31 Thoughts rumor roundup

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: Steve Yzerman to the Edmonton Oilers seems like an unlikely fit, but they have to try. Potential GM candidates could include Bill Guerin, Mark Hunter, Kelly McCrimmon, Craig Heisinger, Ron Hextall, Doug Armstong, Ken Holland and Mike Gillis.

The Oilers called the Washington Capitals about Andre Burakovsky, but some sources ‘threw cold water on that.”

The Oilers like Detroit Red Wings Andreas Athanasiou but the Red Wings may not want to move him and he wouldn’t come cheap.

There were some rumors that the Oilers and the Chicago Blackhawks were discussing something big. The Oilers would need to move out Tobias Rieder‘s contract to create cap space.

Talk that a team asked the Oilers about Evan Bouchard and that conversation didn’t last long.

The Capitals are asking for a couple mid-to-high draft picks for Burakovsky. This would give them some assets to acquire something else.

It may be that an eight-year contract extension for Auston Matthews is unlikely as the salary may be too high. Four years would be to a UFA so maybe a five- or six-year deal. This may also mean a cap hit below Connor McDavid‘s $12.5 million.

Don’t believe the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking at Carolina Hurricanes Dougie Hamilton, maybe Brett Pesce, but not for sure.

LA Kings Jake Muzzin could be a left-handed option for the Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs aren’t interested in trading Kasperi Kapanen and Rasmus Sandin.

Nick Kypreos said that Ottawa Senators offered Matt Duchene eight years at $8 million per. Sources said the Senators never made an offer to Mark Stone but presented a “concept” of what they could do, which may be higher then Duchene’s cap number.

Doesn’t sound like there is much talk between the Senators and Ryan Dzingel.

Some teams are looking at Chicago Blackhawks Chris Kunitz and John Hayden. The Flames are a team that would make sense for Kunitz.

Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning said he will start talks with defenseman Alex Edler.

The New York Rangers have been scouting the Colorado Avalanche, which may suggest that Avalanche need the Rangers to take an NHL player to make a possible Kevin Hayes (or someone else) trade to work. Rangers coach David Quinn coached Shane Bowers at Boston University.

The Avs will see what the trade return for Nikita Zadorov might be.

The Dallas Stars have made Mattias Janmark available, joining forwards Valeri Nichushkin and Brett Ritchie.

New York Islanders Anders Lee on his pending free agency.