{"id":440987,"date":"2026-02-02T04:55:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T04:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/440987\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T04:55:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T04:55:29","slug":"rangers-kings-blackhawks-flyers-bruins-capitals-cap-penalties-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/440987\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers, Kings, Blackhawks, Flyers, Bruins, Capitals, Cap Penalties \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include how much (or little) the Rangers might be selling, potential defense targets for the Bruins, and much more.\u00a0 If your question doesn\u2019t appear here, check back in last weekend\u2019s mailbag<\/a> while we\u2019ll have one more next weekend as well.<\/p>\n

lgr34561: Hi Rangers fan here. A few things. First of all, if you were in the GMs shoes (which you would probably do a much better job than Chris Drury), what direction would you take from here as in what kind of moves would you make? Second of all, do you think that a retool is enough (like Drury says) to put this team back into contention or is he just sugarcoating a long rebuild? Thank you!<\/p>\n

Schwa: To piggyback here:<\/p>\n

Curious if you expect any of the NMCs under contract to waive? Would you expect Drury to inquire with JT, Mika, and\/or Trocheck and consider a heavier rebuild?<\/p>\n

I imagine Trocheck would return quite a sum, given what the Canadiens gave up for Danault.<\/p>\n

Are Mika and JT high-value given the current center market, despite the length of their contracts?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been one of those people who look at the Rangers and go \u2018they can\u2019t be that bad\u2019.\u00a0 That was me last season and heading into this year as well.\u00a0 I say that because I completely get why Drury might still think that way.\u00a0 With a high-end goalie, a solid group of forwards on paper, and a decent defense (when healthy), they shouldn\u2019t be as bad as they have been.\u00a0 And it\u2019s why I believe Drury\u2019s intention legitimately is a short-term retool and not an actual rebuild.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think they\u2019re planning to blow up the core.\u00a0 Instead, they\u2019ll sell a bit at the deadline, get some future assets, then try to make a trade or free agent signing over the summer to get themselves back into the Wild Card picture at the very least.\u00a0 It can be done and done with some success as long as they realize that success isn\u2019t going to be defined by a long playoff run but simply by getting back to the playoffs and ideally getting some shine back from a reputational standpoint.<\/p>\n

To move quickly to the second question for a moment, I don\u2019t expect the other veterans with trade protection to be in play.\u00a0 At most, maybe one if a team ponies up a better-than-expected return that Drury can\u2019t refuse.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s going to be more like move Artemi Panarin<\/a>, see if there\u2019s a lateral swap for Alexis Lafreniere<\/a>, maybe look at a move on the back end, and call it a day.\u00a0 That\u2019s based on my assumption that they\u2019re still eyeing a playoff spot next season so they\u2019re not going to want to give up a lot of talent.<\/p>\n

Given how few sellers there are and the fact that a lot of the veteran Rangers could fill positions of need on other teams (particularly given the need for impact centers), I think New York could get big returns for several of their veterans.\u00a0 Knowing that, I might be more inclined to do more of a multi-year rebuild, assuming that the veterans would waive their trade protection.\u00a0 But, again, I think the plan is something pretty quick that technically doesn\u2019t fill the definition of a rebuild.<\/p>\n

Bigalval: I think the Kings need a full rebuild and changes on the administrative side also. Luc, Holland, and Hiller should all be fired. The game has passed Holland by; he had a brutal start when becoming the Kings\u2019 general manager. Luc also has no clue and Hiller doesn\u2019t know how to fix things. It was a horrible decision to let him coach this year. He should be fired soon, even with a rebuild. It\u2019s probably gonna take four or five years to fix this mess. Thoughts?<\/p>\n

Fundamentally, I agree that a shakeup is needed.\u00a0 I had Jim Hiller being the first coach fired a while back, something that\u2019s clearly not happening since Columbus wound up being the first team to pull the trigger on that front.\u00a0 I\u2019m not a big fan of speculating about people getting fired but that\u2019s a card that still could get played at this point.<\/p>\n

