Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun: Flames defenseman Jay Bouwmeester’s stock is on the rise as he may be the top defenseman available. The Red Wings have lost Nicklas Lidstrom and Brad Stuart. The Flyers are looking for a defenseman, though Bouwmeester doesn’t really fit their mold. The Blues could use a veteran like Bouwmeester. The Oilers could be a fit as well. Bouwmeester has a no-trade clause and doesn’t appear interested in waiving it. The Flames currently have 9 defenseman on 1-way contracts, 10 if you include T.J. Brodie. The Flames may be interested in dealing away Anton Babchuk’s $2.5 million contact.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: The Senators offer for Rick Nash was better than what the Blue Jackets got, but he didn’t want to go to Ottawa. They offered Robin Lehner, Nick Foligno, Mika Zibanejad and a draft pick. The Blue Jackets could have had Joe Pavelski from the Sharks but it doesn’t look like they wanted to trade within the Western Conference. The Senators may now be looking to go another direction. They may not want to go down the Alexei Kovalev road with Alexander Semin. It’s believed the Sens have talked to the Ducks about Bobby Ryan. The Stars may be looking to move Brenden Morrow. Daniel Alfredsson has indicated he’s planning on playing, and sources say they may be working on a 1 year extension.
Rob Rossi via twitter: Rossi confirms that the Penguins haven’t talked to the Wild about a trade involving Pascal Dupuis and Paul Martin as part of a package for Dany Heatley.
Howard Berger via twitter: One of Berger’s “bird-dogs” insisted that the Maple Leafs are working on bringing in goalie help, a deal could be on the horizon. Maybe Jonathan Bernier?
Sam Carchidi via twitter: The Ducks apparently want Sean Couturier from the Flyers in a Bobby Ryan deal.
Adam Kimelman of NHL.com: The Flyers defense still needs to be addressed, and addressing it internally may be their best option. Bruno Gervais will compete with Marc-Andre Bourdon, Erik Gustafsson and Brandon Manning for the final blueline spot. Matt Gilroy is the highest scoring UFA on the market, 20 points in 67 games last year. RFA options could be Michael Del Zotto, John Carlson, Dmitry Kulikov and P.K. Subban. The Flyers have a top 6 spot open and are looking at Shane Doan. Other UFA options could be Alexander Semin, Petr Sykora and Jason Arnott. The Ducks are listening to offers for Bobby Ryan, but they’d likely want Sean Couturier and/or Brayden Schenn, 2 players the Flyers have no interest in parting with.
