On the Detroit Red Wings …
Helene St. James: When asked if there was any chance the Red Wings would sign Thomas Vanek to an extension … “Let’s see where they are near trade deadline.”
On the Edmonton Oilers …
Bob Stauffer: No. 1 need for the Oilers would be a right handed, shooting winger that has some term left on his contract.
On the Vancouver Canucks …
Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Sun: 30-year old Canucks forward Jannik Hansen is one of their most marketable commodities and they should be looking to trade him. The Canucks should be looking at their team three years from now and not three months from now.
Botchford notes: “Good luck trying to convince the Canucks of that one.”
The Canucks are in a spot where they are neither a buyer or seller. They don’t want to make moves for a playoff push and they don’t want to trade veterans for draft picks or prospects.
On Ryan Kesler …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Pierre LeBrun interviewed Ducks Ryan Kesler and was on TSN 690 talking about Kesler. It sounds like Kesler plans on playing for awhile longer.
“The one thing I didn’t use in that piece because it didn’t fit is I asked him about the criticism the Ducks took for giving him that six-year extension, given that he’s 32 now,” noted LeBrun. “He signed it in July 2015. But let me tell you – his back straightened up right away when I asked that. He does not like to hear that, has used that as motivation, believes he’s going to play for a long time, and, in fact, said to me: ‘I’m going to sign another contract after this contract.’”