Given that Ken Holland is in his first season with the team, I don\u2019t think he realistically would be in jeopardy of losing his job.\u00a0 General managers tend to get a relatively long shelf life and while Holland is closer to the end of his career than the beginning (or even the middle), he probably gets a couple more years in some role.<\/p>\n

Then we come to Luc Robitaille, who has been in this role since 2007.\u00a0 He was a Hall of Fame player with his best days coming with the Kings, who have won two Stanley Cups with him in that role.\u00a0 That\u2019s a hard person to let go, even if I agree that a change of direction and vision might ultimately be beneficial in the long run.\u00a0 Unless ownership decides they want to overhaul things, I\u2019m not sure we\u2019re at that point yet.\u00a0 And even if we were, it might very well be Holland who would take over.<\/p>\n

Personally, I\u2019d like to see what this group can do with a new coach and a vision of trying to add some skill and speed to the lineup.\u00a0 This is a playoff-caliber team, albeit more of a Wild Card team than a true contender.\u00a0 But an influx of some skill and a more aggressive offensive style might get them going.\u00a0 If that doesn\u2019t happen, then using Anze Kopitar<\/a>\u2019s retirement as a springboard into a rebuild makes some sense.\u00a0 If this core has gone as far as it can, then a step back to take two steps forward might not be the worst idea.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure that will happen with the current administration in place, however.<\/p>\n

rayk: Which pending UFA among Dickinson, Mikheyev, and Murphy has the most deadline trade value and which the least, assuming salary retention for all three? <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with Jason Dickinson<\/a> ($2.125MM with maximum retention).\u00a0 As expected, his breakout showing in his first couple of seasons in Chicago that showed signs of being unsustainable proved to be unsustainable.\u00a0 Nonetheless, he\u2019s a solid checking forward who can kill penalties and, perhaps most importantly, play center.\u00a0 Center depth is always in high demand at this time of year and Dickinson\u2019s physicality lends itself well to playoff-type hockey.\u00a0 I expect he\u2019ll get a lot of interest.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ilya Mikheyev<\/a> ($2.02MM with max retention) is having the best offensive season of the three and has also had some success killing penalties, particularly this season.\u00a0 I think his value now is higher than it was when Chicago was paid to take on his contract but his history suggests he won\u2019t be as successful in the limited role he\u2019d have with a contender.\u00a0 Where Dickinson is in the same type of role he\u2019d have on a new team (just a little ice time), Mikheyev would be in line for a bigger drop so there are more question marks as to how impactful he\u2019d be.\u00a0 He\u2019s someone I could see teams viewing as an option further down their list but I don\u2019t think he\u2019ll be as sought after.<\/p>\n

Connor Murphy<\/a> ($2.2MM with full retention) isn\u2019t having a good year.\u00a0 His best days are behind him but if you\u2019re a playoff team looking for defensive depth, what are you typically looking for?\u00a0 Good size, experience, penalty killing abilities, good shot blocker, and being right-handed is a bonus.\u00a0 Technically, Murphy checks them all.\u00a0 I don\u2019t see a contending team wanting him to be more than a number six but I expect several teams will want him for that role if the Blackhawks are eating half of the remaining contract.<\/p>\n

In terms of who\u2019d get the biggest return, I\u2019d go with Dickinson, then Murphy, then Mikheyev.\u00a0 (I like Mikheyev but his profile is not the type that contenders typically seek out at this time of year.)\u00a0 One thing worth noting, while this scenario had Chicago retaining on all three, they only have two retention slots available since one is being used on Seth Jones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Black Ace57: Is it finally time for the Flyers to follow the Rangers\u2019 lead and give up on this season and sell at the deadline?<\/p>\n

To add onto this, why not do what the Flyers did in the past with trades like the Carter and Richards ones and at least try to shake things up without strictly buying or selling? Examples I\u2019m thinking of are Wright with the Kraken or Power with the Sabres as targets.<\/p>\n

