Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Garrioch delivers holiday trade rumors

12/21/2014 at 1:58am EST

The NHL's roster freeze may be in effect until December 27th, but the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch brings trade rumor gifts to the hockey holiday tree via his Sunday column.

First, Garrioch discusses Nick Foligno's future with the Columbus Blue Jackets given his point-per-game form...

Making $3.08 million in the final year of his contract, some wonder if a five-year, $25-million deal would get it done for Foligno. Probably not — the thinking is he’d be able to eclipse that number on the lucrative free-agent market.

You have to think Foligno is looking at the seven-year, $36.75-million deal that David Clarkson signed with the Leafs at $5.25 million per season in 2013-14 as a benchmark. The Jackets aren’t sure if Nathan Horton will ever return from his back issues, so they want to keep Foligno badly.

These quips aren't surprising...

Arizona (don’t call me Phoenix) Coyotes GM Don Maloney is trying to move salary and clubs believe pretty much every player on the roster is available. There will be lots of interest in defenceman Keith Yandle. He is one year away from UFA and is going to demand big bucks. Lots of teams — including Dallas and Winnipeg — are looking for defencemen, and Yandle fits the bill. He isn’t the only one who is going to move — the Coyotes are pretty much resigned to the fact they aren’t going to keep centre Antoine Vermette, who will make upward of $6 million (if not more) in free agency.

...

There remains lots of interest in Buffalo winger Chris Stewart, who has been playing better of late. The Senators, Bruins, Penguins, Kings, Wild and Flames have all held talks with Buffalo GM Tim Murray about Stewart, who wouldn’t mind being moved. The Sabres want a player and a high-end prospect in return. The price for defenceman Tyler Myers, who has drawn interest from Anaheim, Los Angeles and Detroit, is much higher.

But this yielded a spit-take:

Once Carolina GM Ron Francis decides to deal defenceman Andrej Sekera, the Hurricanes will be looking for a No. 1 pick and a prospect. They can ask, but that’s a lot for a UFA.

Garrioch continues, discussing the Blues (and T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund), Oilers (see: Taylor Hall), the Canadiens' attempts to re-sign Alex Galchenyuk, the Kings' long-standing desire to peddle Mike Richards, and Garrioch also suggests that the Devils might be the third NHL team this year to fire their coach...

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]