There were a couple of surprises around the league over the past seven days which are headlined in our top stories of the week.
Sprong Available: Penguins winger Daniel Sprong has shown flashes of his offensive upside in recent years but he hasn’t been able to lock down a full-time role in Pittsburgh’s top nine. It appears that the team is at least willing to entertain the idea of moving him as his name has come up in trade talks recently. Sprong has four assists in a dozen games so far this season despite spending the majority of his time on the fourth line. GM Jim Rutherford hasn’t hidden his frustration over Pittsburgh’s start to the season so it will be interesting to see if something involving Sprong is all they’re looking to do or if there could be other moves on the horizon.
Duchene, Senators In Contract Talks: There has been an expectation that the Senators would likely have to move center Matt Duchene between now and the trade deadline but that may not be the case. A report has come out that the two sides are in ‘substantive’ contract discussions and that there is mutual interest in getting a long-term extension done. Duchene is certainly bolstering his value on the ice as he is over the point per game mark so far this season which should help him improve upon his current $6MM AAV on this next deal.
Coaching Change In Chicago: The Blackhawks decided to part ways with long-time bench boss Joel Quenneville, replacing him with Jeremy Colliton, the head coach of their AHL affiliate. Quenneville had been with the team since taking over early in the 2008-09 season and won three Stanley Cups with the team. However, after missing the playoffs last season and getting off to a slow start this year, GM Stan Bowman decided to make the coaching change. The 60-year-old has indicated that he’d like to return behind the bench but to do so, an arrangement would have to be worked out with regards to his salary as Chicago owes him $6MM per year through 2019-20; presumably, any new team would have to take on the majority of that amount.
Canadiens Release Plekanec: In a move that was out of the blue, the Canadiens announced that they had reached an agreement to terminate the remainder of center Tomas Plekanec’s contract, making him an unrestricted free agent. The 36-year-old returned to Montreal this summer as a free agent, inking a one-year deal with a $2.25MM guarantee plus another $1.25MM in bonuses but will now look to place elsewhere. He indicated that he would like to retire from the NHL as a member of the Canadiens which suggests he will likely be looking for a deal to play overseas in the days to come. Plekanec wraps up his NHL career with 1,001 regular season games played (all but 17 of which came with Montreal) and ranks seventh in franchise history in games played and 13th in points with 606.
Toronto Asking For Nylander Offers: As the William Nylander saga drags on, the Maple Leafs have asked teams to provide a list of players they’d be willing to move for the unsigned winger as well as what the framework of an offer would look like. Toronto’s preferred option would still be to re-sign him but with the deadline to get something done now less than a month away, GM Kyle Dubas appears to be looking to see what his options around the league may be if they have to change gears and pursue a trade.
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