Scouting the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets …
Bruce Garrioch: Scouts listed to attend yesterday’s Senators – Blue Jackets game: Washington Capitals, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers.
On the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings …
Mark Lazerus: Have been told that the Blackhawks have ‘sniffed around’ Red Wings forwards Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar.
On the Detroit Red Wings …
Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Goaltender Petr Mrazek has struggled this season, but may be turning things around.
When Jimmy Howard returns from his injury, he could get some conditioning in the AHL.
Jared Coreau could be ready for full-time NHL action, and he could be the goalie the Red Wings protect for the expansion draft.
The Wings could make Mrazek available for trade at the deadline. Mrazek has another year left on his deal at a $4 million cap hit. Coreau is at $612,500 for another year. Howard has two years left at a $5.3 million cap hit.
On the Colorado Avalanche …
Terry Frei of the Denver Post: Think that the Avalanche will receive decent but not great trade offers for Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog leading up to the March 1st trade deadline.
By “not great,” I mean a package that doesn’t qualify as a mouth-dropping difference maker. A great “offer” is: Did they really offer that? To qualify as great, it would have include an eventual long-term, standout defenseman for the franchise. And more.
Semyon Varlamov doesn’t appear to be the Avs long-term answer in net, but he has two years left at a $5.9 million cap hit. Varlamov’s groin injury basically makes him more untradable now than ever. Doubtful that the Vegas Golden Knights would take Varlamov in the expansion draft.