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Kevin Allen: Five NHL teams that are trying to make something happen |
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This summer there will be teams that can't do much. The Lightning, perhaps heading to a second consecutive championship, will be content to do what it takes to get under the cap. Then there will be teams that won't do much, such as the Dallas Stars. They just want to see where they are at with a healthy Ben Bishop, Tyler Seguin and Roope Hintz. They should also get improvement from young Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson
But some teams are aggressively trying to bring significant change to their team. Here are five of them:
Los Angeles Kings: The Viktor Arvidsson deal could just be the beginning. They have kicked the tires on Jack Eichel and came away thinking the asking price is too high. They want to bring in a couple of veteran players to combine with their strong collection of young talent. Whether players like Quinton Byfield, Rasmus Kaspari, Arthur Kaliyev and Alex Turcotte are fully ready or not, they need another veteran to play in their top six. They have $15 million in cap space. They can be in the hunt for the top available players. They have also inquired about Columbus defenseman Seth Jones.
Nashville Predators: GM David Poile wants to change to look of his team. He needs cap space to do that. We can guess he would prefer to move the unproductive Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene. But Johanson seems impossible to move and Johanson is next-to-impossible. So don't rule out Poile defenseman moving Ryan Ellis. He has six years left at $6.25 million. That's tolerable to attractive depending upon who you are. The Predators still appreciate Ellis, but they now have three smaller defensemen (Dante Fabbro, Alexander Carrier and Ellis). Moving Ellis would open up some cap space and give Poile maneuverability. Would the Columbus Blue Jackets be a good fit. They are being forced to trade Seth Jones because he wants to test the free agent market next summer. Getting an accomplished defenseman, with six years left on his contract, may be attractive to the Blue Jackets. The Predators need more cap space to re-sign Mattias Ekholm and Mikael Granlund.
Anaheim Ducks: Won't be surprised if they win the Eichel Sweepstakes, although it seems hard to believe they would give up Trevor Zegras or Jamie Drysdale. GM Bob Murray is trying to do a major facelift to his roster. He has to be feeling pressure after missing the playoffs for three consecutive seasons while being outscored by 143 goals in that period. If they don't land Eichel, they will be on Sam Reinhart. Josh Manson, with one season left on his contract, could be dealt, and perhaps Rickard Rakell .
Columbus Blue Jackets: You hear the Blue Jackets connected with about big name player in the market. What that means is the Blue Jackets are going to do something memorable to make up for the loss of Jones, presuming that is going to happen. Can't imagine they haven't talked to Dougie Hamilton. Imagine if they could sign Hamilton and then trade Jones would other assets to help their team. They have options. If they can sign any top free agent and trade Jones, they could come out ahead. We hear they are interested in either Eichel or Sam Reinhart. The Blue Jackets could end up being the biggest mover and shaker this summer. Remember, they lost Nick Foligno and David Savard off their salary cap, they have enough room to operate.
Boston Bruins: Based on what we are hearing in the marketplace, the already competitive Bruins believe they have room to re-sign their free agents (Tuukka Rask, David Krejci, Brandon Carlo and Taylor Hall) and still acquire a veteran defenseman and a role player.
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