On the Detroit Red Wings …
Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: The Red Wings continue their search to improve their blueline. The Wings didn’t see any free agent defenseman as a significant upgrade to their blueline and are continuing their search through trade.
The Wings also have three defensemen who are no longer waiver exempt: Xavier Ouellet, Ryan Sproul and Nick Jensen. So they will have to make the team, be traded or risk going on waivers and potentially be claimed.
Neither of those three are a high-end talent that the Wings need on the blueline, which is why they have been talking with the Ducks about Cam Fowler. It would probably take a Tomas Tatar or Gustav Nyquist and a high second round pick.
Tatar is a RFA at the end of next season and could cost around $4.5 million to re-sign him – which is why the Red Wings may look to move him.
Kevin Shattenkirk is better on the power play than Fowler, but he’s a free agent after next season and could look for $6 to $7 million a season.
The Jets want to keep Jacob Trouba.
GM Ken Holland on Friday: “let the dust settle, let people see what they got, and go from there.”
On Kevin Shattenkirk and the Boston Bruins …
Joe Haggerty: St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong on NHL tonight. It’s looking like Kevin Shattenkirk will remain with the Blues for at least the start of the season.
“I think the Kevin Shattenkirk thing grew on a life of its own at the draft. What I’ve said internally here is that we’re excited to have Kevin Shattenkirk as a part of our team. In the NHL now you see all the players hitting free agency and moving to teams,” said Armstrong to the NHL Tonight crew.
“Our goal is to try and get Kevin signed if we can, or start the year and him a good. We started last year with Troy Brouwer and David Backes in the same situation, we had 107 or 108 points and made it to the semifinals. I think if you’re always trying to trade players as they enter the last year of their contracts, I don’t know that you’re ever going to have a really good team if you’re running away from free agency. Free agency is part of our game, and you make those free agent decisions.
“If you get to a part of the year and you have guys that are unrestricted and your team is no good, then you make those decisions. But if you have a good team and you have guys that are unrestricted, you just play it out.”
The Blues asked the Bruins for both first round draft picks and David Pastrnak.
Maybe the Bruins look at trading David Krejci for a puck-moving defenseman. Cam Fowler and Tyson Barrie could help the Bruins.
