Fixing their blue line is another priority for the Oilers
TSN: Goaltending is an issue once again for the Edmonton Oilers, but the blue line has also been a problem according to Darren Dreger and they may need to address that as well.
“What they need is a top three, top four right shot defence, because their defence collectively has not been good enough. They give up Grade ‘A’ chances night after night, which obviously puts more stress on the Edmonton Oilers. So you can’t afford to give the assets to upgrade your goaltending and add a top three, top four defenceman. So tough decisions ahead for Holland but that right shot d-man is a priority.”
Quick hits on the Tortorella, Bowness, Toffoli, Sandin, Del Zotto, Zacha, Kravtsov, Blackhawks and Senators
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: John Tortorella shoots down the rumor that he could join the St. Louis Blues as an assistant coach.
Believe the Dallas Stars will stay with Rick Bowness but there was some speculation that they considered making a coaching change.
Jeff Marek mentioned that the Calgary Flames could have an interest in Montreal Canadiens forward Tyler Toffoli. Others have wondered if the Los Angeles Kings, who are looking for scoring, could look at bringing back Toffoli.
There are some teams in the Western Conference that are looking at Canadiens forward Christian Dvorak, who is not having a good season.
Would be a surprise if the Toronto Maple Leafs traded defenseman Rasmus Sandin.
It may make more sense for the Ottawa Senators to retain salary and trade defenseman Michael Del Zotto than to buy him out this offseason.
New Jersey Devils forward Pavel Zacha is generating some interest.
Teams are doing their work on New York Rangers forward Vitali Kravtsov and it appears he wants to come back to the NHL next season.
Peter Chiarelli, Mathieu Darche, Kyle Davidson, Cubs assistant GM Jeff Greenberg, Scott Mellanby and Eric Tulsky have all interviewed for the Chicago Blackhawks GM position.
The Ottawa Senators did investigate in early January about playing some home games in the U.S. because of their attendance restrictions.
