On the Tampa Bay Lightning …
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times: The injury to defenseman Anton Stralman has shown the lack of depth the Tampa Bay Lightning have on their blueline. Even when Stralman returns (they are hopeful for tonight), they still need to acquire another defenseman before the trade deadline.
The Lightning could use another top-four defenseman that can move the puck.
“That is the area that’s really in need of improvement,” said TSN analyst Craig Button, a former NHL general manager. “They’ve got (Victor) Hedman and Stralman, but they don’t have a really good No. 2 (defenseman) or a really good No. 4. They need the right fit that can link Hedman, Stralman and the group together.”
Finding a puck moving, top four defenseman isn’t easy and they are not cheap. Someone like Jacob Trouba if he were still available.
If they were trade Ben Bishop, they’d need to bring in a reliable backup for Andrei Vasilevskiy. GM Steve Yzerman could keep Bishop and look at using some of his forward depth.
On the Montreal Canadiens …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Darren Dreger on TSN 690 talking about the Montreal Canadiens.
“Again, some of the areas that we’ve talked about that might be perceived as weakness – they might leap off the page, or off the ice, when Bergevin is watching a game. And there’s only so much you can do in-season. We know that. Centers are almost never available. Good defense are almost never available, unless you want to absolutely mortgage your future, give away top assets and all of that to acquire them. And even then, that doesn’t happen until you get to the trade deadline.
“So I think he’s open to interest, but I don’t get the sense from managers that I’m talking to that he’s kicking down doors looking for players.”