Going into today\u2019s action, the Flyers are eight points out of a top-three seed in the Metropolitan Division and ten points out in the Wild Card chase.\u00a0 They have at least one game in hand on the teams holding those last playoff spots as well.\u00a0 That\u2019s not an insurmountable gap.\u00a0 But it\u2019s an improbable one.\u00a0 And realistically, if they got to the postseason, I don\u2019t think they\u2019d be a tough out.\u00a0 So yes, I\u2019d say they should be in sell mode.<\/p>\n

You note the old Jeff Carter and Mike Richards trades from a while back as a way to possibly reshape the roster without being a true seller.\u00a0 But those players were impact centers with strong track records of winning hockey.\u00a0 Who on Philadelphia\u2019s roster has that type of history and reputation?\u00a0 Travis Konecny<\/a> is a nice player, a legitimate top-line winger.\u00a0 Maybe he\u2019s in that territory but swapping out your leading scorer for the sake of a change carries some big risks.\u00a0 Owen Tippett<\/a> feels like a potential change-of-scenery candidate so maybe there\u2019s an option there but he\u2019s not at the level of Carter and Richards and they may not be selling at the peak of his value.<\/p>\n

The problem with saying they should be sellers is that they don\u2019t have a lot to realistically sell.\u00a0 Their pending UFAs are depth pieces that wouldn\u2019t yield a return of consequence.\u00a0 Rasmus Ristolainen<\/a> can\u2019t stay healthy which hurts his market.\u00a0 I expect they\u2019ll try to sign Trevor Zegras<\/a> to a long-term pact.\u00a0 They\u2019re not moving Christian Dvorak<\/a> after extending him while Sean Couturier<\/a>\u2019s contract takes him off the table.\u00a0 On defense, Travis Sanheim<\/a> isn\u2019t moving, Cameron York<\/a> probably isn\u2019t in play, nor is Jamie Drysdale<\/a> who they still have hopes for.<\/p>\n

Maybe Bobby Brink<\/a> is an option if the Flyers aren\u2019t thrilled about what his next contract with arbitration rights might cost.\u00a0 I could see Nick Seeler<\/a> attracting some interest; he might be their best trade chip.\u00a0 And while Samuel Ersson<\/a> might be<\/a> in play, how much value does he have in a down year?\u00a0 So yes, while selling makes sense in theory, Philadelphia might not have much to sell.<\/p>\n

sovietcanuckistanian: By all accounts, the Bruins made a legit effort\/offer for Rasmus Andersson<\/a>. I get that didn\u2019t get him (he wanted LV and I guess Calgary took a better deal since he hasn\u2019t signed an extension yet), but he clearly filled a glaring need. Who do they pivot to in terms of finding someone to fill that hole \u2013 given that their internal options aren\u2019t cutting it at the moment?<\/p>\n

The next most prominent right-shot defender in play is Dougie Hamilton<\/a>.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s safe to say that option isn\u2019t on the table.\u00a0 Assuming they\u2019re looking for someone who has some of Andersson\u2019s attributes and isn\u2019t a rental player, the next best option to look at might be Blues blueliner Justin Faulk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s someone who would give them some secondary offense behind Charlie McAvoy<\/a> while he\u2019s still enough of a minutes-eater to easily slot into a top-four role.\u00a0 While he\u2019s not a defensive anchor, he\u2019s still a capable penalty killer.\u00a0 And with one year left after this on his contract, he\u2019s not a pure rental either which might be appealing to GM Don Sweeney.\u00a0 The $6.5MM cap charge will be a challenge to overcome though, given that it\u2019s unlikely that St. Louis will retain on it whereas Calgary did on Andersson\u2019s expiring deal.\u00a0 But fit-wise, he\u2019d fit the bill.<\/p>\n

