Larkin’s future?
NHL Watcher: Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts Podcast earlier this week: “Larkin is 2 years away from UFA, by the time they’re good he’s going to be on the market, I’m curious to see what that’s going to mean.”
Kessel could be moved before the trade deadline
NHL Watcher: Darren Dreger on TSN 1050 last week on Arizona Coyotes forward Phil Kessel: “As long as he stays healthy I don’t think Kessel makes it to March, I think he gets traded before March”.
Senators will need to add to their blue line soon
Shawn Simpson: The Ottawa Senators have Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot and Drake Batherson looked up long-term. Forwards Josh Norris, Tim Stutzle and Alex Formenton will likely get long-term deals too.
Am good with the Senators looking long-term with these forwards but at some point, they are going to have to give their defensive core some love this season with a trade.
When could the Ducks add some top talent?
Eric Stephens of The Athletic: (mailbag) The Anaheim Ducks taking on the contract of Vladimir Tarasenko – a $7.5 million cap hit for two years with salaries of $9.5 million and $5.5 million – that isn’t risk, it’s if he can stay healthy and score like he used to after having shoulder surgery three times.
The St. Louis Blues just aren’t looking to dump Tarasenko. The Ducks aren’t going to trade their 2022 first-round pick. Not sure if Troy Terry and a second-round pick gets it done for St. Louis. The Blues don’t want to take a bad contract back.
The Ducks are one of the teams that are monitoring the Jack Eichel situation and wouldn’t say things are dead. Eichel’s agent, Pat Brisson, already has a few Ducks clients so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s spoken with the team.
It may be two or three years before the Ducks bring in some top-tier talent from outside the organization. They’ve said that they’d be willing to add an impact player who is in their early 20’s or early in their NHL when the time is right.