Roundup of Friedman’s 30 thoughts …
- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: One scout on Auston Mathews, Jesse Puljajarvi and Patrik Laine.
“Where Matthews is going to be a true number one on a top line, Laine appears to be in the two or three range on a top line. Puljujarvi, like Laine, won’t be a franchise guy, but a very good scorer.”
He compares Laine as a poor man’s Corey Perry and Puljajarvi to Bobby Ryan.
The Ducks are one of the teams interested in Jonathan Drouin, and no team needs more offensive help than the Ducks. The Ducks have some assets that the Lightning would want.
Friedman thinks Lightning GM Steve Yzerman is looking for a young player who is under team control for awhile. Yzerman can’t take on money unless money is going back. He could try to package Matt Carle and Drouin. Blues Kevin Shattenkirk would not be an easy fit for the Lightning. The Lightning need a right-handed shooting defenseman or a forward that has more edge to his game. Robby Fabbri name is one rumor. Ducks have defenseman Brandon Montour or they could consider Nick Ritchie.
Multiple sources shot down the rumor that the Canadiens offered a roster player not named Alex Galchenyuk, a prospect not named Michael McCarron and a conditional first round pick for Drouin.
Friedman thinks that if the Blues had been able to acquire Ryan Johansen, defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk would have been heading the other way. The Wild had dangle Jonas Brodin to the Blue Jackets.
The Colorado Avalanche are at 50 contract and they will likely be trying to get that number down by one or two.
The Blue Jackets have nine defensemen. The Islanders are dealing with some injuries on the blueline. The Sabres are sitting veteran defensemen in the AHL.
Though the cap makes it very difficult, Friedman wonders if the Blackhawks would try to find a way to reacquire Brandon Saad. They really miss him.
The Kings were considering signing Scott Gomez before they made the Vincent Lecavalier – Luke Schenn trade.
Guessing the Kings thought about Dustin Byfuglien, but they don’t have a first round pick (going to Carolina from the Andrej Sekera trade). The Kings are familiar with Willie Mitchell, but he’s not going anywhere. The Kings may also have considered Sabres Josh Gorges, but he still has some term left on his contract.