- Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen: The asking price for Jason Spezza will likely be a player, prospect and a top pick. Spezza has a list of 10 teams that he can’t be traded too. The Maple Leafs could be interested, but there is little chance they’d trade him to their divisional rival. Options for Spezza could be:
1. Blues – Sens could be interested in Patrik Berglund and Ian Cole.
2. Predators – the Sens could be interested Filip Forsberg and Colin Wilson.
3. Ducks – the Sens could be interested in Andrew Cogliano and Nick Bonino.
4. Panthers – the Sens could be interested in the Panthers 1st overall pick and Dmitry Kulikov.
5. Coyotes – a longshot.
- Allen Panzeri: “Oh, BTW, if the #Sens trade Jason Spezza, who is going to replace him as a world-class No. 1 centre? Just asking. And don’t say Zack Smith.”
- Kevin Allen of USA Today: There could be lots of trading going on during the 2014 NHL draft.
“Some teams are going to be looking to move some salaries, and I just have a feeling there could be a lot of moves,” Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill said.
The 1st overall pick is already in play.
“I’ve already had a few guys kicking tires,” Tallon said. “We are going to get more calls.”
The Senators are talking offers on Jason Spezza, same with the Maple Leafs and Dion Phaneuf. The Canucks may look to trade Alex Edler, same with the Sabres and Christian Ehrhoff. New GM Ron Francis may look to deal Cam Ward, and possibly Eric Staal if they got a staggering return.
Craig Button on possible draft day trades.
“It’s really hard to get good players now unless you make a big trade and draft picks are a part of it,” said Button, a former NHL general manager. “Plus, teams are looking to get a lot better as quickly as possible.”
- The Fourth Period: The Bruins are not expected to re-sign Shawn Thornton according to a source. They will look to keep Jarome Iginla.
“Obviously, he’s a leader, he’s the captain of another team for a long time and he came in and added in an element to our group, especially the forward group,” Bruins team president Cam Neely said in a Tuesday press conference. “He ended up scoring 30 goals, which is not easy in this league anymore, and we would like to try and see if we can figure something out moving forward with him. We will see where that goes, but I thought he fit in really well with our team.”
The Bruins may also look at the trade market this off-season. They almost had Alex Edler at the trade deadline but the Canucks ownership apparently nixed the trade. The Canucks ownership may have also nixed a Ryan Kesler trade to the Penguins. The Bruins could re-visit the Edler talks or look at other options via free agency or trade. They could look at moving Brad Marchand and his remaining three years at $4.5 million per season. Two sources saying they would listen to Marchand offers, but there is no guarantee that they trade him.
- News 1130 Sports: Agent Mike Liut will talk with Canucks GM Jim Benning at the NHL Combine or Draft about David Booth’s future in Vancouver.
- Will DePaoli: Dreger was on Pittsburgh radio and said that we’re in an era where there are “no untouchable” in the NHL.
- Jason Botchford: Trevor Linden had a good meeting with Ryan Kesler at the end of the season.
- Hope Smoke: Bob McKenzie: “The fact that B.Richards has played so well will give the Rangers pause to consider, but sense I got a year ago was that the Rangers would buy Richards out this year.” … “That unless Richards was playing like one of your top 2 centres…” “…doing it in such a fashion that you believe he’s going to do it for another 2/3 yrs then you’re almost obliged to buy him out”
