On the trade market and wingers the Calgary Flames could be interested in …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 960 talking about the trade market. Friedman believes the Penguins are looking to be active as they look for their third Stanly Cup in three years.
“Everybody knows Buffalo is open for business. I still think Edmonton is looking around for some things. I think Vancouver would like to move Gudbranson. I think there’s a lot of talk going on there. Ottawa… there’s a lot of talk about St. Louis and Mike Hoffman. I just think there’s a lot of smoke out there. The biggest question is going to be does it catch fire.”
The Flames are believed to looking for a winger, and Friedman was asked who they could be looking at.
“The one thing is, you guys have dealt your picks,” he noted. “So I don’t think an Evander Kane is going to be a realistic possibility for you guys. So I think that in terms of players who are out there, I mean Pacioretty is out there. I don’t know if that’s a match, but he’s out there. Hoffman is out there. Again, I don’t know if that’s a match. Edmonton really tried with Hoffman, but I just don’t think the two of them were really even that close on a kind of trade parameter.
“I’ll tell you: one guy, at some point – Thomas Vanek had five points last night. And I know he’s a really frustrating player. He’s been around and you know what you’re getting when you get him. I’m not sure that he’s the kind of guy that you’d say, ‘Okay, does that solve our problem.’ But he’s not going to cost you as much a Hoffman would or a Pacioretty would.”
On the St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators …
The Fourth Period: Blues GM Doug Armstrong is looking for a top-six forward and they’ve been linked to Buffalo Sabres Evander Kane and Ottawa Senators Mike Hoffman. If the Blues acquire someone with term, they may need to move out some salary.
Emily Sadler of Sportsnet: The Blues and Carolina Hurricanes could be interested in Senators Hoffman. The Blues have assets to acquire Hoffman if the Senators are looking for prospects.
“The Blues have a lot of really good forward prospects—there’s Kyrou, there’s Thomas, there’s Kostin, all at the world juniors; and there’s Fabbri, out for the year (knee),” said Friedman. “I think the biggest key for St. Louis, Jay Bouwmeester‘s back tonight, as long as he stays healthy I think the Blues—whether it’s Ottawa, Hoffman, or somebody else—they’re going to do something, provided Bouwmeester stays healthy.”
