Panthers will be one of the teams after Canadiens Dman Chiarot
RDS: Pierre LeBrun on Hockey 360 said that the Florida Panthers would be one of the teams interested in Montreal Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot.
“Ben Chiarot is going to be a very popular player on the teams that will make the playoffs.”
“The Panthers have already discussed internally whether they will make an offer to the Canadiens. I think the answer to this question is yes and that the Panthers will contact the Canadiens. But they won’t be the only ones. “
Chiarot is a pending UFA with a $3.5 million cap hit.
To acquire or not for the Islanders
Kevin Kurz of The Athletic: Will the New York Islanders try to improve their roster before the deadline or will they punt the season? It’s probably too early and risky to decide this just yet.
If they were looking to add, they would likely be looking for a puck-moving offensive defenseman and a depth winger. It may take their own 2022 first-round pick and possibly more if looking to make a big splash. They don’t have their own second but do have the Avs pick.
The Islanders are good down the middle and in net. They’ve dealt with COVID issues and are having games postponed. It’s been a hectic season for them so far.
Some players look for loopholes to go to the Olympics
Sportsnet: Brad Marchand criticized the NHL and NHL for not allowing players to go to the Olympics, and according to Elliotte Friedman, some players were looking for loopholes.
“I was just talking to a couple of other players and they told me one of the things, just to give you an idea of how they felt about it, one of the things a few of them asked was, ‘Could we retire or find some way to void our contracts, go play the Olympics and find a way to come re-sign?'” Friedman said during the 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night in Canada.
“And a couple of them said, could they retire and come back. They also asked, ‘Could we be in a situation where we could ask to be put on waivers for the purposes of termination and then come back after the Olympics and re-sign with our team?’
“One of them kind of laughed and said to me they were told, ‘You think the NHL is ever going to allow you to try anything like that? There is not a chance.'”