- Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area: (mailbag) Kurz thinks the odds of the Sharks re-signing Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dan Boyle are good. There is a very good chance that three year deals for Thornton and Marleau gets done soon. Boyle wants to stay in San Jose, and he’s looking for a deal longer than one-year. Kurz thinks that Stars Ray Whitney could be nice fit on a line with Thornton and Brent Burns. Whitney may only cost a 2nd round pick.
- Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe: With the injuries to the Bruins blueline, they’ll look for a defenseman. They don’t want to be shorthanded for the playoffs on the blueline for the second consecutive season. They would like a rental defenseman, as they’ll need the extra money to re-sign Torey Krug and Reilly Smith, who will both get raises from their $925,000 and $900,000 deals. The Bruins may prefer a left handed shooting, stay-at-home defenseman. It would likely cost them a pick and/or prospect. Potential trade targets could be: Chris Phillips (OTT), Andrew MacDonald (NYI), Kyle Quincey (DET) and Henrik Tallinder (BUF).
- Jonathan Willis: With a limited amount of offensive players that may be available at this years trade deadline, Ales Hemsky should appeal to some teams. Given the history of rumors involving Hemsky, it’s not a given that they will move him. Hemsky may only net the Oilers ‘futures’, and that is something they really don’t need. They need more size and physicality on their top two lines, and help on the blueline. Trading either Nail Yakupov or Jordan Eberle would better fill their needs. The most likely scenario is for Hemsky to be moved.
- TSN Quiz: Martin Biron, Aaron Ward and Darren Dreger on what the Oilers should do next? All responded with trading Jordan Eberle. Ward adds: “To get value, you need to give up value.”
- Tom Gulitti of the Bergon Record: It’s not sounding like the Devils will recall defenseman Adam Larsson any time soon. He’s working back from a knee injury suffered at the end of November. He’s recorded four assists in six AHL games.
“He’ll stay there right now and play for a while,” Lamoriello said. “Right now, our defense is playing good and we just want him to get his total game back. He’s playing a lot and the team is playing very well. It’s a good team there right now.”
The Devils currently have seven healthy roster defenseman, and Peter Harrold is getting closer to returning.