Were the Flyers one of the teams calling the Canadiens?
NHL Watcher: Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, wondered if the Philadelphia Flyers were one of the teams calling the Montreal Canadiens about defenseman Arber Xhekaj: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Philly was one of those teams, I don’t know if it was a (Cutter) Gauthier deal or something else, but it makes a lot of sense. If Xhekaj is not going to be a Canadien, man he’s a Flyer”
Were the Blues considering Patrick Roy?
NHL Watcher: Friedman on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, on when the St. Louis Blues made the coaching change earlier this season: “There are some teams who believed #STLBlues had (Patrick) Roy on their radar and it does kind of fit with the way Doug Armstrong thinks”
NHL Rumors: Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators
Parity and effecting chemistry leading to harder decisions
TSN: Pierre LeBrun notes that with the parity in the NHL this season, some teams who are on the bubble may not be looking to sell and may hold on to some of the UFAs, thinking that they could sneak into the playoffs and go on a run like the Florida Panthers did last year.
The Winnipeg Jets will be looking to add but will be careful with the chemistry.
“As for Cheveldayoff, he said the Jets have some deadline needs. But Cheveldayoff talked about his team having great chemistry. There’s a delicate balance there, the fit has to be right for Winnipeg.”
Chris Johnston mentions a bubble team like the Pittsburgh Penguins and pending UFA forward Jake Guentzel. GM Kyle Dubas previously mentioned the All-Star break as a time to evaluate which direction he could take the team in but it may not be a hard deadline.
NHL Rumors: Scouting COL-BOS, Blackhawks, Predators, and the Penguins
“He insists that his team will make decisions for him in terms of their performance and so with six week still to that trade deadline, I don’t think in Pittsburgh they’re going to have clarity on the direction in the next week or two here.”