NHL Rumors: New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors!  Teams are always looking to improve, and the excitement of another NHL season is upon us. With the March 8th trade deadline approaching, the rumors are hot and heavy!

In this Wednesday edition of NHL Rumors, we’ll examine the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and the New Jersey Devils.

NHL rumors in this edition include: 

The Rangers need a center. Can that include Sean Monahan? Would a perfect addition to go along with Dylan Larkin be Tomas Hertl? Will there be a homecoming for Adam Henrique?

New York Rangers – Sean Monahan

Rumor: Per – Elliotte Friedman – sportsnet.ca. With Filip Chytil suffering another setback in the return from his concussion, the New York Rangers could be looking to acquire some help in the bottom six. 

The Rangers’ five-on-five scoring took a hit when Chytil went down. Monahan has put up 12 goals and 22 assists for 35 points in 49 games so far this season. The Rangers could afford Monahan’s salary of $1.985 million, seeing as they have $5.24 million of cap space. Monahan can play both center and right-wing, but there could be an issue with him staying healthy. He did have a hip replacement two years ago, and there are always problems connected with that for hockey players (see Patrick Kane).

Monahan has only played a complete 82-game schedule once in his career back in 2016-17. It may be risky for the Rangers to go after him if his future health is in question. Another option at center could be Elias Lindholm, but that would be much more costly. He will demand (and get) $8.74 million for eight years per Evolving-Hockey projection.

Not only would the Rangers need to pay Lindholm, but they would need to give up quite a bit in a prospective trade including a first-round pick, an NHL player, and a prospect. Monahan, on the other hand, may only demand a second-round pick at a much lower cap hit. It’s clearly a risk for the Rangers, who really must address the gap created by Chytil’s injury heading toward the trade deadline and the playoffs down the road. It’s clear that Monahan’s name will continue to appear in trade speculation.

Detroit Red Wings – Tomas Hertl

Rumor: Per – Gary Dymski – octopusthrower.com. The Red Wings 9-1-2 record in January displays their need to acquire Hertl.

The Red Wings can move away from the pack of teams still in the playoff hunt with a key player down the middle. Besides Hertl they could be interested in Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks, right-wing Kaapo Kakko of the New York Rangers, and/or defenseman Noah Hanifin of the Calgary Flames. What would it take to acquire Hertl? First of all, he make $8.1 million through the 2028-29 season. The Wings only have about $2.78 million in cap space, so some salary space would need to be addressed.

The Detroit club does have some talented prospects to encourage the San Jose Sharks to pull off a trade. Hertl stands 6′-3″, 215 pounds, and has the scoring touch needed, especially in the postseason, where he has collected 24 goals and 18 assists in 62 games. The question then becomes, will GM Steve Yzerman go all out to add a player like Hertl? Other teams fighting for success in the postseason may outbid him but don’t count him out just yet. Yzerman is unpredictable, and you never know what he is thinking.

Adding Hertl at center-ice to complement Dyan Larkin may just be what the Wings need to get back into the postseason derby. We’ll see.

New Jersey Devils – Adam Henrique

Rumor: Per – Gabe Foley – prohockeyrumors.com. The New Jersey Devils have expressed interest in Anaheim Ducks centerman Adam Henrique, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on a recent episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast.

Henrique was a 2008 third-round selection of the Devils, and he appeared in 74 games, adding 51 points. In November 2017, Henrique was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Sami Vatanen and a 2019 third-round pick to select Daniil Misyul. Joseph Blandisi and a 2018 third-round pick used on Blake McLaughlin were also sent to Anaheim.

The Devils are hurting, missing Jack Hughes and Michael McLeod down the middle. Henrique is in the last year of his $5.825 million AAV deal and could step right in to be a second-line center replacing Erik Haula. Although he’s 33 years old, he has scored at least 40 points in every season where he’s played at least 50 games – a mark he’s on pace to continue this year.

Adding Henrique would take some of the pressure off of Nico Hischier and provide the Devils with some secondary scoring. According to Friedman, “I would find it hard to believe that the Devils, in particular, have not looked into Adam Henrique.” 

May the bidding war begin.

That concludes this edition of NHL rumors. Be sure to catch our next article, and thanks for reading!