On the New York Rangers …
Pat Leonard of NY Daily News: Rangers GM Jeff Gorton indicated that he may not be done trading this offseason .
Yesterday’s move is the type of deal they would need to make if they wanted clear the cap space for a potential $6 million plus extension for a puck moving defenseman like Kevin Shattenkirk. The Rangers would want an extension in place in any Shattenkirk deal. Would the Rangers include Chris Kreider in a deal for Shattenkirk?
The Rangers are looking to get younger and faster
“There’s a lot of perception you’ve got to overhaul the team, but I’m not sure how realistic that is,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m sitting here mandated to change 10 things.”
Finding potential trades isn’t easy, but Gorton will continue to work on it.
“It’s been somewhat difficult to find the right deals to make us better, and that’s why you see a lot of guys back right now,” Gorton said. “And we’ll continue to look at things to make ourselves better all the time.”
On the Calgary Flames …
Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot: Flames RFA Sean Monahan on TSN on how close they are to a deal.
“It’s getting there. It’s a process. The deal has to work on both ends, and obviously I want to be in Calgary. I’m just looking forward to getting it done and hopefully it gets done here soon.”
On if he’d like a bridge or long-term deal.
“I definitely want to be there for a long time. I would prefer a longer-term contract, but that’s not up for me to decide. I want to be there. I want to be in Calgary for the rest of my career, so that’s something I’m looking forward to doing.”
On the Detroit Red Wings …
Jared Clinton of The Hockey News: After locking up Teemu Pulkkinen and Luke Glendening, the Red Wings have five spare forwards. Johan Franzen will be put on the long-term IR, and Joe Vitale could join him on the LTIR – both are dealing with concussion issues.
Anthony Mantha doesn’t have to clear waivers, so he could be sent to the AHL, leaving them with two extra forwards.
GM Ken Holland may be looking to flip a forward into a top-four defenseman, but it wouldn’t come cheap. Pulkkinen, Mantha, Tomas Jurco, Gustav Nyquist or Tomas Tatar could be used as trade bait.