In today’s NHL rumors rundown, the Florida Panthers are interested in signing Sam Reinhart to a long-term extension. Will he take a discount to stay with the team? Meanwhile, what is going to be the primary focus of Don Waddell in Columbus? Are the Ottawa Senators still likely to trade Jakob Chychrun before the start of next season? Finally, is Chris Tanev going to play for the Dallas Stars in Game 5 versus the Edmonton Oilers?
Panthers Want to Keep Reinhart Around
As per Darren Dreger of TSN when asked about a potential extension in Florida for forward Sam Reinhart, the NHL insider responded, “Well, I can tell you Billy Zito, the General Manager of the Panthers, is going to give it his all to try and keep Reinhart with the Panthers.” He added, “You know, he’s earned the right to free agency and if he went to open market, he’d make a big number…”
Dreger also explained:
“I do think that there is a strong will from both sides to get something done. Reinhart knows that he’s a good fit with the Florida Panthers. He likes playing with for Paul Maurice. He likes the dynamic of what they’ve got in that dressing room. The salary cap is going up, but there are other question marks around that organization and Billy Zito is going to have to address as well. He might leave a little bit of money on the table comparatively speaking, so I’m hesitant to throw out the numbers and what that number looks like.”
Don Waddell Focused on Defense in Columbus
Don Waddell spoke to Jeff Marek in a lengthy interview on Thursday and among the things he detailed was his plan in the short-term to fix the Columbus Blue Jackets lousy goals-against record. Noting that it’s much easier to shore up their own zone than find pure goal scorers in the NHL, that will be his focus.
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The hint there is that Waddell will draft a defenseman if available, or any trade he makes will be with the intent of improving his blue line.
Senators Will Likely Be Forced into Chycrhun Trade
With a surplus of defensemen on the left side and only so much cap space to go around, NHL insider Frank Seravalli has Jakob Chycrhun at No. 3 on his Top 20 trade bait board.
He writes:
Chychrun had an excellent season. He shed the label of an oft-injured defenseman, playing 82 games for the first time in his career. He tied a career-best with 41 points and was four short of a career-high in goals. He’s played better in Canada’s capital than he did in the desert. That means he’s also due a raise. And the fact is the Sens can’t afford to pay upwards of $24-plus million to just the left side of their defense with Jake Sanderson ($8.05m) and Thomas Chabot ($8m) plus a new deal for Chychrun.
Seravalli noted that the Senators would probably prefer to move Thomas Chabot, but that will be a harder trade to pull off considering his contract has four seasons remaining at an $8 million cap hit per season.
Tanev a Game-Time Decision for Stars
After being injured in Game 4, defenseman Chris Tanev is a game-time decision for Game 5. Stars’ head coach Pete DeBoer said he’s “optimistic” Tanev will be available but that wasn’t a guarantee. On Thursday, the Stars weren’t sure. “He’ll see the doctor, we’ll take some pictures today,” DeBoer said. “and cross our fingers.” If he’s unable to go, it’s a big loss against the Oilers, who seem to have gained some momentum with a big Game 4 win.
There is no word out of Edmonton yet if the Oilers are going to keep the same roster after the team made some key roster changes, removing Vincent Deharnais, Warren Foegele, and Sam Carrick from the lineup.
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