On the Nashville Predators …
Adam Vingan of The Tennessean: (mailbag) Predators GM David Poile will likely be looking to add to his forward depth leading up to the February 26th NHL trade deadline. They are happy with their defensive depth and goaltending. Adding a scoring winger could be an option for them.
Rumored wingers that could become available include Evander Kane, Mike Hoffman, and Max Pacioretty. The Predators would need to move some salary to acquire any of those three as their cap hits are between $4.5 and $5.25 million.
A cheaper option for the Predators could be Coyotes winger Anthony Duclair and his $1.2 million salary cap hit.
On the Montreal Canadiens and Max Pacioretty …
L.A. Lariviere: It’s believed that the Canadiens are looking for a proven scorer and a first round pick for Pacioretty. The Canadiens are not actively shopping him, but GM Marc Bergevin is listening.
Chris Nichols of Fan Rag Sports: Darren Dreger was on TSN 1260 and was asked at how close he believes the Montreal Canadiens are to trading forward Max Pacioretty.
“I don’t think they’re that close,” considered NHL Insider Darren Dreger during a Monday afternoon radio hit on Edmonton’s TSN 1260. “Now I say that and I’m reminding myself of having a conversation with the Montreal Canadiens a week before they traded P.K. Subban and Marc Bergevin and others insisting P.K. Subban was not going to be traded – and then he gets traded. So anything is possible.”
thinks that Pacioretty is ready for a trade, for a change of scenery. He’s not going to ask for it, but it’s a move that could do him good.
“I think that he’s a quality enough player that the Montreal Canadiens are going to get some real good assets in return. It’s all about timing, right, and maybe the pressure point on other teams to step up and deliver an asking price – whatever that might be on Pacioretty – isn’t quite there yet.”