The Oilers know exactly what they are looking for
TSN: Frank Seravalli when asked what the Edmonton Oiler top priority is ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
“Well James, it might not be splashy but I think the Edmonton Oilers have their eye on a very specific piece at a very specific price. That’s a right shot centre who can take faceoffs, and win them on the penalty kill where they’ve struggled this year, just 42 per cent shorthanded that can help their kill. So who fits that bill? Well how about Luke Glendening who’s not coming back to the Detroit Red Wings. He’s the guy that leads the league in faceoff percentage this season, can also kill penalties and has a cheap cap hit.
There’s two other guys that don’t require a seven-day quarantine and that would be Vancouver’s Brandon Sutter and Calgary’s Derek Ryan, although they have higher caps hits, more cap gymnastics there. And the price? Well the Oilers have traded their second, third and fifth-round picks so they’d like to do all that for a fourth-round pick if they can. We’ll see what kind of magic Ken Holland has up his sleeve.”
Devils and Palmieri talking but not finding common ground
TSN: Pierre LeBrun said that the New Jersey Devils and pending unrestricted free agent Kyle Palmieri have recently spoke about a contract extension.
Before we know he’s definitely getting dealt, we have to know that he’s not getting signed, he’s a pending UFA. The Devils have had talks recently with his camp and both sides I’m told struggling to find what is common ground on a contract in this flat cap environment and so much uncertainty of what contracts are going to look like moving forward. Things can change but all things being equal, more likely that Palmieri gets dealt before April 12.
