Scouting the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers
Dan Kingerski: Scouts listed to attend yesterday’s Penguins-Panthers game: New York Rangers (local scout), New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets (Director of Scouting), Nashville Predators and the Philadelphia Flyers.
Scouting the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning
Murray Pam: Scouts listed to attend Saturday’s Senators-Lightning game: Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Kings have some pending UFAs that will interest teams
The Fourth Period: There are some pending free agent Los Angeles Kings players that will be getting some trade interest ahead of the February 24th trade deadline – forward Tyler Toffoli and defensemen Alec Martinez and Ben Hutton.
Another pending UFA Trevor Lewis, who is currently on the IR, could generate some interest as well.
Lewis is in the last year of a four-year, $8 million deal. The Kings could ask for a prospect or draft pick for him.
Do the Maple Leafs look to move a forward for blue line help?
Jonas Siegel of The Athletic: The 6′ 5″ Pierre Engvall has stepped in nicely to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup since his callup in November shortly after Andreas Johnsson was injured.
Engvall’s emergence may give the Maple Leafs the option to trade another forward for some help in the blue line.
Johnsson or Kasperi Kapanen could be options, or maybe someone else. Ilya Mikheyev‘s injury may also mean they may not move someone in-season. It could be an offseason move.
Engvall is a pending RFA and the Maple Leafs could look at signing him now soon to a multiyear deal at a lower cap hit for some extra security.
Maple Leafs looking for size?
Michael Traikos of The Toronto Sun: Will the Toronto Maple Leafs look to make a move before the trade deadline? Do they look to get bigger to match up better with the Boston Bruins?
Does the recent callup for 6′ 4″ Mason Marchment suggest they want to get a little tougher?
The Maple Leafs aren’t built to grind teams down with physical play, but they can grind them down with speed, continuous work, and puck movement.