NHL Rumors: Vancouver Canucks, and the Montreal Canadiens

Evander Kane would welcome a trade, but Teddy Blueger would like to stay

Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet: Vancouver Canucks forward Evander Kane said he’d “welcome” a trade to a contending team and take a run at another Cup.

Forward Teddy Blueger would love to remain in Vancouver, but there haven’t been any contact talks.

Forward Conor Garland‘s name has been in the rumor mill for years, and so it’s not really a distraction for him anymore. The Canucks don’t really want to trade Garland, but they have to consider everything. The same can be said for Jake DeBrusk.

NHL Rumors: Steven Stamkos, Tyler Myers, and the Edmonton Oilers

It’s possible the Canucks could get a third or fourth-round pick for Kane and Blueger. They’d likely get less for David Kampf.

The Montreal Canadiens are looking to move out Patrik Laine’s cap hit and find a right winger for their top line

Daily Faceoff: David Pagnotta said that the top priority for the Montreal Canadiens is to find a right winger to play on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. They need to free up some cap space to do so, so they’re looking to move out Patrik Laine and his $8.7 million salary cap hit.

“He’s got an $8.7 million cap hit. The Canadians can retain on his deal if they want to. The Habs don’t have a ton of cap space either, overall.

So they’re looking right now for somebody to play with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caulfield on that top line. They love their second line. They love what (Juraj) Slafkovsky, (Ivan) Demidov, and (Oliver) Kapanen have been able to do together. Finding somebody permanent on the right side of that first line, that seems to be the priority.

Now the same time, they’re not going to rush their plans. They’ve stuck to their guns, and kudos to Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton for doing that, because it’s obviously been working.

But it wouldn’t surprise me if we see parallel-type moves here. You move out Laine, you bring in another guy to help this team moving forward. They’re not going to overpay for a rental. They’re looking for guys that fit their core.

NHL Rumors: Is There a Role for Patrik Laine on the Montreal Canadiens?

But moving out Laine would help free up considerable amount of cap space in order for that to happen. So we’re going to keep tabs on that. But Laine goes to the top of a lot of trade boards and trade watch lists. He’s actively available, and the Canadians are trying to make that happen.”

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