Things picking up on Johansson
Pierre LeBrun: Traction is picking up on New Jersey Devils forward Marcus Johansson. The Devils are holding him out of the lineup again today.
Brassard likely to be held out
George Richards: Can expect the Florida Panthers to hold Derick Brassard out of the lineup today and likely dealt by the trade deadline.
Rangers hold out three
Bob McKenzie: The New York Rangers will sit Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes and Adam McQuaid today.
Bob McKenzie: Can expect that the trio of Zuccarello, Hayes and McQuaid to be traded by Monday.
Dzingel may be an ideal add for the Oilers
Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Edmonton Oilers GM Keith Gretzky said they aren’t in on Mark Stone.
They won’t be trading Milan Lucic, who has four years left on his deal at $6 million per. Lucic has said that they haven’t asked him to waive his no-movement clause.
Jesse Puljujarvi may require surgery so it’s unlikely he’s dealt.
The Oilers are desperate for scoring and don’t want to trade pending free agent forward Alex Chiasson, who is fourth in scoring among Oilers forwards at only a $650,000 cap hit. One executive did say not to be surprised if he does get traded late on deadline day though.
An ideal add for the Oilers would be Ottawa Senators Ryan Dzingel for a second round pick and a defensive prospect. Sources saying the American Dzingel will end up on a U.S. based team.
“The young player everybody wants from the Oilers is (defenceman Dimtri) Samorukov,” said an NHL observer.
Samorukov should be a non-starter for the Oilers.
“We’re not into short-term fixes that will cost us an arm and leg,” said Gretzky, who would take on players with another year on their deals for cost certainty. “But if it’s a deal that we think will hinder the development of our kids in the minor leagues, we don’t do that.”