Bargain Bin: The Chase for Gretzky is on Halt (11/25/2024)

The last episode Jayd and I recorded of the Inside The Rink podcast went up Saturday. Since we hit the quarter mark of the 2024-25 NHL season, teams are ready to blow up their entire team or make a franchise-altering move given their performance in the standings up until now.

I’m touching on some points in the Ovechkin goal-scoring halt episode, but mentioning some stuff that Jayd and I may or may not be chatting about later this week.

Ovechkin Out 4-6 Weeks with Left Fibula Fracture

This one is a hard pill to swallow for fans who wanted to see how soon Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals would celebrate goal number 895.

A leg-to-leg collision led to Ovechkin fracturing his left fibula and it was later announced that he’s out week-to-week with a likely timeline of four-to-six weeks.

It’s the longest absence of Ovechkin’s career now after he missed six games in 2009 with an upper-body injury.

The Wayne Gretzky goal chase will have to wait a little while longer. Ovechkin’s 868 goals put him 26 away from tying the record of 894 and 27 away from breaking it.

Bruins Fire Jim Montgomery, Blues Hire Montgomery Five Days Later

It felt like yesterday I was just reading about Jim Montgomery potentially having one foot already out the door in Boston.

The main point in all of this is that Montgomery isn’t a recycled coach, he’s a good coach who struggled to win games this season. Don Sweeney iced a team that was a band-aid fix to the issues that the Bruins have.

Boston lost that 5-1 game against Columbus and that seemed to be the final dagger into Montgomery’s tenure with the Bruins, and it was.

Elliotte Friedman mentioned in his 32 Thoughts column days ago that several GMs have said that one thing they look for is pushback. This was not a team that pushed back.

Montgomery, in his final season of his three-year contract with Boston, signed a five-year with the St. Louis Blues just five days later.

Across 184 games coached for the Bruins, Montgomery won 120, lost 41 in regulation and lost 23 more in overtime/shootout. That’s a great winning percentage that netted him the Jack Adams Award in 2022-23.

It came as no surprise when Bannister was replaced by Montgomery, you just don’t get a coach of Montgomery’s calibre available every day. Doug Armstrong and the St. Louis Blues knew that and didn’t hesitate to make the change.

Kyle Connor’s First Career Fight Against Sidney Crosby

Here’s a quick hit: did you have Kyle Connor’s first career NHL fight being against Sidney Crosby? I sure didn’t.

In the process, Connor also recorded his first (and likely only) Gordie Howe Hattrick of his career. Who had that on their 2024-25 NHL season bingo card?

While you don’t want to see your top scorers fighting, you like to see this pushback from anybody on a team like Winnipeg’s. They’ve accumulated their 17-4-0 record and know they’re the team to beat right now.

Provorov to be the Hottest Defensemen Deadline Acquisition

This isn’t my first Utah mention for this blog, here’s your warning.

I think that Ivan Provorov will be one of, if not, the biggest piece available for a defenseman at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline. His numbers are great so far and he’s averaging nearly 24 minutes a night in Columbus.

Utah won’t make a trade because they want to make a trade, they’ll make a move if they think it will better the short-term outlook of the roster and help them in the grand scheme of things.

The Utah HC has 10 eligible NHL defensemen, eight when you factor in that Sean Durzi and John Marino are on IR. They certainly won’t be looking for term, unless they need the additional insurance while their prospects develop.

Provorov has one year left on his contract worth $6.75 million annually. Los Angeles retained $2.025 million of his salary, so Columbus only has $4.725 million on their books. If Utah is in a spot where they’re confident that they’ll get into playoffs, I wouldn’t see why they wouldn’t make such an acquisition. However, with the price being a first-round pick, that could be a deterrent.

Alternatively, but staying within the Central Division, could the Winnipeg Jets circle in on Provorov and make the deal? I mention Winnipeg, who already has a deep defensive core as a potential fit as Kevin Cheveldayoff had Provorov in the Jets’ backyard when he played for the Brandon Wheat Kings in 2014-15. There has to be some interest on the Jets’ end, and maybe they’ll be willing to pay the first-round pick price.

Senators Looking for Big Shakeup? Giroux?

The Ottawa Senators have lost their last five games and are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. This is a team where a shakeup is needed, but it doesn’t seem to be any of the core players who could be potentially moved.

After acquiring Linus Ullmark in the 2024 offseason and then later signing him to a four-year contract extension worth $8.25 million annually, there was some hope for the team. However, we’ve seen time and time again that a poorly constructed team can’t be saved by good goaltending.

There’s been some chatter lately about the possibility that Ottawa could make a move to shake up their roster. Although I’m a little surprised that Claude Giroux is the first name to pop up with the way the team has performed with their core players.

While trading a veteran like Giroux could wake the team up, you have to wonder if it would be a bigger blow to the team than expected.

Additionally, Ottawa is looking for a defenseman, according to TSN’s Bruce Garrioch, but with almost no cap space, who stays and who goes? With Ottawa, you have to do addition by subtraction. We’ll see where this goes, and I figure this will be a recurring topic.

Rangers Growing Impatient, Could Trouba Be the First Domino to Fall?

Here’s a really strong lead from today, Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider’s name have been shopped around the NHL.

Given the rumours that Nashville is looking for a top-four defenseman, Trouba has that pedigree and proven playoff experience to back it up. You have to wonder, could the Predators use a player like Trouba? I think so.

Regarding Kreider, I would assume that he wouldn’t be traded within the Metropolitan Division. Rangers GM Chris Drury would almost certainly want to move him to the Western Conference, however, there’s a 15-team no-trade clause that could dictate a different narrative. I wonder if a team like Minnesota or Utah might inquire (or already have) about Kreider.

Trouba also has that 15-team NTC which could make a trade more difficult, but not impossible.

Again, similar to Kreider, I wonder if Utah might inquire and see if they could make a Trouba trade work, and we all know Utah has the cap space to make the trade.

Friedman mentioned that both players are not the only names being considered, assuming cheaper players on the team are available, but you have to wonder if there’s anybody else who hasn’t been named yet. I expect to circle back on this Rangers trade conversation topic soon.

What’s Lou Lamoriello Doing With Brock Nelson?

I’m wondering if there’s something up between Brock Nelson and the New York Islanders.

We all know Lamoriello keeps things tight-lipped and will nix deals if there’s any early reporting regarding what he’s doing. This is purely speculative, but I wonder if there’s any potential Brock Nelson could be a potential trade target given the landscape of the NHL right now.

There are a handful of teams that will be looking for a centre either now or when the trade deadline hits. I truly think a team like Nashville, Winnipeg, Tampa Bay, Boston, but I truly think Buffalo could emerge as the best trade suitor.

Brock Nelson has been the Islanders’ most consistent scorer over the last few years, and he could fetch a nice haul for the Islanders should Lamoriello want to shop him.

However, having an idea of how Lamoriello operates, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nelson get a six-to-eight-year contract extension rather than being traded.