NHL Rumors: Oilers, Lightning, Coyotes, More

In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is speculation that Swedish free agent Joakim Nygard has his choice of destination down to two teams, there is an update on the status of Ryan Callahan in Tampa, news out of Washington and the Coyotes are being creative in their search for talent.

Oilers or Flames for Nygard?

Editor in chief/chefredaktör, Uffe Bodin is reporting that it sounds like the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames are the final two teams in contention for Swedish free agent forward Joakim Nygard. It is expected he will a make a decision soon.

Nygard is a speedy forward with decent skill and would likely play as a third or fourth line player on most NHL clubs. He’s a bit older at age 26, but he’s capable and competes well.

Sticking with the Oilers, The Edmonton Journal’sJim Matheson thinks the Oilers might be interested in Vegas Golden Knights unrestricted free agent AHL winger Daniel Carr.

Update on Ryan Callahan

Knowing he’s likely a trade candidate out of Tampa Bay, there are a couple of updates on the status of Ryan Callahan.

Callahan’s agent said early this week that he hasn’t spoken with the Lightning about any potential plans. His agent, Stephen Bartlett added that they’ll need to submit their 15-team trade list by next month.

Speculation is that a sweetener might need to be added to any Callahan trade but it shouldn’t have to be a top prospect. Someone like Mitchell Stephens, Boris Katchouk or Taylor Raddysh. Others options could be Carter Verhaeghe, Alex-Barre Boulet or Connor Ingram.

We previously listed the New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, and New York Rangers as possible landing spots and that hasn’t really changed.

Some Talk About the Washington Capitals

NBC Sports Washington writes in two recent mailbag segments, J.J. Regan doesn’t expect Capitals GM Brian MacLellan will make an extreme move like trading goalie Braden Holtby to free up salary-cap space. Instead, he sees defenseman Matt Niskanen as a possible cost-cutting trade candidate. The idea would be to free up space to pursue forward depth in July via free agency.

Regan also doesn’t see the Capitals pursuing big-ticket UFAs like Artemi Panarin or Erik Karlsson. He thinks forward Carl Hagelin is likely to leave the organization in free agency but thinks Brett Connolly might consider re-signing with the team for less than market value.

We had earlier reported that the Capitals were going to decline qualifying RFA winger Andre Burakovsky’s to see if he’ll sign for less and Regan agrees that’s likely what will happen.

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