On the Los Angeles Kings …
Dennis Bernstein: (after last night’s game) “If there was ever a time for Dean Lombardi to shake up the Kings roster, tonight’s performance is all the motivation he needs.”
Scouting the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators …
Joe Smith: Scouts listed for last night’s Lightning – Predators game: Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils, Arizona Coyotes, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings.
On the trade market …
Harvey Fialkov: Have been told that with so many teams still in the playoff race, it’s tough to make a trade right now.
On the Ottawa Senators …
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen: Senators GM Pierre Dorion has been busy talking to teams, but he hasn’t been able to make a deal. He’s been trying to add a forward. Dorion on TSN 1200 Wednesday.
“There’s many guys here,” said Dorion, who spoke with six or seven GMs when he was last in Montreal on Dec. 28. “I’ve been on the phone all day pretty much with my other counterparts. As quiet as it was before Christmas, I think talks are heating up but it’s very difficult to make trades.
“Sometimes budget comes into it for other teams, sometimes it’s the number of contracts … So, working hard at it, I’m always looking to improve our team but there’s nothing imminent or at the forefront right now.”
On the Colorado Avalanche …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Darren Dreger on TSN 1260 on the Colorado Avalanche, Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy.
“What’s stuck with me – and there was clearly a front office rift between Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic, and perhaps others. Patrick Roy is a proud man with a rich history. He doesn’t back away from a challenge. But he knew going in that this team wasn’t going to be very good. Directionally, he had differences with Joe Sakic.
“You look back to the Ryan O’Reilly trade – I’ve got to believe if they had a do-over that they would do things differently there. Maybe even allowing Paul Stastny to go to unrestricted free agency was a misstep by Sakic and company as well. But Roy doesn’t back off unless he suspects that his job is not just in jeopardy, but he’s probably fired by this time if he’s on the bench of the Colorado Avalanche. So he took that option away from Joe Sakic.”