Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Hockey Thoughts During The Stanley Cup Playoffs

09/17/2020 at 1:57pm EDT

from Elliotte riedman of Sportsnet,

- Once eliminated, Canucks GM Jim Benning began making his due-diligence calls around the NHL. My sense is he’s trying to see if he can sign his UFAs and work backwards from there. There’s a desire for all of Jacob Markstrom, Christopher Tanev and Tyler Toffoli to return, but there are challenges (although there’s some positivity this week with Toffoli). The Canucks will want flexibility into the expansion draft with Markstrom and Thatcher Demko. My sense is Markstrom would consider movement protection after Seattle makes its picks, but could want contract concessions in return. Vancouver has a number it won’t go past. The challenging thing for everyone involved is that I’m hearing the market for Markstrom is strong.

- It would take a buyout, which I’m not sure Vegas wants to do in this economy, but would anyone really be surprised to see a Marc-Andre Fleury/Tristan Jarry tandem in Pittsburgh?

- Colorado is the team to watch. Next year is an “all in” year before they have to re-sign Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar. Loved Landeskog sitting on the bench to encourage his teammates after suffering his season-ending injury in Game 6 versus Dallas. Reminded me of Zdeno Chara doing it in last year’s Cup Final.

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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.

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