In today’s NHL rumor rundown there is trade speculation as it pertains to defenseman Shayne Gostisbihere, the Boston Bruins have a plan for Charlie Coyle, the Colorado Avalanche and Mikko Rantanen are talking the Los Angeles Kings may be moving players.
Gostisbehere Is Aware of Trade Talks
While speaking with Dave Isaac of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post, Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere acknowledged that not only does he feel fully recovered from his leg injury but knows he might be a trade candidate out of Philadelphia.
The blueliner saw his production drop from 65 points down to 37 and while he’d like to stay with the Flyers, that might be out of his control. He said his agent told him not to listen to the trade talks but he’s aware of them. He said:
If I get traded, I get traded. I obviously don’t want to. I want to be here and be a part of what’s growing here and the step we’re gonna take forward this year, but again, it’s not in my control so I can’t really say. Obviously you’re gonna think about it because you have a whole life here but it’s the nature of the beast. It’s the name of the game. It’s part of playing in the NHL.”
source – ”There’s definitely gonna be a fire inside me.’ A Q&A with Shayne Gostisbehere’ – Dave Isaac – Courier Post – 08/14/2019
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Coyle to Get a Chance to Boost Value
Charlie Coyle of the Boston Bruins will become an unrestricted free agent next season and on the last year of any player’s deal, all they can ask for is an opportunity to up their value with quality playing time. It sounds like Coyle might get it.
According to NBC Sports Boston’s Joe Haggerty, Bruins President Cam Neely indicated Coyle could move into a top-six spot alongside David Krejci instead of just playing the third-line center role.
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That the Bruins have a potential plan to put him with Krejci also says a lot about the rumors of Krejci being traded. It doesn’t seem terribly likely.
Fiala to Sit and Wait
According to a report by Dan Rosen of NHL.com,Kevin Fiala of the Minnesota Wild isn’t certain of his future in Minnesota. He was in negotiations on a contract extension with former GM Paul Fenton when Fenton was released and now he has to just “see and wait” for the Wild to name a new GM before his negotiations can continue.
More than just their time together in Nashville, Fenton and Fiala had quite the connection and whoever the Wild bring in next as GM will likely not be as keen to sign Fiala to a lucrative extension. Fiala still has tremendous upside but he took a bit of a step backward last season.
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Update on Rantanen Negotiations
When asked at a celebrity golf tournament about the status of negotiations with Mikko Rantanen, Avs GM Joe Sakic said to Michael Chambers of the Denver Post he had personally agreed with Rantanen that a long-term deal is the way to go.
This is great news for Avs fans who now know, if nothing else, the team and the player are on the same page when it comes to term. Now it’s just a matter of determining the right salary and that could take seeing what Mitch Marner gets before knowing what the market price for a player like Rantanen is.
Related: Avalanche RFA Alexander Kerfoot Is a Valuable Player
Kings to Start Sending Players Out
According to a report by NBC Sports Scott Billeck, Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake is still trying to rebuild his roster. Blake is aware that several players, including Tyler Toffoli, Trevor Lewis, Kyle Clifford, and Derek Forbort, will be after contract extensions next season and Billeck thinks those players could be shipped out at the trade deadline for assets.
As for players like Ilya Kovalchuk, Jeff Carter and Dustin Brown, don’t expect them to be moved as their contracts are too high to make them attractive assets for other teams.
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