Elliotte Friedman reports in his 31 Thoughts column that teams interested in Pierre-Luc Dubois are “not screwing around”. He lists Montreal and Winnipeg as two teams that have been pursuing Dubois and notes that there are some teams in on Dubois that haven’t gotten much attention.
Friedman wonders how quickly the Blue Jackets want to move on this front.
A report from the Fourth Period had the Rangers and Ducks as interested in Dubois.
The Chicago Blackhawks have announced they given head coach Jeremy Colliton a 2-year extension.
Colliton took over the head coaching job from Joel Quenneville in 2018-19.
Elliotte Friedman reports that Keith Yandle’s situation in Florida is “something to watch”.
Aaron Ekblad has gotten the majority of the reps with the first powerplay unit in what has typically been Yandle’s spot. That brings the question: what is Yandle’s spot with the Panthers if he’s not getting first-unit powerplay time?
Yandle, 34, is in the fifth season of his seven year contract which carries a cap-hit of $6.35 million. If Florida is to trade him, they’ll likely need to take significant salary back.
The Devils have gotten RFA winger Jesper Bratt under contract.
At the completion of this contract, Bratt will be due a qualifying offer of $3.3 million and he will be three seasons away from unrestricted free agency.
The 22-year old winger had 16 goals and 16 assists in 60 games with the Devils last season.
According to Elliotte Friedman, defenseman Ben Hutton is joining the Ducks on a try-out.
Hutton, 27, played last season with the Kings. He had 4 goals and 12 assists in 65 games.
Further to Pierre Lebrun report of five teams that he feels might go after Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Fourth Period reports that the Anaheim Ducks and New York Rangers are two teams with significant interest in Dubois.
The report suggests that the Blue Jackets would want 2021 World Juniors MVP Trevor Zegras in return, but the Ducks would prefer to explore a package involving Sam Steel, Isac Lundestrom and other pieces.
Similarly, it’s suggested the Blue Jackets would like 2019 2nd overall pick Kaapo Kakko from the Rangers, but the Rangers would prefer a package centering on young center Filip Chytil.
It’s previously been reported that the Blue Jackets might wait until after the season to move their star center.
The Montreal Canadiens have place 9 players on waivers.
Noah Juulsen was the Canadiens’ first round pick in 2015. He has played 44 games with Montreal in his career and has missed a lot of action with a facial fracture, headaches and vision issues.
Jordan Weal signed a 2-year deal worth $1.4 million per season prior to the 2019-20 season. He had 8 goals and 7 assists in 49 games with the Canadiens last season.
Charlie Lindgren has played 24 games in net for the Canadiens over five seasons.
The Florida Panthers have claimed Gustav Forsling off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes.
Forsling, 24, played last season with Charlotte of the AHL. He had 8 goals and 18 assists in 57 games.