On the Vancouver Canucks …
- Bob McKenzie: The Blackhawks interest in Dan Hamhuis has cooled considerably. Blackhawks focusing on lower-level depth options.
- Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province: A Canucks deal with the Blackhawks was close enough in the past 24-48 hours that Dan Hamhuis was presented with the option.
The framework of a a trade had been discussed, but the deal would be delayed if Hamhuis was still unsure what he wanted to do.The Blackhawks may revisit Hamhuis, but it looks like they’ve moved to Plan B.
On the Philadelphia Flyers …
- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: Flyers GM Ron Hextall is expected to be a seller and Mark Streit and Nick Schultz could interest some teams.
“I don’t really pay attention to the rumors. It’s part of the business,” said Streit, who would be valuable to a contender like Tampa Bay because he can quarterback a power play. “There’s nothing you can really control.”
Streit has another year left at $5.25 million and Schultz has another year left at $2.25 million.
On the Boston Bruins …
- Matt Kalman: If the Bruins do trade Loui Eriksson, they will have almost unlimited time to take advantage of the assets. Different from last year.
On the Tampa Bay Lightning …
- Joe Smith: Lightning GM Steve Yzerman indicated that he doesn’t have anything imminent, though that can quickly change with a phone call.
- Joe Smith: Yzerman: “We’ll all get together tomorrow and make any final decisions on potential options that we might want to pursue.”
- Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune: Yzerman is playing in the alumni game at Coors Field, and will then fly back in the morning to hold discussions with his staff about the deadline.
“We’ll be watching closely, our focus will be on the games for sure, but any time it’s deadline time you are intrigued to see what happens and then from there and re-evaluate what you have,’’ Stamkos said. “If things stay the same, you are comfortable with this group. Then if you add a piece or two you know what you have going forward, so it will be interesting.’’