- Scott Cruickshank of the Calgary Herald: It’s no secret that the Flames and Senators have shown interest in Kyle Turris. Cruickshank wonders exactly how much talent does he have? He had only 25 points in 65 games last year. He is still young, and was the 3rd overall pick in 2007. If the Flames were to win the bidding war for him, what if they give him Matt Stajan money and he turn out to be Matt Stajan. If they were to get him, they would have a nice young core up the middle with Turris, 22, and Mikael Backlund, 22, and Roman Horak, 20. What the cost would be is the big question?
- Mark Spector of Sportsnet: Flames GM Jay Feaster said he’s not doing a full rebuild in Calgary and won’t subject fans to having a team finish at the bottom of the standings for several years. Word is that he’s been shopping Rene Bourque and is interested in Turris.
- David Staple of the Edmonton Journal: Staples take on the Sam Gagner trade rumors. With the emergence of several defenseman, the need of an upgrade along the blueline is not that pressing at the moment. They appear to have 4 capable blueliners, even without Ryan Whitney. By the trade deadline, the Oilers may have to move someone, either Ales Hemsky, Gagner or Linus Omark. Other wingers haven’t solidified themselves as long term Oilers/top line NHLers: Ryan Smyth (UFA at seasons end), Ryan Jones and Magnus Paajarvi. There is no rush for the Oilers to rush into a deal. They need to see if Smyth and Hemsky can stay healthy, if Gagner can pick it up, and if Omark and Paajarvi can put up points in the NHL.
- Adrian Dater of the Denver Post: Though it’s hard to forecast ahead, Dater thinks the Avs could spend some of their cap space on the right rental player.
- Nick Kypreos via twitter: Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta will have a hearing at 1:00 pm today for an incident in the 1st period of last night’s game.
- Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: Jeff Carter will travel with the team to Philadelphia this weekend, but won’t play. Kristian Huselius practiced in a no-contact jersey yesterday for the 1st time since he torn his chest muscle in July. He’s still weeks away. Winger Jared Boll is also weeks away.
- Katie Carrera of the Washington Post: Capitals defenseman Mike Green had an apparent setback yesterday as he wasn’t able to skate for more than 10 minutes. He’s doubtful for Friday, and has missed 3 games so far.
“If I feel good I’ll play,” Green said. “It’s day to day. I wake up each day, it feels a little bit better, tomorrow could be a lot better than today.
“It’s just one of the things, with your ankles and the skate,” Green added. “If I can’t skate, I cant play. The swelling stayed down; it’s just a matter of getting it strong and comfortable enough to play. I figure in the next couple days it should be strong and we can go from there.”
- Tom Gulitti of the Bergon Record: Johan Hedberg will start in net for the Devils tonight against the Flyers.
- Dan Murphy via twitter: Cory Schneider will start in net for the Canucks tonight against Josh Harding and the Wild.