On the Ottawa Senators, LA Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins …
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Sources are saying that Senators GM Pierre Dorion is one of the busiest GMs out there.
The LA Kings are believed to be eyeing Dion Phaneuf, but Phaneuf’s $7 million cap hit is an issue.
The Penguins are believed to be interested in Derick Brassard.
“I’ve gotten traded two times now. It’s part of the game,” Brassard said. “Everybody has different situations with their contracts. Players are leaving everywhere and it’s pretty hard to keep the same core together. Whatever is going to happen on (Feb. 26th) is going to happen and you can’t really control anything.”
On the Pittsburgh Penguins …
Josh Yohe of The Athletic: The Penguins traded for Riley Sheahan back in October in the hope that he’d be their third-line center. For a while, it didn’t look like that was the case, but things have changed recently.
“I feel good about him there,” Rutherford said. “With the way the lines are balancing out now, yes, I do think he’s playing at a level where we are happy with him as the No. 3 center.”
The Penguins hope to be able to have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel on different lines. Can Kessel work with Sheahan?
“Yes,” Rutherford said. “You’ve seen him make some really nice plays with the puck in recent games. He’s got skill. And he’s also very responsible out there. Yeah, I think he can play with Kessel. It can work.”
Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said that they aren’t closing the door on anything, but they could now be looking for a fourth-line center as opposed to a third-line center.
“We can always use more depth at center, and we’d like to get it,” continued. “I’d still consider it. I just wouldn’t say that I think we need to get a third-line center.”
Rutherford will check out the defenseman market, but he doesn’t feel obligated to trade for one.