Do the Leafs look to upgrade on Holl?
Jonas Siegel of The Athletic: Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Justin Holl has struggled this season. There have been rumblings that they could see what defensemen are available for trade but they have a couple of issues – salary cap space and assets to trade.
Travis Dermott has a year left at $1.5 million and Holl has $2 million cap hit for one more year. Moving one would create some space. Forward Nick Ritchie has another year left at $2.5 million.
The Leafs have had some injuries this season that haven’t allowed them to accrue salary cap space.
Asking a team to retain salary is an option, but that then increases the cost to acquire that player.
What do the Senators do with Forsberg?
Ian Mendes of The Athletic: What will the Ottawa Senators do with goaltender Anton Forsberg at the NHL trade deadline if he continues to play well?
The 29-year old has been solid and could possibly be their answer in net for a couple of years. Some think they should trade him to the highest bidder at trade deadline. If might make more sense for the Senators to try and extend him on a short-term deal.
Will Zucker become expendable? What will the Penguins do with Rust?
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The play of Pittsburgh Penguins winger Evan Rodrigues has bumped Kasperi Kapanen and Jason Zucker down in the lineup. Zucker only has 10 points in 30 games this season and could become expendable when they get healthy.
“I think Evan has had a really solid start to this season. He certainly has earned every opportunity he’s been given to this point, and he’s been one of our top performers, quite honestly,” Sullivan said. “And so as we start to get a healthy lineup, he has certainly made the discussion–from a line combination standpoint–interesting from our standpoint, a coaching staff standpoint, and we’ll continue to have those discussions moving forward. The way Evan has performed to this point, he’s made a really strong case for himself.”
Rodrigues is on a one-year, $1 million deal.
Bryan Rust is pending UFA and it’s looking like he will be testing the market. Can confirm that the sides did talk about an extension but didn’t find any common ground at that time.