In today’s NHL rumors rundown, will the Edmonton Oilers be without Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final? Meanwhile, how bad is Aleksander Barkov’s injury? What is the status of Matvei Michkov for the Philadelphia Flyers? The Montreal Canadiens have been linked to a couple of names in trade talks but one scribe says they aren’t the frontrunner for anyone and the timing might not be right to make a big deal.
Barkov Could Be Out for the Panthers
When asked how he felt about the Leon Draisaitl hit on Aleksander Barkov, Panther’s head coach Paul Maurice responded, “This isn’t the Oprah Winfrey show. My feelings don’t matter.” The belief is that Barkov may have suffered an injury to his jaw that could cause him to miss time. That’s not known as of yet, but early speculation is that it didn’t sound ideal.
Maurice offered an update on Barkov’s status today. He said, “He wasn’t worse, so that’s a really good thing. The real assessment will be tomorrow.” If Barkov continues to make good progress the coach says they should be in “good shape.”
Will the Oilers Lose Draisaitl and Be Without Darnell Nurse?
When it comes to how the league will handle the Leon Draisaitl hit, “The league will take a look at it,’” Maurice said, plainly. “They look at every hit.’” Right now, the Oilers are under the impression that Draisaitil will be available for Game 3 and said, “I don’t think there was anything dirty about it.” He added, “Maybe I got him a little high, but certainly not any intent to injure or anything like that.” Draisaitl was only assessed a 2-minute minor for roughing.
As for Nurse, he tried to skate a couple of times in Game 2 after taking an awkward hit and staying on the bench for the Oilers. Knoblauch said it would be a big loss but expects the same number of players to be available in Game 3 as he had in Games 1 and 2. That wasn’t a direct confirmation that Nurse would be able to play, but it seemed positive.
Related: 5 Reasons Oilers Lost Game 2 and Trail Panthers 2-0 in Stanley Cup Final
The Oilers need to find a way to get themselves back into this series when they head home for Game 3 on Thursday. If they’re missing either player, it will be a big mountain to climb with the numbers already not in their favor.
Flyers Hopeful on Michkov, But No News Yet
Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov could leave Russia and play for the Flyers next season but that’s not yet a given. There have been rumors and varied media reports coming out of Russia and Flyers’ GM Daniel Briere said that they’ve been following things through the media.
“There’s some ups and downs there, back and forth, it seems. It just seems to change on a daily basis. We’re hopeful. But at the same time, when we drafted him, we knew it would be three years. Briere added:
If things change, I’ll be ecstatic and we’d be really excited to welcome him. But I’m not trying to get caught up in the excitement of it for now. If it happens, it happens. We don’t have any news at this moment as far as how reliable the sources are that are popping over the internet.”
source – ‘NHL rumblings: Devils goalie search, Zegras, Marner, Necas, Gibson, Saros and more from the combine’ – Pierre LeBrun – The Athletic – 06/04/2024
Canadiens Not the Favorites to Land Zegras or Necas
According to Arpon Basu of The Athletic, the Montreal Canadiens have inquired about both Trevor Zegras and Martin Necas, but they are not the favorite to land either player. In fact, based on the cost of acquisition and where the Canadiens are at in their development, Basu doesn’t think the Canadiens are seriously in the conversation.
He writes:
This time, the Canadiens are not intertwined in anything. They are not front-runners for anyone, but they are still exploring the possibility of acquiring two of the bigger names on the trade market, namely Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Nečas and Anaheim Ducks centre Trevor Zegras. They have made inquiries on both and have done their due diligence to learn more about each player, but the similarity to last spring’s situation with Dubois applies to both players.
The acquisition cost will be prohibitive, and the timing doesn’t seem quite right.
source – ‘How the Canadiens fit in the trade market and the impact of a rising cap on negotiations’ – Arpon Basu – The Athletic – 06/10/2024
The Hurricanes want a star player or similar value back in return for Necas. The Canadiens aren’t about to go there in a trade. The Ducks want a lot for Zegras too and Basu writes, “The Canadiens dodged a bullet with the Dubois situation last year, and if we had to guess, they will probably not be engaged with these two players this offseason.”