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Weekly Rumours – The Kraken Have Entered The Picture
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Tyler Yaremchuk
Apr 1, 2021, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 31, 2021, 18:55 EDT
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We are now just under two weeks away from the NHL’s trade deadline and honestly, the market is just getting more and more complicated. The Nashville Predators have decided that they no longer like losing games while the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets are sliding in the standings.
Who’s a buyer and who’s a seller? Well, the reality is that a lot of teams are still undecided on what their approach will be as we creep closer to April 12th.
I would imagine Oilers GM Ken Holland is hoping that more sellers emerge over the next week or so. The more teams out there willing to deal off quality players, the lower the prices should be. 
We’ve heard the Oilers connected to Red Wings forward @Luke Glendening a lot over the last seven days. Basically, every big-name insider has said that the Oilers have their eyes on the right-shot centreman. It makes sense. He’s strong on the penalty kill and wins more faceoffs than he loses. He has a cap hit of $1.8 million and is a UFA at the end of the season, so Ken Holland could certainly make a deal work if he wanted to. It just all comes down to the acquisition cost. 
I wonder if Holland would be willing to give up a better draft pick if the Red Wings were willing to take a guy like @Kyle Turris back in the deal since he has one more year left on his current deal.
Frank Seravalli did say in his recent trade bait article that there is strong interest in Glendening. That worries me a little bit from an Oilers perspective. Ken Holland reportedly really likes him and I’d be nervous that he might give up a little bit too much for a fourth-line centre. Glendening could help this team, but he isn’t worth a second-round pick in 2022.
I think the Canucks are a bit of a sleeper team in terms of a potential fit for the Oilers. If they could make the money work, I think both @Brandon Sutter and @Tanner Pearson would be decent fits on this roster, although it sounds like the Canucks are going to take another stab at extending Pearson with Frank saying that there is mutual interest.
With the news that players only need a seven-day quarantine now, I think the Oilers, and all the Canadian teams in contention, will be more willing to make trades closer to the deadline. There won’t be as much of an emphasis on getting deals done early as I thought there would be a week ago.

THE KRAKEN ARE GETTING CALLS

Pierre LeBrun had an interesting article in The Athletic, talking about how Seattle Kraken Gm Ron Francis has been getting calls ahead of the trade deadline. This is a little surprising considering the Kraken won’t be technically entering the league until next season and won’t have any players on their roster until this summer.
As LeBrun put it, as teams consider bringing in a player with term at the deadline, they are wondering what it would cost to keep an extra player in the expansion draft. LeBrun says that the cost is expected to be a first-round pick, a prospect, and maybe another piece. That seems like a lot and might explain why teams prefer to go after rentals at this year’s deadline.
Seattle is allowed to have these conversations according to the league, but LeBrun added that the league made it clear that nothing is binding. Basically, there can be handshake agreements (like the one Vegas and Pittsburgh made at the deadline in 2017 involving Fleury and a 2nd round pick) but nothing official. LeBrun provided some great info on this.

QUICK NOTES

  • LeBrun said on Insider Trading that the Flyers are debating going out and getting some goaltending help as Carter Hart continues to struggle. Jonathan Bernier is apparently on their radar.
  • LeBrun mentioned a potential flurry of goaltending moves ahead of the deadline. Will the Oilers be in on it? Unless a team is willing to take back Mikko Koskinen, I really can’t see it happening. They have @Mike Smith and @Alex Stalock as well. I don’t think Holland will give up major assets for a goaltender.
  • The Panthers are looking to fill the void left by @Aaron Ekblad. They opted to not claim @Shayne Gostisbehere and his $4.5 million cap hit on waivers so it seems like they’ll be going the trade route. Frank says that Panthers GM Bill Zito doesn’t want to give up picks or prospects to bring in a defenseman, which makes it more interesting that they didn’t just claim Gostisbehere.
  • David Savard is now number one on Frank’s Trade Bait Board. With the Blue Jackets sliding, I think it’s time for GM Jarmo Kekalainen to start collecting serious offers. I don’t think this team will get back into the race.
  • Both @Jake Virtanen (Vancouver) and @Sam Bennett (Calgary) are back on the board as well. Would make sense for those teams to seriously consider moving those players now that it appears as though they’re both out of the playoff picture.
  • @Kyle Palmieri is #2 on the list and it sounds like he’ll be moved before April 12th. The Islanders still sound like a perfect fit there.
  • Darren Dreger mentioned a potential “sign and trade” situation with @Taylor Hall, but that doesn’t make sense to me. If a team acquiring Hall wanted to sign him, why wouldn’t they wait until after the expansion draft so they don’t have to protect him?
  • The Flames may be ready to enter sell mode and Eric Francis says that @Derek Ryan and David Rittich could be moved. I could see the Oilers being interested in Ryan if the money situation could be figured out.

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