NHL Rumors: Offseason Buzz on Christian Ehrhoff, Jeff Skinner and More

The NHL offseason has entered its slow period after a busy stretch from the draft through the early weeks of free agency. Not only is the amount of player movement slowing, but the buzz around the league has also become more sparse.

Things tend to pick up as training camp draws near, though. The remaining free agents decide where to land, frequently on one-year deals hoping to prove themselves, and the trade market heats up as front offices attempt to streamline their rosters by moving extra assets.

So let's check out some of the latest rumors concerning players who are worth keeping an eye on in the weeks ahead. Business should begin to pick up again pretty soon with training camps now about a month away.

Christian Ehrhoff

Ehrhoff signed one of those aforementioned one-year contracts last summer with the Pittsburgh Penguins. It didn't work out as he hoped, however, as he tallied just 14 points in 49 games. Now he's back on the market and hasn't been able to land the type of offer he's seeking.

Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reports the Columbus Blue Jackets are keeping an offer on the table, but Ehrhoff is taking a wait-and-see approach. He's hoping the proposals may improve as front offices go searching for that final piece:

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The Blue Jackets still have an offer on the table for unrestricted free-agent defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, which puts them in line with at least a couple of other NHL clubs. It's now mid-August. What's Ehrhoff waiting for? He's willing to accept a one-year contract, according to agent Rick Curran, and that's what the Blue Jackets are pitching. But Ehrhoff wants more money than is being offered, which means that well-dressed men on either side of the table are now playing chicken.

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Ehrhoff illustrated the type of offensive impact he can make by scoring 28 goals over his final two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. Yet in the four years that have followed—three with the Buffalo Sabres and one with Pittsburgh—he's found the net just 19 times.

The Blue Jackets are an intriguing option with a strong group of young forwards, led by Nick Foligno and new addition Brandon Saad, and have top-four minutes available. At 33, a standout season could earn Ehrhoff that one more lucrative contract he has been waiting on.

Jeff Skinner

It's not often a 23-year-old winger with 115 NHL goals already under his belt lands in the rumor mill. Yet that's the case for Skinner. He's coming off a down season with just 31 points in 77 games and still struggles at the defensive end of the ice.

Add in a contract that features a cap hit of nearly $6 million through the 2018-19 campaign, per Spotrac, and the Carolina Hurricanes are at least seeing what options are available. Luke DeCock of the News & Observer reports nothing has piqued their interest quite yet:

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And all of this assumes there isn't a bigger move made. The Hurricanes have been listening to offers for Jeff Skinner since before the draft, with nothing yet worth doing.

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The situation doesn't lend itself to a quick resolution. The Canes would be forced to either sell low on Skinner or take on a bad contract to offset the finances in order to make it work. That would be a tough pill to swallow, considering he scored 33 goals the season before last.

If the front office wants to move him, the best route is hoping for a strong preseason that carries into the opening part of the new campaign. If he can flash the goal-scoring upside he did during the early portion of his career, and his value rebounds, the path to a deal will feature far less hurdles.

Colin Greening

Greening is another winger who could benefit from a change of scenery. His best season came in 2011-12 when he racked up 17 goals and 20 assists in his second season with the Ottawa Senators. He has failed to match that production in the three years that followed, and his playing time faded last season.

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports the Senators won't buy out Greening, who Spotrac notes is set to count $2.65 million against the cap for two more years. Instead, the team continues to look at avenues for a potential trade:

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Senators GM Bryan Murray will continue to try to deal Greening to see if anybody will take on his contract—and there was mild interest from a couple of teams earlier this summer—but he was informed last month he should get ready for camp because the club had no intention of buying him out.

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If placed in the right situation, Greening could still succeed as a bottom-six winger with a little bit of scoring punch. Things have trended in the wrong direction over the past couple years in Ottawa, so it's no surprise the Sens are trying to find a deal.

Like Skinner, however, waiting is probably the best option. Give him a chance to reestablish some value so if a team needs to fill a void, he becomes an attractive target. That's not the case right now after scoring one goal in 26 games last season.