On the Pittsburgh Penguins …
Chris Johnston of Sportsnet: There are rumors of the Penguins moving Marc-Andre Fleury this offseason due to the expansion draft next year. The Penguins would be protecting Matt Murray over Fleury. GM Jim Rutherford isn’t in a hurry to move Fleury and is okay with starting the season with both goalies.
“I want to see what the guidelines are for expansion – of course that changes the dynamic for every team,” he said. “We might have to make a decision at some point. I’m not aggressively doing anything. But if we start the season with both of those guys we’ll certainly have our goaltending covered.”
The Flames would be a logical landing spot for Fleury.
Jenn Menendez of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said there is no truth to the rumor that the Chicago Blackhawks are interested in trading for Evgeni Malkin.
“None. We’re not looking to move him. I did not get an inquiry from any team,” Rutherford said.
Malkin has a no-trade clause, and Rutherford added that it doesn’t matter if he has one or not, “he’s not an option.”
On the Tampa Bay Lightning …
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Tribune: Ben Bishop has a partial no-movement clause and his agent, Allain Roy, said yesterday that all things were “quiet.”
GM Steve Yzerman has said that he’ll need to make a decision on Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy at some point, but has said it’s a possibility that they start the season with both goaltenders.
“I expect to be back,” Bishop said. “It’s never really crossed my mind going somewhere else. As far as I’m concerned, I have another year here and I fully expect to be back. If I’m not, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
“But I’m not going to sit here and worry about the ‘what ifs.’ It’s a waste of time.”
Bill Price of NHL.com: GM Yzerman on Bishop and Vasilevsky.
“I think we have two elite starting goaltenders,” Yzerman told the Tampa Bay Times. “Vasy is young and he hasn’t had that track record, but he’s just showing he can start now on a really good team. At some point, whether it’s expansion, the cap or we’ve got two guys that need the net, I’m going to have to make a decision. I can’t tell you if it’s tomorrow or a year from now.”