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Oilers not likely to trade for Bernier
Q. Why don’t the Oilers trade for Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier? Then we would have two No. 1s and Devan Dubnyk wouldn’t have the sole pressure of being that guy.
Panthers plan to keep Stephen Weiss
If you watched Hotstove Tonight on Hockey Night In Canada last weekend, you heard Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon toss cold water on rumours that he was willing to trade unrestricted free agent-to-be Stephen Weiss, who has a no-move clause.
“Ridiculous,” Tallon said. “I’m not trading him, I’m going to try to sign him.”
The Panthers are loaded with prospects and re-signing Weiss allows the organization to a) hold on to those players and b) prevent head coach Kevin Dineen from tossing them into situations they may not be ready for.
It’s really hard to find good centres. Clubs get them and try their hardest to keep them. In the last four seasons, Florida’s finished 17th, 28th, 27th and 27th in goals per game. In each of those years, Weiss finished in the top two in team scoring.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/opinion/2013/02/30-thoughts-panthers-plan-to-keep-weiss.html
Dave Stubbs: P.J. Stock no expert on P.K. Subban
Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban made a modest return to action on a perfect Super Bowl weekend. He was neither a commanding presence nor a step out of place, but rather one of a half-dozen blue-liners who contributed to a sweep of the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators.
And there’s not a thing wrong with that.
It’s just a shame, if you’re to believe one Hockey Night in Canada panellist, that Subban is disliked by everyone on his team, a young man who is profoundly troubled by the frosty shoulder of his teammates.
Could the Flames be looking to move a defenceman?
Anton Babchuk will likely be cleared for contact this week, meaning the defenceman is close to returning to the lineup. Or, at least, returning to the active roster. Hartley has, obviously, identified his top four blueliners, with the pairings of Jay Bouwmeester-Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie-Dennis Wideman logging a lot of minutes. With Chris Butler, Cory Sarich and Derek Smith already rotating in and out, Babchuk’s return from a shoulder injury will only complicate matters. The Flames are likely listening to trade offers for a defenceman.
Roberto Luongo could help Caps, others
There was hardly even time for fun speculation, Washington Capitals GM George McPhee made sure of that. On Sunday afternoon, both Vancouver GM Mike Gillis and Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman were in Washington, D.C., among those scouting the matinee game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Capitals. When asked what brought the two executives so far east, especially in a season in which the Canucks won’t have to face either team until the Stanley Cup finals, Gilman smiled. Just watching some hockey.
Sabres looking to make a trade?
The Buffalo Sabres are among the teams trying to make a trade to help push their way up the standings after starting the season 3-5-1.
The Sabres, currently sitting 11th in the Eastern Conference, haven’t had trouble scoring, but they rank 28th in the NHL in goals-against per game, averaging 3.67.
Cory Schneider’s agent hopes Roberto Luongo trade comes sooner rather than later
Just like his client, the agent for goalie Cory Schneider is not about to criticize the Vancouver Canucks for the team’s handling of its goaltending situation.
But Mike Liut, himself a former goalie, clearly hopes the uncertainty regarding a possible trade of Roberto Luongo does not hang over the team and Schneider all season.
“Our concern is we were hoping that this would be the year that Cory would play 75 per cent of the games,” Liut said in a phone interview Monday from his Michigan office.
Roberto Luongo trade rumors: Would Canucks deal with Capitals?
The issue for the Capitals is whether adding Luongo, at his age and cap hit, makes sense this season and in the immediate future. They are already behind the eight-ball in the Eastern Conference, and the Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-Mike Green core hasn’t contended since 2010.
Players Gillis could be interested in: young defenseman Dmitry Orlov and prospect Filip Forsberg. If he’s looking for immediate help along the second line, though, the Capitals don’t have much to offer.
Kesler takes first full practice
Ryan Kesler is finally back at practice. His teammates good-natured ribbing of him is in playoff form, mind you.
Kesler took to the ice in a Vancouver Canucks’ full workout for the first time this season on Sunday. He led the opening stretch sequence, prompting both a rousing stick tapping from his teammates and Kevin Bieska to sneak up from behind him and drape a white cape with Kesler’s No. 17 on over his back.
NHL Notebook: Will Flyers pursue Iginla?
They need veteran scoring help and general manager Paul Holmgren has been sniffing around for more than a week now, sources said.
What about Jarome Iginla? He’s 35, but he’s still a bonafide NHL scorer, a guy who has scored 31 or more goals for 11 years in the league.
And here’s the thing: he won’t cost you Sean Couturier or Brayden Schenn or Claude Giroux.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports …..
Nonis may consider moving F Phil Kessel. Just one problem: Somebody has to be willing to take him. Not easy finding a fit because he is making $5.4 million and is one year away from being a UFA … Once the New York Islanders are officially out of the playoff picture, expect D Mark Streit to get dealt.
Some possible trade targets to upgrade the Flyers offense
Here are some of the unrestricted free-agent forwards who could appeal to the Flyers in a deal, one that would ease the pain of losing winger Wayne Simmonds (out indefinitely with a concussion) and Scott Hartnell, who could miss another five weeks:
Canucks scouting the Caps
VAN GM Mike Gillis and asst GM Laurence Gilman taking in the WSH-PIT game today in D.C.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 3, 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.
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