On Slava Voynov, the San Jose Sharks, and Pittsburgh Penguins …
TSN Insider Trading: Russian defenseman Slava Voynov would like to return to the NHL one day. He left NHL for Russia after a domestic assault incident.
Darren Dreger: It would be a lengthy process for Voynov that would start with applying for reinstatement. That isn’t expected to happen until his KHL season is over – late April or early May. It gets really complicated after that. The Los Angeles Kings still hold his rights. He’d have to meet with the NHL, and there could be an additional suspension if reinstated and there could be immigration issues.
Pierre LeBrun: It doesn’t sound like Joe Thornton will return to the Sharks anytime soon. Before Thornton’s injury, the Sharks were looking for a fourth line center. They may now have to look for top-six scoring help.
Pierre LeBrun: Think that Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is looking for a few things. They are looking for a bottom-six center. Mark Letestu in Edmonton and Jean-Gabriel Pageau in Ottawa are among the players they are looking at. Pageau has generated a lot of interest from around the league.
On the New York Islanders …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 960 was asked about the New York Islanders and if they could be looking to add before the trade deadline.
“I think they’ve looked as much about defense as they have about goaltending, to be perfectly honest,” noted Friedman.
Defenseman Calvin de Haan could be done for the year, Johnny Boychuk is out, and they’ve had to use Dennis Seidenberg on their first-pairing.
Friedman says he knows they’ve been looking for a defenseman. They need to make the playoffs with John Tavares being in the last year of his deal.
“So I know he’s looking. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of the people he’s looking at when he comes back is Tyson Barrie from Colorado. He seems like the kind of guy – the Islanders have a guy like him in Leddy, but I think that’s the kind of guy that he could be looking at. At this point in time obviously hasn’t pulled the trigger, but I don’t think it’s from lack of looking.”