- TSN Insider Trading: Dreger: Martin Brodeur could return to the Blues after his week away. He could be offered a management position, though it’s more likely he’d join the Devils.LeBrun: The Coyotes are rebuilding and Antoine Vermette will be dealt. Keith Yandle could be traded by the deadline or in the offseason. Zbynek Michalek could also be moved.
Dreger: The Jets are looking for a third-line left winger, and could offer up one of their defenseman.
LeBrun: The Leafs talked to the Kings about Mike Richards, but his contract is an issue.
LeBrun: The Canucks could be looking for a top-six forward and one that is not a rental.
The Senators and Marc Methot will try once more to get a contract extension done.
- Wayne Scanlan of the Ottawa Citizen: Trade talk is starting to surround the Senators and they could look to move Craig Anderson. The $12.6 million contract extension he signed in offseason is giving him peace of mind.
“Signing that extension just gave me a little security to come in here and focus on my game play, and not having the outside distractions,” Anderson said, before Thursday’s game against the visiting Montreal Canadiens. “I’d hate to think what it could be like right now if I didn’t have a contract. The mind starts going and you start telling yourself stuff that probably isn’t true, when things aren’t going the way you want.”
Mike Liut is now Marc Methot’s agent as Larry Kelly is retiring. Methot said it’s up to his agency and the Senators on when to hold more talks. He’s only played five games this year, so he needs to play in more to help determine his value. On the trade talk:
“Yeah, it’s definitely a bit of a distraction, I’d be lying if I said otherwise,” Methot says. “I think at this point, you’ve got to work hard, do your job and not be a distraction on the team. And that’s 100 per cent what I’m going to do.”
- Nichols on Hockey: Bob McKenzie on NBCSN’s NHL Live on the Oilers possibly moving Taylor Hall.
“Maybe a little bit. I don’t think the Edmonton Oilers are committed to trading Taylor Hall. They’re certainly not shopping Taylor Hall. But because of the season the Edmonton Oilers have had, they, right to the top, the hierarchy there, they’ve gone through a real extensive decision-making process. ‘Who do we want to keep? Who do we want to move? Do we want to move a core player like Taylor Hall?’
“I don’t think they’ve come to a final conclusion on that. But I do believe there are teams calling the Edmonton Oilers saying, ‘Hey, would you consider trading Taylor Hall?’ And those teams haven’t been told, ‘Not a chance in the world.’
“So at this point in time, they’re not fully committed to trading a core player like Taylor Hall, but I think they’re at least entertaining the notion of it. My guess is, if it were to happen, it’d be much more likely to happen in the summer than the deadline. But again, not guaranteed that it will happen at all.”