Monthly Archives: February 2013
Are the Panthers looking to trade Weiss?
Elliotte Friedman says there’s rumors #Panthers might move Stephen Weiss for right price. GM Tallon calls those rumors ridiculous.
— Spector’s Hockey (@SpectorsHockey) February 3, 2013
Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Homgren looking for help for struggling team
Paul Holmgren is getting ready to push the panic button — and he needs help everywhere.
The Philadelphia Flyers GM wasn’t happy with the club’s 2-6-1 record going into Saturday’s visit by the Carolina Hurricanes. The word amongst league executives is he’d take just about anything he can get.
The Flyers need scoring, would like to get another blueliner and, on top of that, could use goaltending help as well. Generally speaking, they’ve been happy with Ilya Bryzgalov, but they did hold talks with the Vancouver Canucks about Roberto Luongo.
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/2013/02/02/20549071.html
Don’t judge Brian Burke’s Maple Leafs tenure on Phil Kessel trade
Brian Burke’s legacy as Maple Leafs general manager should not be judged solely on the Phil Kessel trade.
So says Peter Chiarelli, the man who traded Phil the Thrill to Toronto in the first place.
With his team being referred to as the “Boston Maple Leafs” because of the number of key players that are on the Bruins roster thanks to deals with the Leafs, Chiarelli said Saturday that he does not think it is fair that Burke’s body of work in Toronto be based on that one deal.
“I don’t think it is,” Chiarelli said during the Bruins morning skate at the Air Canada Centre. “When you are in this job, we all have made deals that we’d like to have back. We’ve all made deals that we’d like to have a do-over on.
“I’m not saying Brian feels that way about the (Kessel) trade. I don’t know that. I mean, they got a 35-goal scorer out of the deal.”
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/02/02/bruins-gm-defends-burke
Rangers still looking for offensive help
Winning and losing streaks also mean more in a truncated schedule, so as Rupp said: “You can’t afford to drop games in a row. That’s when teams will get in trouble.”
As inconsistently as the Rangers have played, they have avoided consecutive defeats since their season-opening back-to-back against Boston and Pittsburgh. To do so, they’ll need to rectify the scoring imbalance among their forwards.
The Money Line of highly-paid star forwards Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards and Rick Nash has eight goals and 20 points in seven games. The rest of the forwards have combined for just five goals and 11 points. The bug even has bitten Nash, who has just one goal (vs. the Penguins on Jan. 20).
That lack of depth is the reason that as of early this week, the Rangers still were inquiring about available free agent forwards, even after their deal with Jason Arnott fell through last weekend due to a failed physical. Ryan Callahan’s shoulder injury, sidelining him until at least Feb. 10, didn’t help matters either.
Elliotte Friedman says the Avs are looking for forward help…
And it’s believed the Avs are trying to deal one of their eight defensemen to make that happen. Shane O’Brien is a likely candidate, but it could be anyone really, save for Erik Johnson. Elliotte’s column here: http://www.cbc.ca/spor…
Is it time for the Flames to trade Kipper and Iginla?
There’s certainly no way the quintessential team player Iginla will ever demand a trade, so it falls squarely on the shoulders of Edwards, King and GM Jay Feaster to make the brave move of being the bad guys for a few months and taking the heat for ending the Iginla Era. Their images will suffer temporarily, but the team will be better for it.
Even then, it isn’t as if the dealing of Iginla (and Kiprusoff, who almost assuredly would want out once Iginla was moved) will be an instant cure-all for Calgary. As one former GM told THN.com, “Remember what Atlanta got for trading Marian Hossa: Colby Armstrong, Angelo Esposito and a first round draft pick.” In other words, the return for a star is not often going to be the foundation upon which your future is built. The pain will be felt in Calgary for years to come.
Myers Playing Brutal. Could he be moved?
Sadly, I don’t have anything nice to say about Tyler Myers, but I’m still to going say this: he’s playing atrocious right now, and if he doesn’t improve he will find himself sitting on the bench for an entire game, real soon.
If you want proof, and you’re a numbers kind of person, then his stats for the season will support my argument very clearly. Through seven games played, Myers has one goal and no assists. He has managed to fire off six shots, but has at least earned 12 penalty minutes so far, which would imply he is trying to become a more physical presence. His plus/minus is -3. Overall, the NHL will tell you is ranked 97th in the league among all defensemen – there are three Sabres ahead of him – but in terms of goals, assists, points, and +/- his rankings vary between 147th to 550th. Numerically speaking, Myers is not anywhere near the defenseman everyone hoped he would be following his rookie season.
John Erskine faces disciplinary hearing for elbow
Capitals defenseman John Erskine will have a supplemental discipline hearing with NHL Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan at 2 p.m. Saturday for hitting Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds in the head Friday night.
With 1 minute 51 seconds remaining in the first period of Washington’s 3-2 win over the Flyers, Erskine elbowed Simmonds in the head as both players pursued a loose puck along the left-wing boards in the Philadelphia zone.
No penalty was called on the play. Simmonds had a bloody nose and was able to head to the bench under his own power, but he never returned to the game.
Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren said after the game that Simmonds has a “head injury” and “probably a little bit of whiplash” but that he would be reevaluated Saturday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
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Luongo shrugs off trade rumours to Maple Leafs: Cox
Luongo has done a very good job so far of playing the good soldier while GM Mike Gillis sorts out potential trade scenarios. The Maple Leafs still are interested in the 33-year-old netminder despite his nightmarish contract, but aren’t willing to pay the price in players and prospects that Vancouver is demanding.
Florida may or may not be interested. Washington? Just speculation at the moment.
Could Doan be on the Canucks radar come deadline time?
With the Coyotes deal falling apart. Could Doan want a move to Vancouver. He only signed in Phoenix because he was told the team was staying
— hockeytraderumors (@hockeytraderumo) February 1, 2013
Could Leafs Land Ryan Getzlaf?
He could be available. But, there will be a fair amount of interest in him and he won’t come cheap.”
That was the opinion of a prominent Western Conference executive when I wondered, this week, whether Anaheim Ducks would trade potential free agent Ryan Getzlaf. Depending on the night, and the person with whom you speak, Leafs’ biggest priority is an established goalie or depth and size at centre. They may need both, though it appears James Reimer is regaining the confidence and poise he had as a rookie two seasons ago. More time is needed to confirm that, but Leafs demand for a big body up the middle is irrefutable.
Bernier Still Hoping to Be Traded
Lombardi has indicated to Bernier’s camp that he will give him a chance to play elsewhere. There is a sentimental attachment here as Bernier was the first draft pick Lombardi made as Kings GM in 2006. Still with that said, Bernier is the Kings only real major asset they’re willing to part with.
Is it time for a change of scenery for Ovechkin?
You have to wonder if Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis found any relief from Alex Ovechkin’s first road goal of the season.
Ovechkin blew a wrist shot past Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer on a power play at 2:38 of the second to put the Capitals up 2-1, a lead that would hold through the period before Toronto eventually picked up its first home win of the season, 3-2, on Thursday night.