Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia wrote today that the Ottawa Senators have been linked to Anaheim Ducks netminder John Gibson. He didn’t go into much detail about the link, but it’s not the first time there has been mention of a link between Gibson and the Senators. Ottawa has been pushing hard to improve their netminding and has held talks on Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark since before the NHL trade deadline.
The Senators are desperate to improve their goaltending which has been a disaster since Craig Anderson left town in 2020. The 30-year-old Gibson hasn’t been a strong netminder for years but has been paid like one and still has three years left on his deal at an AAV of $6.4MM. It seems unlikely Ottawa will pursue Gibson at his current price point; however, they could entertain him if they can’t make a deal with the Bruins for Ullmark or if Anaheim is willing to retain some of Gibson’s cap hit.
In other Eastern Conference notes:
- Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period tweeted that he believes that forward Matvei Michkov’s arrival to the Philadelphia Flyers will give the team a bit of leverage in their contract negotiations with right winger Travis Konecny. The Flyers have a difficult decision looming with Konecny, as the 27-year-old is just a year out from unrestricted free agency and there have been rumblings that he is seeking $10MM annually on his next deal. With Michkov likely on his way to Philadelphia, the Flyers could see him as a Konecny replacement, and possibly pivot to an exploration of the trade market for Konecny.
- The Washington Capitals recently swapped goaltender Darcy Kuemper for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois but are apparently not close to done re-shaping their roster (per Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts). The Capitals have some in-house free agents to take care of but will be able to bring everyone back if they want to. The team badly needs to address their offense, and while Dubois should help in that regard, he can’t be the only piece they add if they hope to improve upfront. Washington scored just 220 goals last season, good enough for 28 out of 32 teams and can no longer rely on their power play to carry them.