Will this be Pekka Rinne‘s final season?
Adam Vingan of The Athletic: The 38-year old Pekka Rinne lost his starting job to 25-year old Juuse Saros in the second half of last season. Saros started all four of their play-in round games last season, which didn’t surprise Rinne.
Rinne is entering the final year of his two-year contract. Could this be his last season?
“I think that’s the mindset I’m kind of having right now, not going beyond this year in my head,” Rinne said. “(I’m) not saying that this will be my last year or anything, but that’s my mindset, just trying to put everything into it. For sure, there’s a possibility that this is the last season.”
Predators GM David Poile on Rinne.
“I’ve thought a lot about Pekka and, I guess, how long this goes on,” Predators general manager David Poile said. “It’s crossed my mind that this could be his last year. I also think and believe that he’s going to play really good, and we’re going to be talking about Pekka being here for a lot longer.“
Is Yandle’s time with the Panthers coming to end? Who could use him?
Matt Larkin of the Hockey News: It’s looking like Keith Yandle‘s consecutive game streak of 866 could be coming to an end with a healthy scratch. It’s the longest streak ever by a defenseman, the fourth-longest all-time. If he were to play in all 56-games this season, he’d be at 922 games and second all-time.
The Panthers’ opener isn’t until Sunday, so there is time for them to change their minds. He still put up above-average power-play numbers last season and was productive at 5-on-5. Some of his even-strength minutes were sheltered though.
Yandle has a no-movement clause and are the Panthers thinking ahead to the Seattle Kraken expansion draft? He’d have to be protected.
He carries a $6.35 million salary cap hit for the next three seasons. If the Panthers were willing to retain some salary, he might have some trade value.
Would Yandle be willing to waive his NMC? Sources say Yandle “hasn’t been the initiator on any plans to waive the NMC and that the posturing comes entirely from the Panthers front office.”
The Boston Bruins would be one team that might have an interest in Yandle. He’s from Massachusetts and may be okay with waiving the NMC for the Bruins. Yandle is a left-handed shot and they did lose Torey Krug to free agency.
The New York Islanders are another team that could use a left-handed defenseman for their power-play. The Islanders are playing with limited salary cap space though.
Trading Yandle to a Canadian team wouldn’t be easy as he’d have to go through 14 days of quarantining before being able to join the team.
