On Matt Duchene …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Darren Dreger was on TSN 1260 and was asked about Matt Duchene. Dreger said that as of Wednesday, there was nothing new, but there is still “considerable interest.”
“Ottawa has surfaced since we talked about it on Insider Trading on Tuesday, but Pierre Dorion’s interest in Duchene has been consistent for more than a year now. He’s just not confident, I don’t believe, that he’s going to get Matt Duchene because the ask has always been too rich for the Sens. At one point it was Ceci and maybe the young defenseman Thomas Chabot had to be involved. There are some pretty key forwards in the Ottawa Senators that are rumored to potentially have been part of an ask as well.”
Dreger adds that the Columbus Blue Jackets are interested, the Nashville Predators may have circled back. The Anaheim Ducks would like to add a forward and thinks they have made a quiet push.
Dreger on TSN 1050.
“But Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary and Ottawa are the Canadian teams that have seemingly expressed the most interest. So we’ll see where it goes. I still feel like Ottawa and the Columbus Blue Jackets are the front-runners.”
Dreger adds that he thinks Senators GM Pierre Dorion has been the most aggressive but is not willing to move Cody Ceci and probably not Thomas Chabot.
“But is Sakic willing to shift over to one of the young forwards or a forward from the Ottawa Senators. I mean, I think that that’s what Dorion keeps digging towards. But until Sakic is ready to make a decision, Duchene isn’t going anywhere.”
Adrian Dater: Scouting the Colorado Avalanche – Dallas Stars preseason game: Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks (2), St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils and the Buffalo Sabres.
Murray Pam: (on Dater’s scouting list tweet) “Scouts at all preseason games. Not an abnormal list. However, Ducks have a plethora of intriguing D possibilities.”