Mario Ferraro<\/a> would also help and he\u2019s easier to fit in on the cap but there\u2019s no guarantee that he\u2019ll move with the Sharks hanging around the playoff mix and trying to re-sign him.\u00a0 Rasmus Ristolainen is also believed to be available but with his track record of injuries and Boston already having Nikita Zadorov<\/a>, that might not be the best fit for them.\u00a0 But overall, Faulk feels like the right fit for them if they can make the cap elements work.<\/p>\n

letsgonats: What the heck is happening with the Caps? If they sell, who could they offer and what would they net? (Lapierre, Duhaime, Sandin, van Riemsdyk, McMichael, Milano, Lindgren, prospects, etc.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a combination of there being natural regression after a season where everything went right for them last year and the fact that the Eastern Conference in general is a little wacky at the moment.\u00a0 Really, of the six teams holding down the divisional seeds, how many of those would you have expected to be there at this point?\u00a0 Carolina and Tampa Bay, sure, but the others felt like Wild Card at best fits.\u00a0 Them all being in means a bunch of teams are out and Washington is one of them.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll note that I don\u2019t expect them to be big sellers.\u00a0 This is Alex Ovechkin<\/a>\u2019s last guaranteed NHL season with his contract ending.\u00a0 They\u2019re not going to throw in the towel unless things really go off the rails before the trade deadline.\u00a0 And if they did sell, it probably won\u2019t be their younger core, taking Rasmus Sandin<\/a> and Connor McMichael<\/a> off your list.<\/p>\n

There would be a market for Brandon Duhaime<\/a> despite the down year.\u00a0 A second-round pick would be tough but a third (or equivalent prospect) should be doable with maybe a little something else coming back.\u00a0 Trevor van Riemsdyk<\/a> as a rental blueliner is probably in that range as well.\u00a0 A rebuilding team probably would take a shot on Hendrix Lapierre<\/a> but his value isn\u2019t any higher than a mid-round pick or equivalent struggling youngster.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think Sonny Milano<\/a> would be attracting interest.<\/p>\n

That leaves Charlie Lindgren<\/a> as the biggest wild card of this group.\u00a0 He\u2019s having a down year (and now is injured).\u00a0 But his recent track record is still decent and there are a lot of teams looking for goaltending.\u00a0 Generally, a $3MM deal for someone with a .884 SV% would scare teams off but someone might take a flyer on him.\u00a0 But given that it\u2019d be a gamble, the return wouldn\u2019t be all that significant either.<\/p>\n

Long story short, this isn\u2019t a good time for Washington to be sellers.\u00a0 They may not be big buyers (although a trade-and-extend deal for Panarin could make sense for them in the long term) but they\u2019re not in a spot to replenish their prospect pool unless they\u2019re moving out a core player which is something they\u2019re probably not going to want to do.<\/p>\n

SkidRowe: Should there be a cap penalty for teams in no-tax states? It seems like an unfair advantage.<\/p>\n

In a perfect world, would it be nice to have a mechanism that balances things out?\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0 From a practicality standpoint though, I am honestly at a loss for how they\u2019d try to do it.\u00a0 If you want something strictly along the lines of taxes, now the whims of politicians ultimately dictate teams\u2019 spending ability.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t sound like a great situation for a professional sports league.<\/p>\n

Maybe there\u2019s something along the lines of a cap exception for teams in higher-tax markets but the league didn\u2019t want to go there more than 20 years ago in CBA talks and I don\u2019t think they want to go there.\u00a0 Nor do I think the league could get 22 of 32 teams onboard to vote for this or any other change.<\/p>\n

That last part is a big one.\u00a0 While there are undoubtedly several teams that would want something like this in place, about as many wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0 Could they really get a two-thirds majority on something with some teeth (that doesn\u2019t have giant loopholes like some of their other seemingly ironclad fixes\u2026remember how LTIR was supposed to solve plenty of problems?) to make a material difference?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think there\u2019s quite enough appetite for a change to make that happen.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include how much (or little) the Rangers might be selling,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,4,860,697],"class_list":{"0":"post-440987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-phr-mailbag","11":"tag-pro-hockey-rumors-originals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115999261445215667","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}