Canadians, Wild, Blues, Flames, Maple Leafs

In today’s NHL rumor recap, Carey Price will make his first start of the season with the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night. Meanwhile, are the Minnesota Wild interested in bringing Marc-Andre Fleury back next season? The St. Louis Blues understand they could lose Ville Husso and are okay, there are talks about what Johnny Gaudreau’s next contract might look like, and Matthew Knies has informed the Toronto Maple Leafs that he will not join the team this season.

Price to start on Friday evening

Price was the first goaltender off the ice today in practice for the Canadiens and head coach Martin St. Louis confirmed the veteran goaltender will start for the Canadiens against the New York Islanders. Most fans aren’t concerned with the result or the score, just that Price looks like something close to himself in the net.

Martin St-Louis confirms that Carey Price will return to action against the Islanders tonight. Martin St-Louis confirms that Carey Price will be back to face the Islanders tonight. #GoHabsGo https://t.co/ww4lyJUiUX

The overwhelming consensus seems to be that recovering from a career-threatening injury and addiction, while facing multiple setbacks in your recovery, is a huge win. If he looks like Carey Price and can play well enough to get a few more starts to finish the season, that will be considered a huge plus for Montreal and the organization and the player can decide what to do in the offseason.

Wild wants to re-sign Fleury

According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, sources have said the Minnesota Wild have an interest in bringing Marc-Andre Fleury back next season. He writes that the problem is the salary cap and what to do with Cam Talbot.

Related: NHL Stats News: Rangers, Canadiens, Avalanche, Jets, Flames, Capitals

LeBrun explains:

Sources say Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin would like to keep Fleury one way or another despite their sticky salary cap situation and the fact that Cam Talbot (who has been great again lately) has one more year left on his contract next season at $3.66. million AAV. So, we’ll see where that leads this summer. But there were no discussions about it, so it will wait until after the season.

source – ‘LeBrun: With quality goalies potentially available this offseason, who could be on the move? Who stays?- Pierre LeBrun – The Athletic – 04/13/2022

The blues are happy enough if Husso plays his way to a massive contract

LeBrun also notes that the St. Louis Blues aren’t terribly worried if Husso plays so well that he ends up being too attractive for the Blues to stay next season. The pending UFA will have a number of interested teams and he could assess what the Blues can afford. That said, if he helps the team make a deep playoff run, the franchise considers it a win, even if he walks for nothing.

LeBrun writes:

The Blues aren’t giving up on Jordan Binnington, who is signed for five years after this season at a $6 million AAV, they still have a lot of faith in him. So if Husso wants to be a No. 1 starter, there probably won’t be enough net to share in St. Louis although you can’t totally close the door. But all things being equal, right now, I bet Husso will be leaving in free will.

LeBrun adds that the two parties have not had contract extension talks.

Gaudreau will be paid

With over 100 points this season, it’s clear that Gaudreau is expecting a big pay raise this offseason. According to Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen, the 28-year-old left-winger could make as much as $8.5-9 million per season as an unrestricted free agent on July 13. This is between 2 and 3 million dollars more than what he currently earns (6.75 million dollars).

One wonders how Gaudreau’s production in the playoffs might affect his next contract. If he does well after the regular season is over, he could easily get the $9 million, maybe more. If he struggles and his reputation as a regular-season producer continues, the Flames might be hesitant to give him a big deal. And, since Matthew Tkachuk is a pending RFA with arbitration rights, the Flames could be forced to choose between the two if they don’t feel comfortable giving both players $9 million or more per game. season.

Knies won’t join the Maple Leafs

Matthew Knies has informed the Toronto Maple Leafs that he is returning to school for another year. He will return to Minnesota and try to win a national championship. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes: “Unfinished business, chance to win it all with the Gophers.”

Knies adviser Matt Federico says TOR has no reason to worry about his future with the organization

There was immediate concern that this would mean he would go back to college and end up waiting and becoming an unrestricted free agent, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Friedman adds that his agent, Matt Federico, says Toronto has “no reason to worry about his future with the organization.”

Jim Parsons is a THW senior freelance writer, part-time journalist, and audio/video host who lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes NHL news and gossip, while reporting on the Edmonton Oilers . He’s been a trusted source for more than five years at The Hockey Writers, but more than that, he’s on a mission to keep readers up to date on the latest NHL rumors and trade talks. Jim is a daily staple for readers who want to be “in the know”.

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