Could Chiarelli join the Canucks?
Andrew Walker: Have been told that the Vancouver Canucks could bring in former Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli in some capacity.
Pierre LeBrun: There has been talk of Chiarelli joining Jim Benning‘s staff. Chiarelli is talking to other teams as well. Chiarelli and Benning were in Boston together.
Hutton and Canucks to talk at the draft
Rick Dhaliwal: The agent for RFA defenseman Ben Hutton, Andy Scott, said on Sportsnet 650 that there hadn’t been any contract talks yet. Scott will be talking with Benning at the draft and he’d like to get something done while in town.
Canucks eyeing defensemen
Frank Seravalli: Canucks GM Benning looking to add a defenseman: “We’d still like to try and add a player, whether it’s through trade or free agency, to our backend.”
Penguins listening and talking about a Letang trade
Rob Rossi of The Athletic: Multiple sources have said that GM Jim Rutherford was “listening” and “having talks” involving defenseman Kris Letang.
The source said that if they are going to trade Letang, they’ve told teams they need “an impact player on controllable contract and/or a projected future salary-cap hit that was reasonable.”
Two teams, one from the East and one from the West, have recently talked to the Penguins. Both teams were on Letang’s 18-team trade list.
Rutherford last night when asked if the Penguins were considering trading Letang.
“I’m not going to get into that,” Rutherford said Thursday night. “It just doesn’t do anybody any good to get into whether I’m having conversations about players. So, I’m not going to say anything about any players I’m talking about. It’s not fair to them.”
A Phil Kessel trade is still possible as well. Kessel’s preference is to play for the Arizona Coyotes, but the quality the Coyotes are offering up isn’t enough for the Penguins.
Penguins scouts are begging Rutherford to not trade their No. 21 pick.