Could the Oilers be eyeing Sam Lafferty? Should they have went Phil Kessel and not Jesse Puljujarvi?
Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal: Both Elliotte Friedman and Frank Seravalli have brought up forward Sam Lafferty with regards to the Edmonton Oilers. He carries a $1.15 million salary cap through next season and if GM Ken Holland were to work something out, it would have to be money-in, money-out.
Believe that the Oilers were interested in Phil Kessel before he signed with the Vegas Golden Knights but they didn’t have the cap space to sign him for $1.5 million. Part of the reason for the lack of cap space is Jesse Puljujarvi bringing in $3 million, and he’s not producing. The Oilers didn’t like any of the offers they got in the offseason. In the long-term Puljuarvi is a better bet, but the Oilers are trying to win now.
The Leafs can’t really take full advantage of Rielly’s LTIR space
TSN: The Toronto Maple Leafs are down three defensemen in Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie and Jake Muzzin. Chris Johnston notes that even though Rielly and his contract is on LTIR and it looks like they have a lot of space, they’ll need that space when he’s ready to come off the LTIR.
“And beyond that fact they’re carrying 50 contracts at this point in time, that means they would have to subtract that body to bring in anybody even if it was a cheaper depth addition. And so they’ve tried to perhaps address that by putting Wayne Simmonds on waivers Tuesday. No guarantees he’s picked up though he passed through waivers earlier in the season and so they might be forced – in this case the Leafs – to grin and bear it.”
The coaching hot seat in Ottawa and Vancouver
TSN: The coaching hot seat continues in Ottawa and Vancouver according to Darren Dreger. The Senators have holes in their current roster and may not be able to overcome them.
“The players say that they support D.J. Smith, Pierre Dorion we know is scouring the NHL, he hasn’t found the right trade fit, which is why we’re squarely now looking at the Ottawa bench one more time and I might add somewhat unfairly. In Vancouver, I’m told it is status quo and believe that there is a coaching change that is coming. But it could be days, it could be weeks, it could be months so not a lot happening in Vancouver but it does sound that Bruce Boudreau remains in the crosshairs.”