{"id":645002,"date":"2026-08-18T13:06:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/645002\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T13:06:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:06:15","slug":"devils-daily-gauthier-rejects-massive-offer-salminen-clarity-keefe-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/645002\/","title":{"rendered":"Devils Daily: Gauthier Rejects Massive Offer; Salminen Clarity; Keefe Seat"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the more under analyzed storylines going into the 2026-27 New Jersey Devils<\/a> season is Sheldon Keefe\u2019s seat as the head coach, and it\u2019s time to have the conversation. Keefe is heading into year three of his contract, and his results as the head coach have been a mixed bag. <\/p>\n

I dove into why Keefe\u2019s entering a pivatol season below.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Samu Salminen situation didn\u2019t wrap up cleanly after the August 15 deadline. The Devils still hold his rights, and it\u2019s more complicated than it first appeared. Daniel Amoia with more below as well.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Cutter Gauthier rejects a massive contract extension, Drake Batherson\u2019s extension talks with Ottawa are heating up as the eight-year window closes, a prospect changes hands in a quiet trade, and more around the league.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Devils Trade Rumors & News<\/p>\n

New Jersey Hockey Now: Here\u2019s why this is Sheldon Keefe\u2019s make-or-break year as Devils coach, with no remaining buffer after two seasons and a staff that now fully reflects the direction he and Sunny Mehta want. Sheldon Keefe<\/a><\/p>\n

Prospect Samu Salminen\u2019s status is more complicated than Saturday\u2019s deadline suggested. The Devils still hold his NHL rights after he did not complete the steps to become an unrestricted free agent. Samu Salminen<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Devils Rink Report: The Devils\u2019 blue line is largely unchanged this season with the exception of Simon Nemec\u2019s departure. It\u2019s especially surprising given Dougie Hamilton wasn\u2019t expected to be in New Jersey next season. Mehta explained on the latest Devils Rink Report<\/a> he believes in a bounce-back performance from the defense, headlined by Hamilton and Luke Hughes.<\/p>\n

Mehta joined Devils Rink Report LIVE to talk about New Jersey\u2019s summer thus far, Jack Hughes, his roster additions, and more. Tune in! \ud83d\udc47\ud83c\udffc<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Please be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel<\/a> and turn on those notifications for when we go LIVE every Friday!<\/p>\n

For podcast listeners, tune into Devils Rink Report on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, and Amazon Music<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ALSO! Devils Rink Report is on TikTok now \u2014 Follow us here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the New Jersey Hockey Now newsletter<\/a> for daily Devils intel straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n

NHL Trade Talk, News & National Hockey Now<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a rough summer for the Anaheim Ducks who continue to get peppered with huge contracts. Leo Carlsson\u2019s $18 million offer sheet was matched, and now Cutter Gauthier reportedly turned down a sizeable extension. <\/p>\n

Woof.<\/p>\n

Word today from reliable sources that Anaheim has offered RFA Cutter Gauthier $13M at four years. <\/p>\n

Rejected by Gauthier and his agent Kurt Overhardt.<\/p>\n

In the moment, per @PuckPedia<\/a> , the Ducks are just over $9M in salary cap.<\/p>\n

Suffice to say, if\/when Gauthier signs, the Ducks\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 PaulShaheen (@PaulShaheen) August 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Detroit Hockey Now: With Steve Yzerman shifting to a senior advisor role, Shawn Horcoff is temporarily steering the Detroit Red Wings<\/a>\u2019 day-to-day hockey operations\u2014though without the power to make trades. Bob Duff investigates the uncertainty surrounding the rest of the front office, where other executives appear largely inactive. Is the entire Red Wings hockey ops staff living on borrowed time?<\/p>\n

TSN: The Buffalo Sabres traded prospect Stiven Sardarian to the Carolina Hurricanes for future considerations in a quiet deal<\/a> announced Monday.<\/p>\n

Drake Batherson is seeking an eight-year deal from the Ottawa Senators before the Sept. 15 deadline<\/a> that would close that term window.<\/p>\n

Calgary is facing a decision on Morgan Frost\u2019s future, with an extension looking like the best option even as trade-deadline value<\/a> remains real.<\/p>\n

Pro Hockey Rumors: Drake Batherson and the Ottawa Senators remain distant on a next contract as the Sept. 15 deadline<\/a> to lock in an eight-year term approaches.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"avatar\"<\/p>\n

\t\tJames is a fully credentialed New Jersey Devils beat reporter for New Jersey Hockey Now on Sportsnaut and the … More about James Nichols<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the more under analyzed storylines going into the 2026-27 New Jersey Devils season is Sheldon Keefe\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5109],"tags":[233,511,201,3723,30385,5,576,151,5185,5184,4,106,546,53220,886],"class_list":["post-645002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-jersey-devils","tag-anaheim-ducks","tag-cutter-gauthier","tag-devils","tag-devils-news","tag-devils-trade-rumors","tag-hockey","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-jersey-devils","tag-newjersey","tag-newjerseydevils","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-news","tag-nhl-trade-rumors","tag-samu-salminen","tag-sheldon-keefe"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/117116665111327739","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645002","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=645002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}