In today’s NHL rumors rundown, the head coach of the St. Louis Blues isn’t convinced Vladimir Tarasenko will be traded. Meanwhile, the asking price seems to be set for Tomas Hertl. Will the Boston Bruins be interested if their plan to start Charlie Coyle as the No. 2 center doesn’t pan out? The Winnipeg Jets will be keeping up with Andrew Copp throughout the season, while potentially looking to add a bottom-six forward and the Seattle Kraken have signed another forward. Finally, has Morgan Rielly already suffered an injury?
Berube Expects Tarasenko to Remain With Blues
This past week, Blues head coach Craig Berube appeared on the Cam & Strick Podcast, and among the many topics discussed, one of the main takeaways was his comments that he believes Tarasenko will be a part of the Blues roster to start the season. “I expect that Vladi will play for us and intend to treat him like any other hockey player,” Berube said.
Sharks Asking Price For Hertl Set, Would Bruins Be Interested?
Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now says that the Bruins have one of Charlie Coyle or Jack Studnika penciled in as the No. 2 center without David Krejci around, but if that turns out to be a mistake early in the season, the Bruins might look outside the organization for help. Haggerty believes the Bruins could look at Tomas Hertl of the San Jose Sharks.
The ask for Hertl is reportedly a first-round pick and a top prospect. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic writes:
Along with a first-round pick, they would have to get at least one potential high-end prospect in return, too, and preferably someone who could play NHL games ahead of or along the same timeline as guys like William Eklund, Thomas Bordeleau and some of the other prospects who are around 19 or 20 years old (in other words, probably two years away). In a perfect world that player is probably a center, but considering Ryan Merkley’s declining stock and Brent Burns’ advancing age, a defenseman might be just as welcomed.
source – ‘A potential return for Tomas Hertl? Is Bob Boughner’s seat hot? Sharks mailbag’ – Kevin Kurz – The Athletic – 09/10/2021
Since Hertl makes $5.625 million in the final year of his deal, and the Bruins don’t exactly have unlimited cap space to add pieces, the Bruins may need to move Coyle’s $5.25 million salary to the Sharks as part of any trade. Alternatively, Jake DeBrusk and/or defenseman John Moore could be moved to clear space.
Could Jets Add Bozak, But Lose Copp?
As per a mailbag response by Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet, there is some thinking that Andrew Copp’s one-year agreement could lead to him testing free agency versus signing a long-term extension with the Jets. Wiebe doesn’t believe the two sides have any sort of extension agreement in place, but they may choose to talk a new deal before too long.
Wiebe writes:
In terms of strategy, Copp is looking to build on a career-best season and is once again betting on himself. That’s worked out well for him during his career and it’s hard to imagine it not paying dividends for him once again next off-season.
Wiebe suggests there’s a good chance he could stick around if the Jets offer him term and another raise from his current $3.64 million. The team does like him and he likes being part of the organization, but it will all depend on what value he might have on the open market. The Jets might use some of the money allocated to Paul Stastny to pay Copp his new salary.
Also, when asked if there were any bottom-six forwards that caught his attention and would be a good fit with the Jets, Wiebe said, “One player that caught my attention is forward Tyler Bozak, most recently of the St. Louis Blues.”
Rielly Seemingly Injured at Practice
While there are no updates on the severity of a potential injury suffered by Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, he did take himself off the ice during a scrimmage on Monday. It’s too soon to speculate, but this would be bad news for the Leafs if it turned out to be anything serious.
Kraken Sign Donato
After stints with the Minnesota Wild, Sharks, and Bruins, the Seattle Kraken have officially announced a contract for Ryan Donato. The deal is for $750K salary and GM Ron Francis released a short statement on the signing:
Ryan’s hockey sense and ability to contribute on the scoresheet are two ingredients we are excited to add to our forward group. We like his offensive potential and believe he can add scoring depth.
Francis has added a number of forwards to his roster after drafting his expansion team. Along with Donato, the Kraken signed Jaden Schwartz, Alexander Wennberg, Marcus Johansson, and Riley Sheahan.
