- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: Flyers GM Paul Holmgren and coach Peter Laviolette received a vote of confidence yesterday. On make a change:
“Absolutely not,” said Luukko, president of the Flyers’ parent company, Comcast-Spectacor. “We just need to be patient, and to even think the general manager or coach are in trouble . It’s not an issue.”
Their farm system isn’t strong and Holmgren doesn’t have many trade chips unless he uses draft picks. When asked if changes are needed, Holmgren said: “I still believe in our team, but we need to play better.”
- Adrian Dater via twitter: The Avalanche are not looking for a center in return to for Ryan O’Reilly. They are looking for an offensive defenseman or a proven forward with a draft pick. Dater says to stop with the Maple Leafs rumors, the Avalanche are not interested in players like Tyler Bozak.
- Arthur Staple of Newsday: Islanders defenseman Mark Streit could be a hot commodity at this years trade deadline. There has been some preliminary talks about a contract extension between the two sides.
“The fact is I like it here. We have a really good team,” said Streit, who entered Saturday night’s game leading Islanders defensemen in scoring (3-3-6 in 13 games) while carrying a team-worst minus-9 rating. “I’ve been here five years and I have a really good role, I love the room and I can tell the improvement is here the last few years. It’s maybe 5 percent we’re missing to break through. Overall, I’d like to stay.”
If the Islanders fall out of playoff contention, GM Garth Snow may look to move Streit and Lubomir Visnovsky. Snow hasn’t had any talks with Evgeni Nabokov. The Islanders have also been looking to trade forward Marty Reasoner, but there hasn’t been any takers yet. Reasoner could find himself on waivers at some point this season if they need to call up a forward.