On the Detroit Red Wings …
Ken Campbell of The Hockey News: The longer the Detroit Red Wings and Andreas Athanasiou stalemate drags on, have to think there is a chance that Athanasiou could be traded.
Despite not having much negotiation power, Athanasiou isn’t backing down. He was offered $2.5 million to play in the KHL and has three lesser offers from Swiss teams.
The Red Wings aren’t shopping Athanasiou but teams are calling. The Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and the Los Angeles Kings have shown the most interest in him.
Athanasiou’s agent wouldn’t comment on all the speculation but said it could all be resolved in a week. This may mean that if he’s not signed or traded, he’ll sign in the KHL or in the Swiss league. A KHL/Swiss deal would have an out clause to return to the NHL before December 1st.
On the Montreal Canadiens …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Pierre LeBrun on TSN 1050 talking about Alex Galchenyuk and how he thinks the Canadiens may have thought moving Galchenyuk to the wing would lessen his burden, but things may not be going as planned.
Galchenyuk has been moved to the fourth line, but thinks the Canadiens will remain patient. The Canadiens don’t want to move him when his value is low – see the Edmonton Oilers when they traded defenseman Justin Schultz.
“So it’s not ideal to trade a guy when he has no value, or he’s at his lowest value. I think they nearly traded him this summer. I think the Devils were in some pretty heavy talks with the Canadiens. The Habs I think pulled him back because they were like, ‘He’s worth more than this.’ And I don’t know what they would have got from the Devils. And right now, his value is even lower after a poor start.
“So I think one day they will trade him, but what they want to do is bring his value back by having Alex Galchenyuk return himself, by being the guy that they think he can be. And right now he’s just not that at all.”