NHL Rumors: San Jose Sharks, Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals and the Vancouver Canucks
The trade value of some Sharks players

Sheng Peng: Talked to two scouts and one executive from different organizations and looked at what the return for some San Jose Sharks players could be on the trade market.

Tomas Hertl – A first-round pick or a top prospect and a mid to high range asset.

Alexander Barabanov – Could be between a second- and fourth-round pick.

Andrew Cogliano – They may be lucky to get a fifth-round pick.

Nick Bonino – Has another year left and maybe a fourth-line center. There may not be any interest with $2 million owed next year.

Matt Nieto – Has another left on his contract. May be able to get a fifth-round pick or less.

James Reimer – May be able to get a fourth or fifth-round pick.

Could the Canadiens and Capitals strike a deal? The Caps would need to make a second move

Sammi Silber of Washington Hockey Now: RDS reported last week that the Montreal Canadiens inquired about Washington Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov. The Capitals scouted that Canadiens last Thursday.

The Capitals are looking for an upgrade in net and up front. Would the Caps be interested in Canadiens forward Artturri Lehkonen? Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff previously mentioned that Lehkonen could be a trade target for the Capitals and that he’d fit in their lineup nicely.

Lehkonen is a pending RFA that carries a $2.3 million cap hit, and the asking price wouldn’t be cheap.

If the Canadiens wanted Samsonov, the Capitals would need to find another goaltender. Seravalli had mentioned the Capitals could have assets in Vitek Vanecek, Michal Kempny and a 2022 first-round pick on the table.

Canucks looking at European and College free agents

TSN: The Vancouver Canucks organizational depth is a little thin and they are looking at the European market and college free agents according to Darren Dreger. GM Patrik Allvin is interested in KHL free agent forward.

“Allvin is looking closely at Russian forward Andrei Kuzmenko, the 26-year-old is at the top of the charts when you look at the pending unrestricted free-agent Russians and Europeans for that matter, so I will say this, we are going to continue to talk about Kuzmenko. The Vancouver Canucks would definitely like to be in the mix, but there’s probably about 30 other teams that want a crack at this guy as well. ”