NHL Trade Rumors 2014: Vancouver Canucks Await to See What Colorado Avalanche do With C Ryan O'Reilly
Teams are waiting to see what the Colorado Avalanche will do with C Ryan O'Reilly, who is a restricted free agent July 1 with a qualifying offer that will cost the Avalanche $6.5 million.
Under the National Hockey League's (NHL) collective bargaining agreement, for a team to retain the rights to a potential restricted free agent, the team must offer a contract equal in salary to the previous year of his deal. Last February, The Avalanche, who were trying to trade O'Reilly at the time, were forced to match the Calgary Flames' offer. The Flames gave the center a two-year deal as a restricted agent last season, forcing Colorado to spend more money than they wanted to spend on O'Reilly. Teams such as the Vancouver Canucks are keeping their eye on the Avalanche's situation, as they can trade O'Reilly (who has 18 goals and 15 assists) after Feb. 28, 12 months after re-signing O'Reilly when the trade freeze on him is lifted.
TSN Hockey Insiders' Bob McKenzie is reporting that the Dallas Stars are looking to trade F Ray Whitney and D Sergei Gonchar. Whitney and Gonchar have not played well under head coach Lindy Ruff's system, with the Stars sitting in fifth place in the NHL's Central Division and nine points behind the Minnesota Wild for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. Whitney may be easier to move since his contract is up at the end of the year, but Gonchar has two years left in his deal at $5 million per year, making it difficult to find takers for the defenseman.
McKenzie also reports that the Carolina Hurricanes have sent out a league-wide email, with general manager Jim Rutherford informing teams that F Tuomo Ruutu is available via trade. The Hurricanes, who are in seventh place in the Metropolitan division, and 13th in the Eastern Conference, are looking to move the forward, who has struggled with injuries and has three points in 18 games. Ruutu, who is headed to the Sochi Olympics to play for Finland, has a no-trade clause and a $4.75 million cap hit, but is willing to work with the Hurricanes to make a trade possible, according to Darren Dreger of TSN Hockey Insiders.
The Ottawa Sun reports that the Flames are shopping LW Mike Cammalleri. Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke has been fielding calls from the Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings, who are interested in Cammalleri's services, who is making $6 million in the final year of his contract.
The Kings, who are third in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference, are in need of scoring and are also looking at the New York Islanders Thomas Vanek, the Florida Panthers' Tomas Fleischmann, and the Buffalo Sabres' Matt Moulson to make a push to move up in the standings.