Scouting the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs
Murray Pam: Scouts listed to attend the Senators and Maple Leafs game are the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings.
Zajac can determine his own fate
Larry Brooks of the New York Post: New Jersey Devils forward Travis Zajac has a year left on his contract at a $5.75 million salary cap hit. He does hold a no-trade clause. Do the Devils think that Jack Hughes is better served as a No. 3 center or is he ready for a top-six role?
Wild coaching options
Darren Dreger: Dean Evason will be the Minnesota Wild’s interim coach for the remainder of the season and they will find a full-time replacement coach in the offseason.
Pierre LeBrun: Available coaching candidates at the moment include Bruce Boudreau, Gerard Gallant, Mike Babcock, and Peter Laviolette.
Elliotte Friedman: One potential candidate for the Wild could be Doug Weight.
Stars open to short- or long-term deals
Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News: The Dallas Stars are towards the bottom of the league in goal scoring. If GM Jim Nill finds a hockey trade that makes them better and makes sense, he is open to it.
The Stars only have four draft picks this season and are a little light on prospects and salary cap space as well.
“I have to manage short term, and I have to manage long term,” Nill said. “If there’s something that makes sense long term that’s the right deal, we’re always open to it. Short term, if we need something, we’re open to it. I’m going in open-minded, and we’ll see what’s out there.”
A rental player may not be the best route for the Stars. New Jersey Devils forward Blake Coleman has a year left at $1.8 million might interest the Stars. They wouldn’t be alone on that front though.
Nill said they will continue to gather info and keep all of their options open.