It’s time for another round of NHL rumours. The trade deadline will be upon us on March 8 and teams have some decisions to make. There are plenty of clubs that are going to try to add some pieces to make a Stanley Cup Playoff push. However, there are other teams that are looking to offload some players. These type of moves will be in a quest to acquiring assets for the future. Today’s NHL rumours focus on the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks.
All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Los Angeles Kings
Rumour: On the 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said that Kings might be in the market for another goaltender.
Friedman on Kings (32TP): "I think they will add a goalie, I do. I think they will add a goalie, whether it's Allen or somebody else, I think they will add a goalie"
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) January 19, 2024
Analysis: The Kings have hit a brick wall in the last few games. Los Angeles got off to a red hot start, but have gotten into a rut. The Edmonton Oilers and other clubs have pushed the Kings into a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Cam Talbot played well to start the season, but him and David Rittich may not be the winning combo to lead the club to a Stanley Cup.
The trade deadline gives the Kings and General Manager Rob Blake a chance to refresh the roster. Adding someone like Montreal Canadiens goalie Jake Allen could give a chance for a veteran netminder to spell Talbot. Allen could also possibly usurp Talbot for the starting spot if the current Kings goalie hits a rough patch.
Montreal and GM Kent Hughes would love to trade one of his three main roster goalies to give the team some cap relief. Dealing Allen would also give young goalies Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau a chance to get more starts in between the pipes. Montembeault was given a contract extension earlier in the season Primeau is a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Primeau seems to be part of the plan for the future and the cap space would help get Primeau a new deal.
A trade between the 1993 Stanley Cup finalists could be beneficial to both sides. Los Angeles could get a veteran netminder and Montreal would get Allen’s $3.85 million salary off the books.
Chicago Blackhawks
Rumour: Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times talked to the Donnie and Dhali show about what the Blackhawks might do at the upcoming trade deadline.
What will the #Blackhawks do at the trade deadline?@BenPopeCST talked about that and more!
Full interview..https://t.co/hTV1x6cS2e pic.twitter.com/DFFdXdGA3e
— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) January 22, 2024
Analysis: The Blackhawks have fallen off a cliff since the injury to Connor Bedard. Chicago did recently re-sign a trio of veterans in Jason Dickinson, Petr Mrazek and Nick Foligno. However, Pope is not indicating a busy deadline for 2024.
This is a departure from the previous two seasons with General Manager Kyle Davidson at the helm. Chicago has been wheeling and dealing the last couple of years, but that’s likely not the case this March. Arvid Soderblom might get some looks as the goalie of the future, but Drew Commesso also just arrived in the AHL. Commesso is also an intriguing goalie prospect.
Pope also mentioned that Tyler Johnson might be someone that could get some trade interest at the deadline. However, Johnson might only get a middle-round selection for a team looking to add a depth forward. Davidson might also try to re-sign the veteran forward due to the run of injuries that the Blackhawks have had this campaign. Pope told Don Taylor and Rick Dhaliwal that keeping Johnson would mean that the lineup would be as full as possible.
Besides Johnson, there really aren’t a lot of enticing trade candidates according to Pope. He put a ballpark figure on maybe one or even zero trades for Chicago at the early March deadline.
Main photo by: David Kirouac – USA TODAY Sports
