It’s time for another edition of NHL rumours. We’re starting the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, there is plenty of chatter about teams that didn’t make the post-season tournament. General managers have to take stock and see what adjustments they need to make. Some decisions need to be made this off-season. However, there are others coming along in the future, but the groundwork needs to be set now. Today’s NHL rumours focus on the Minnesota Wild and the Calgary Flames.
All NHL Rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Minnesota Wild
Rumour: Joe Smith and Michael Russo of The Athletic said the clock is ticking on making the Wild a contender. The main reason is to try and keep superstar Kirill Kaprizov beyond next season. Kaprizov is an unrestricted free agent after the 2025-26 season.
The clock is ticking for #mnwild, with next year an important one to give Kirill Kaprizov hope he can be part of a contender. "We need to show him that we’re committed to winning," Bill Guerin says. Our insider w/ @RussoHockey tackles that topic and more https://t.co/tBjsk0DZu5
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) April 22, 2024
Analysis: Minnesota missed out on the post-season and its time for general manager Bill Guerin to reset and make some moves. The Wild did show some signs of life after replacing Dean Evason with John Hynes. However, the club was on the outside looking in.
Kaprizov is a bonafide superstar, but needs to be surrounded with some weapons. There are talented players like Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek. However, some more pieces would be helpful. There’s one massive problem the Wild has and that’s plenty of dead cap space. Minnesota has another year of nearly $14.8 million of dead cap space. This is due to the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts.
However, there’s only one more season of pain. The dead hit will drop to nearly $1.7 million and free up over $13 million. This should give the Wild enough to be a force in free agency. Hopefully this will be enough to convince the Russian to stay long-term with the team.
Kaprizov is arguably one of the most exciting players in franchise history. Guerin would do well to make sure that he’s doing all he can to build a contender.
Calgary Flames
Rumour: Pat Steinberg of Calgary’s Sportsnet 960 talked about the status of A.J. Greer with the club. Greer is an unrestricted free agent this coming off-season.
Pending UFA AJ Greer says he hasn’t had conversations about signing back with Calgary as of yet.
Says he’s excited for having those talks and has a “good feeling” about them. Clearly would like to be back. #Flames
— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) April 19, 2024
Analysis: Greer said that he hasn’t had conversations with coming back to the club. However, the pending UFA is excited to have talks with general manager Craig Conroy in the off-season. The Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Quebec said he has a good feeling about returning to the team. Greer also said that he would love to come back to the team for the 2024-25 season.
The 27-year-old only scored six goals and 12 points in 59 games. However, Greer was limited by a fractured foot in late January before the All-Star Break. Greer did return to the lineup in March. However, the former Colorado Avalanche draft pick said the injury was still bothering him. This is why he missed the last four games of the campaign.
Greer made $762,500 for this campaign and is looking to get another deal. The forward was a waiver claim, so he had some decent value. He can play both wing spots and that versatility can be helpful to a roster that might undergo some changes this off-season.
Calgary has made over its roster with trading Chris Tanev, Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin. We’ve speculated in previous NHL rumours pieces that Conroy might make some more moves in the summertime. The Jacob Markstrom question still looms large among other issues.
Greer has been solid on the fourth line for the Flames this season. Conroy will likely at least discuss bringing back Greer in the off-season. Greer is likely going to get a shot somewhere if he doesn’t come back to Calgary.
Main photo by: Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports
