Friedman’s 30 Thoughts Rumor Roundup …
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: Peter Mueller is looking to return to the NHL next season. Mueller has spent the past three season in Europe after playing almost 300 games in the NHL.
The AHL is thinking about putting a quota on fighting next season like the OHL.
Agent Igor Larionov has permission to speak with teams about Nail Yakupov, but in the end, the Oilers need to agree with any trade. Sounds like there is a gap between what Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli thinks Yakupov is worth, and what other teams wanted to pay.
The Predators have said they won’t trade Jimmy Vesey’s rights. The Predators won’t get any compensation for not signing Vesey as he wasn’t a first round pick. It appears to be down to the Bruins and Maple Leafs.
It is believed that Kings would have drafted Kyle Connor if they hadn’t traded their first round pick to the Bruins in the Milan Lucic deal.
The Penguins added the NCAA leading defensemen scorer in Ethan Prow. They were in on European UFA Linus Hultstrom, and may have looked at Dion Phaneuf at some point. Don’t see how they could have made his salary work.
On potential expansion draft and protecting players who have played professional hockey in Europe – ie the Maple Leafs having to protect William Nylander as he played in the SHL last year for MoDo.
“However, I’ve heard there is a provision that players who play professionally while still having junior eligibility will not have those seasons count towards their expansion status. That avoids headaches for whoever drafts Patrik Laine, Auston Matthews and Jesse Puljujarvi, too.”
Brandon Baddock (NJ), Ryan Rehill (NJ) and Jaedon Descheneau (STL) all need to sign by June 1st or they’ll go back into the draft this year.
The Kings may soon decide to move Nikolai Prokhorkin. Prokhorkin was part of the Kings-Oilers-Teddy Purcell trade talks. The Oilers could take another go at acquiring him. Other NHL teams would likely be interested.
Vincent Lecavalier wouldn’t answer the question as to whether he could change his mind about retiring after the season. Don’t think the Kings could fit his salary in even with the Flyers eating half his salary.