- Darren Dreger via twitter: On teams calling about Phil Kessel, it’s a “possibility,” but not a fire sale. Dreger doubts it happens this season. The asking price would be at least a top 6 forward and a high pick.
- Howard Berger via twitter: Source saying that the Maple Leafs and Senators have approached the Panthers about Stephen Weiss.
- Aaron Portzline via twitter: Portzline thinks that R.J. Umberger could be had in a trade. He has a big contract though.
- Joe McDonald of ESPN: The Bruins have a some salary cap space to play with this year and next, but GM Peter Chiarelli won’t isn’t in a hurry to spend it.
“I may be wrong, but available players are going to be scarce,” Chiarelli said during a conference call Thursday to announce the Thomas trade to the New York Islanders. “Because of the condensed season, we’re trying to figure out the market, when it starts and the ebbs and flows of it. I wanted to be in a position where if something comes along now, because sometimes there are deals when guys try to move guys early, I wanted to be in a position that we would be in the ballgame.
“We’ve got a good team and that doesn’t mean we’re gonna go out and get somebody because we have this cap space right now, but sometimes, in my experience, there are deals that come early and you have to be in the ballgame, and we’re in the ballgame now. That was the proactive approach that we wanted to take.”