The latest on the Tampa Bay Lightning
Joe Smith of The Athletic: Tampa searches for that missing piece to the puzzle. With a little wiggle room cap wise, who can they target? Names that keep popping up include Wayne Simmonds, Micheal Ferland, and Mats Zuccarello. Also, Radko Gudas, Cody Ceci, and Chris Tanev popped up as possible fits recently.
Simmonds and Ferland expect to cost a bit more than Zuccarello. Even though Zuccarello is enjoying his hottest stretch of the season, the winger could go cold again. Gudas is a brute of a defenseman who has nice possession metrics (+3% above relative). Furthermore, he once played for three seasons in Tampa Bay. The cost would be less expensive than the top forwards as well.
Joe Smith: The one caveat to any Tampa deals is Julian Brisebois cannot deal their first or second-round pick this year. Those picks must be available as part of the Ryan McDonagh deal.
Toronto looking for that final piece
James Mirtle of The Athletic: Toronto left up against the cap if performance bonuses are hit. This forces Kyle Dubas to make money for money deals. Dubas could move a Connor Brown or even Nikita Zaitsev. Zaitsev requires a sweetener to facilitate a move but helps alleviate some cap woes. Next, what targets hit Toronto’s radar?
A key point is that Dubas prefers players with term over rentals. Basically, the position focused on will be right-handed shooting defenseman. Brett Pesce, Radko Gudas, and Chris Tanev fit that bill. Nick Jensen would be a cheap rental.
Washington to Nyquist or not to Nyquist…
J.J. Regan of NBC Sports Washington: A case can be made for Washington trading for Gustav Nyquist. The problem lies in the cost. Detroit likely wants a first-round pick. For a player that will be a rental, it could be problematic. Is this market the same as last year where Detroit received a first, second, and third for Tomas Tatar? That answer is likely no. Nyquist can still easily return at least a first even in this trade market and would allow Washington to move T.J. Oshie to the third line.
If Washington can talk down the price to something other than a first-round, then that makes sense. The Evander Kane deal last year comes to mind. Otherwise, Nyquist just is not worth acquiring.