- Nick Kypreos: Sabres Ryan Miller has a limited no-trade clause and the Oilers are one of the teams on his no-trade list.
- Mark Spector: “OK: Who really believes Ryan Miller would go to EDM? Or that EDM would trade Yakupov for two pending UFAs, with a $13-plus M cap hit?”
- Bob Stauffer: “The Yakupov for Miller-Vanek RUMOUR is absolutely absurd! Makes no sense on numerous fronts…ain’t happening!”
- Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun: The Oilers are looking for goalie depth but are not giving up on Devan Dubnyk.
“We’re lacking at the position in our organization, there’s no dancing around it. It’s a positional weakness as an organization. It’s important to understand where we’re at and to do something about it,” the new GM told your correspondent on his cell phone from New York Thursday.
“We’ve been making calls to know the market. We have a good idea who is out there and available. We’re at a very critical point where Devan Dubnyk has to get back to the level he’s played at before. Priority No. 1 is to get Devan to play better as I expect he will.
“We were sent a list of four-game stretches involving a lot of goalies in the last couple of years and there’s some pretty good names on that list who had lower save percentages than Devan,” he said.
“The thing here is that with Devan, it’s been from the start of the season. If it had happened in the middle of the season, there’s a track record of that success in season like those guys on that list.”
- Chuck Gormley of CSN Washington: At Wednesday’s Capitals-Rangers game there were plenty of scouts: two from each of Blackhawks, Wild, Sharks and Penguins and one scout from the Flames, Avalanche, Flyers, Kings, Canadiens, Senators, Coyotes, Blues, Maple Leafs and Jets. Bob McKenzie noted before the game that the Oilers might be interested in Michal Neuvirth. The Capitals could use a left-handed defenseman, possibly Ladislav Smid. Neuvirth has a $2.5 million cap hit and Smid has four years left at $3.5 million.