In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news out of St. Louis that Vladimir Tarasenko will require further surgery and will miss significant time. Mike Green has officially announced his retirement despite saying he’s healthy enough to keep playing and Corey Crawford discusses his future in Chicago. Finally, how much more is Kyle Dubas planning to do after making a trade to send Kasperi Kapanen to the Penguins?

Dubas Suggests Leafs Aren’t Done Making Moves

Kyle Dubas spoke to the media after he made a trade to land a first-round pick, a prospect and more for Kasperi Kapanen and pieces. When asked about whether or not he might flip the pick, he said:

“We are open to keeping the pick, but in the spot that we are in with our team right now, we are also open to moving it if the right deal came along for someone that could help us now.”

It was also reported by Pierre LeBrun that the first-round pick was of critical importance to Dubas when he made the trade to send Kapanen out. LeBrun notes that Dubas had potential interest from the likes of New Jersey, Nashville, Anaheim, Minnesota, Chicago and Carolina, Edmonton and Montreal. None of them were willing to deal their first-round pick to make the trade work.

James Mirtle of The Athletic notes that Dubas isn’t even close to being done in terms of making moves. He names Frederik Andersen, Alexander Kerfoot, Pierre Engval, and Andreas Johnsson as pieces that could still be moved.

Mirtle writes:

So while the Leafs makeover may not touch the main core this offseason, it won’t play favourites with anyone outside of that group. Dubas is open for business here and not feeling particularly sentimental. He also now has $3.5 million in cap space to offer any of the teams feeling squeezed by the NHL’s pandemic-induced flat cap.

source – ‘Mirtle: Kyle Dubas begins Leafs offseason with clean win. And he’s not done yet’ – James Mirtle – The Athletic – 08/25/2020

Related: Maple Leafs Hit a Home Run With Kapanen Trade

Tarasenko Will Miss At Least Five Months

According to reports on Wednesday and comments from Blues GM Doug Armstrong, St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko will require a third surgery procedure that will keep him out for up to five months and out of the Blues lineup to start next season.

Tarasenko tried to make a comeback after missing most of the NHL season but had to leave the team during their playoff run this season. He was sent back to St. Louis for evaluation on his shoulder and the news is not good.

What this means for the Blues cap situation and LTIR remains unclear but it is not expected Tarasenko will be back until February, at the earliest.

Crawford Says He’d Like to Stay in Chicago

When asked about his future with the Blackhawks, goaltender Corey Crawford said, “I would like to be back. To win another Stanley Cup in Chicago would be unbelievable. That’s the No. 1 goal, is to win one more championship.”

But, he also said that he’s not sure if he’d be willing to signa short-term deal or may change his mind during the offseason and say to the team that they need to re-sign him for longer. He says, “But who knows? I could turn around. I change my mind pretty quick. I could turn around and say let’s sign 3-4 years.”

His lack of specifics left things very unclear and it’s expected he’ll see what’s available in free agency if the Blackhawks don’t make a fair offer.

Mike Green Officially Retires

On Wednesday, defenseman Mike Green made his retirement announcement official through an interview with The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir.

Green said that he’s realized after the NHL went on pause that he’s got a calling greater than playing hockey. He’s perfectly healthy and could return but he’s decided that he’s needed elsewhere. “I want to focus my energy differently, ground myself in the community, in family. But I also want to become a change agent for good,” he said.

He said during the interview that his injury after coming to Edmonton in a trade and then the NHL pressing pause on the season gave him time to reflect on what’s really important in his life. He explained:

“That hockey was abruptly removed from my life, it was tough for a while. But as the future was more and more uncertain, I became more aware of the things that are now the big things in my life — like my daughter crawling and laughing, teaching my son to fish. These are things you think you’re present for, and you think you’re around for when you’re playing. But your mind as a professional athlete, a lot of times, is thinking about the big stage and performing.”

source – ‘‘I needed to move on’: Mike Green retires, reflects on Capitals, career and future’ – Tarik El-Bashir – The Athletic – 08/26/2020

Green will leave the NHL at 34 years old, having made stops in Washington, Detroit and Edmonton.

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