Kings legend Anze Kopitar will turn 36 before the start of the 2023-24 season, meaning Dubois could be a strong replacement as the team's No. 1 centre after netting 27 goals and 36 assists over 73 games with Winnipeg this past season.
The Athletic question if the Kings would give up 20-year-old centre Quinton Byfield in a trade or if the Jets would be more interested in centre Gabe Vilardi, who is 23.
Los Angeles would likely have to shed some salary to acquire Dubois, likely in the form of forwards Alex Iafallo or Viktor Arvidsson and possibly defenceman Sean Durzi.
Dubois made $6 million this season and will be looking for a new contract as a restricted free agent. Kopitar is entering the final season of an eight-year, $80 million contract that has an average annual value of $10 million.
The Montreal Canadiens are rumoured to be interested in Dubois as well.
Goalie Connor Hellebuyck as well as forwards Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele could also be moved out of Winnipeg this summer.
Avs still open to bringing back Compher
The Colorado Avalanche completed a trade with the Nashville Predators on Saturday to acquire Ryan Johansen in exchange for pending free agent Alex Galchenyuk.
Nashville will retain 50 per cent of Johansen's $8 million cap hit this season, but adding $4 million to the payroll will make re-signing forward J.T. Compher more complicated for Colorado.
Compher, 28, has spent his entire seven-year career with the Avalanche and is coming off a career year in which he set new personal bests in games played (82) and points (52). He scored 17 goals for Colorado this season.
LeBrun indicates the Avalanche are still interested in re-signing Compher, but it will have to make sense for them.
What will Dubas do?
Kyle Dubas, the President of Hockey Operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins, has his hands full with his new job.
The Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006 this past season and Dubas will have to deal with nine free agents (seven unrestricted and two restricted) in his first off-season in Pittsburgh, highlighted by goalie Tristan Jarry, forward Jason Zucker and defenceman Brian Dumoulin.
The 28-year-old Jarry, who missed time in 2022-23 due to an injury, posted a 2.90 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage over 47 starts.
Dubas says the future is a little unclear when it comes who will play between the pipes next season for the Penguins.
“In the past years, whether it’s been Tristan or Matt Murray or (Marc-Andre Fleury), there’s always been guys coming … young guys sort of there,” Dubas told Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports as well as other Pittsburgh media on Friday. “We don’t have that yet. We have young goaltenders that we like, but nobody that’s pushing. So there’s going to have to either be a solution with Tristan or we’re going to have to through trade or free agency to address that.”
Zucker, 31, scored 27 goals over 78 games this past season in his fourth campaign with the Pens. Dubas says he doesn't expect to pursue "big, splashy type" free agents come July 1.
“I don’t think they’re going to be the big, splashy type of (unrestricted free agents),” he said. “If that’s where we go into, they’ll probably be more subtle bets. And we’ll need to hit on them in order to have success. But I don’t think you’ll see us in the market for the long-term, highly expensive forwards, especially in free agency."
Other free agents include forwards Josh Archibald and Nick Bonino as well as defenceman Dmitry Kulikov.
Forward Mikael Granlund, signed for two more years with an annual cap hit of $5 million, has been rumoured as a possible buyout candidate.
Dubas doesn't expect that to happen, however, saying that he prefers seeking "more creative ways" to clear cap space.
“I’m not a big buyout fan,” Dubas said. “I just think that there are more creative ways and better ways, especially in this environment where if you have contracts that you view as problematic or you’re not getting great value from that you can move them on."
With the NHL salary cap increasing to $83.5 million next season, the Penguins will have approximately $20 million of cap space this summer.