On the Pittsburgh Penguins …
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Scouts listed to attend the Penguins – Stars last night include Carolina Hurricanes (who sent management), Colorado Avalanche (2) Arizona Coyotes, and San Jose Sharks.
Joe Nieuwendyk is a scout/advisor for the Hurricanes and was at the game. Jeff Skinner‘s name appeared in the rumor mill yesterday. The 25-year old Skinner has a year left on his deal at a $5.725 million cap hit.
Penguins director of pro scouting, Derek Clancy, has been actively scouting the LA Kings organization.
The Penguins also scouted the Buffalo Sabres twice in the past week, and are believed to be watching Evander Kane.
On the Nashville Predators …
Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com: Predators GM David Poile said they are carrying eight defensemen and are happy with the group, especially their top-four.
Poile would possibly like to add before the trade deadline, another forward at the right price.
“When you talk to everybody, everybody has got different things available at different prices,” he said. “Certainly we’re willing to listen if something makes sense for us.
“There’s not that many sellers in this league because of the parity. As a result, you find that, well, I’m pretty confident that if you name four or five players that are available, I could name four or five clubs that are pursuing the same player. And that gets back to your price.”
On the trade market …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 960 has a feeling that there could be a trade that nobody sees coming, a lot is being talked about.
“Right now there are more sellers than there are buyers. Guys are just telling me there’s a lot of names out there. And sometimes you can’t tell if people are serious, and sometimes you can’t tell if they’re just testing. Sometimes it’s a lot of talk, no action.
“There’s some teams out there, GMs out there, who are like, ‘I don’t know what to make of the fact this guy’s name has come up.’
“So it’s going to be interesting.”