Stepan on the trade block?
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Nick Kypreos in his ‘Real Kyper at Noon’ show said on Wednesday that the Ottawa Senators would consider trading center Derek Stepan. The Senators acquired Stepan late in the offseason from the Arizona Coyotes and he hasn’t worked out as they had hoped.
Doug MacLean noted on Kypreos’ show that Stepan may welcome a trade as he may not be happy with his role with the team. Also, Stepan’s family didn’t move to Ottawa after the trade.
“The question is: Is (Stepan) pushing that?,” MacLean told Kypreos. “His family is in Arizona, he’s got three young kids, a newborn, quarantine issues with visiting … maybe it’s just too much.”
Bennett scratching speeds up the process
TSN: Darren Dreger when asked if Sam Bennett being a healthy scratch last night speeds up the process of a potential trade out of Calgary. Dreger:
“Well, it definitely does. It certainly amplifies the trade speculation across the National Hockey League media bases. Now, many wrongly assuming that a trade must be imminent, given the fact Bennett has played well of late and he is a healthy scratch against the Winnipeg Jets. But, there is no front-burner trade for Sam Bennett at the moment, but there is a good amount of interest at this stage.”
Could the 2021 NHL draft be pushed back?
TSN: Darren Dreger when asked if the NHL is considering moving the July 2021 draft date back.
“ It sure sounds like that; there’s ongoing conversations at the NHL level, hockey operations, the National Hockey League is deeply involved, the commissioner’s office will get involved as well. I will say this, there’s no guarantee that the NHL is going to host the draft in July. Now, there’s lots of talk across the National Hockey League about the draft being pushed from 2021 – this summer – to 2022 – the summer – and the NHL hosting back-to-back drafts. NHL general managers are very much in favour of this and you got to think the 2021 draft eligible players would also be in favour of it, given the fact a majority of these kids aren’t playing hockey right now. But, keep in mind this is a CBA-related issue, the NHLPA is not involved yet, but they will have to get involved if there’s change.”