- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Trade talk has increased. The roster freeze goes into effect on Tuesday.
“There’s no question there’s a lot of teams talking and many would like to do something,” said a league executive Friday. “The problem is nobody seems to want to make a deal.
“The problem with the holiday roster freeze is its false deadline.”
The Sabres, Coyotes, Hurricanes and Flyers want to be the most active, but are having trouble finding willing partners.
The Sabres have been trying to trade Chris Stewart. The Bruins, Senators, Flames and Penguins are interested.
The Ducks, Red Wings and Oilers have shown interest in Tyler Myers. Some think a Myers trade will happen closer to the trade deadline.
Sharks GM Doug Wilson has given ownership a five-year plan. Some think coach Todd McLellan is safe, while Garrioch thinks he’s still on the hotseat.
Flyers GM Ron Hextall likely won’t find anyone to take Vincent Lecavalier. Luke Schenn, Braydon Coburn and Nicklas Grossmann could be moved by the Flyers.
With the Kings needing to shed some salary at some point, some think that Mike Richards will finally be traded. Teams are more interested in Dustin Brown, but he’s not going anywhere.
The Hurricanes are trying to move a couple defensemen. Many don’t think they’ll move Eric Staal, though his name has been mentioned.
Teams have been calling the Avalanche, who have been looking for a defenseman.
The Stars are looking to move Shawn Horcoff, Erik Cole and Vernon Fiddler. Teams are asking about Cody Eakin, Ryan Garbutt and Antoine Roussel, but the Stars don’t want to trade them.
The Oilers aren’t desperate to do anything. Belief is they don’t want a whole lot for some of their assets. They are looking for a center in return for David Perron. They’ve been getting calls on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle. Sounding like RNH is untouchable.
Teams are calling the Coyotes. Talk is they may be looking to cut some payroll. There is interest in Shane Doan, Antoine Vermette, Mikkel Boedker, Keith Yandle and Zbynek Michalek. Doan won’t be moved, but they may listen to offers on the others.
- Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe: The Bruins need to improve their scoring. Forwards who know what to do when they are around the net, and defensemen who can get those forwards the puck. They could use someone that is Keith Yandle-like, somebody who is what Dougie Hamilton projects to be. Those types of players required assets, and the Bruins are not deep there. They continue to chase Chris Stewart, but the price is too high.
- Craig Custance of ESPN: Sharks GM Doug Wilson plan is to get younger and it won’t be surprising that at some point they start to look at trading some pending free agents for draft picks: Tyler Kennedy, James Sheppard, Scott Hannan and possibly Antti Niemi.