On the Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders …
Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette: The Montreal Canadiens are near the top of the standings, but some think they may not have the pieces in place to go all the way. They have a weakness down the middle. If GM Marc Bergevin thinks they have a shot this year, he needs to trade for a “A-list second line centre.”
Alex Galchenyuk has shown he can be a can be their No. 1 guy, but it’s a drop off after that. Neither Tomas Plekanec or David Desharnais are a No. 2 center on a Cup contending team.
Kelly thinks that Coyotes Martin Hanzal would be an interesting option for the Canadiens.
On the dream acquisition, what about John Tavares. There is talk that Islanders could put Tavares on the trade market. Kelly mentions Max Pacioretty plus another piece for Tavares.
On the Tampa Bay Lightning …
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times: The Lightning have lost four in a row, but GM Steve Yzerman won’t make a trade just to “shake things up.”
“If there’s an opportunity to make us a better team, I’m certainly willing to explore it,” Yzerman said. “But I like our team. I like the character of our players. We’re very careful of the type of person we bring in and which players we move out. That isn’t going to change.”
Yzerman said again that it’s “very possible” that they keep both Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy past the trade deadline.
Before the trade deadline, the Lightning should look to improve their blueline. Anton Stralman‘s injury showed that they lack depth on defense.