NHL Rumors: Latest Buzz and Post-2020 Trade Deadline Talk

The 2020 NHL trade deadline passed last week, with teams now having their rosters fortified for the stretch run and playoffs.

While that will likely put a chilling effect on rumor season until it's time for the coaching carousel to begin, there are still a few things keeping the hockey world buzzing off the ice.

Here's a quick check-in on some of the notable rumors being floated in the post-deadline world.

Seattle Expansion Franchise Looking to Hire Coach Soon? Babcock a Possibility?

The Seattle expansion franchise still has another full season to wait until its debut. In that time, management has to make a number of important decisions—most notably what to name the franchise itself.

That said, ownership has already gotten a head start on building a competent organizational structure. The team hired general manager Ron Francis in July 2019, despite being nearly two full years away from any important roster moves.

It appears Francis could be making his first big hire sooner than expected.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported Seattle has considered moving up its coaching search and making a hire soon. Francis previously said the franchise was expected to wait until a January-June 2021 window before talking to prospective hires.

Gerard Gallant, Bruce Boudreau, Peter Laviolette and Mike Babcock are among the high-profile names available. All four coaches are likely to garner some level of interest this summer, and Gallant has experience making an expansion franchise instantly competitive after his run in Las Vegas.

Babcock's Stanley Cup-winning reputation will also be attractive, but it's unclear if he even has an interest in returning to coaching anytime soon. The Toronto Maple Leafs owe Babcock $5.3 million each of the next three seasons; he could simply retire at this point after a Hall of Fame-caliber career.

LeBrun reported Babock is still undecided whether he wants to coach again. The 56-year-old has only missed the playoffs three times in his 17-year coaching career but was eliminated in the first round each of his first three seasons in Toronto.

Seattle, like Las Vegas, is expected to want to compete right away. Getting a major name like Babcock or Gallant would be a quick way for Francis to show he means business.

GMs Split on Potential Ayres Rule

The David Ayres story is perhaps the best moment of the 2019-20 NHL season. Ayres, a 42-year-old operations manager, was forced into a game last month as the Carolina Hurricanes' emergency goaltender after James Reimer and Petr Mrazek were injured. He became the oldest goaltender in NHL history to earn a win in his debut, making eight saves to lead Carolina to a 6-3 victory.

Rather than fully embracing the moment as a once-in-a-lifetime achievement, some within the NHL appear determined to make sure it never happens again.

Bob McKenzie of TSN reported the league plans to discuss a new rule forcing teams to have a third non-roster goaltender that travels with the team. Ayres regularly practiced with the Maple Leafs and was wearing a Toronto shirt under his jersey as he got the win. 

Of course, not everyone agrees.

"And there's other people, one general manager I talked to said, are you kidding me? This has only ever happened twice in the National Hockey League," McKenzie wrote. "Both times the emergency backup goaltender won the game. What's everybody getting upset about? And of course there's the in between—tweak the qualifications, make the standards a little higher, all those discussions next week at the GMs meeting."

If you're on the side of fun, stories like Ayres' are not the things that should create a potential rule change. While there may be some argument that he could have thrown the game in favor of the Leafs, that's not what happened. Nor does it seem likely that anyone being given their shot to play in an NHL game would ever compromise its integrity.

There's too much handwringing going on here when most fans are happy to celebrate the moment.