On the Flames and Lightning …
- Mark Spector of Sportsnet: The Flames could be desperate, and GM Brad Treliving has been calling teams. On Monday via email, Treliving said:
“doing what everyone is doing, trying to make the team better.”
- The Flames are “entirely broken right now,” and a small trade won’t fix them. Talk is that Trevling is willing to do a very big trade if he can find one.
We even heard that his conversation with Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman was all about the Lightning’s obvious issues with signing soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos.
The Flames would be okay with including a top young player, possibly Sam Bennett, in a deal for Stamkos. From the Lightning’s end, they may want to start with Sean Monahan.
(Our personal feeling is that no one will meet Yzerman’s price, he’ll sign Stamkos in Tampa, and if the two sides can’t mend fences then a trade will be found that will largely be controlled by Stamkos and his agent Don Meehan. That way Stamkos gets market value and goes where he wants — Tampa or elsewhere —and the Lightning are not left empty-handed.)
- The Blue Jackets and Ducks might also be desperate to shake things up.
- Dennis Wideman, a $5.25 million cap hit for this year and next, has been available for awhile.
- Kris Russell is a pending UFA and is available.
- Pending UFA forward Jiri Hudler is believed to be looking for a new deal in the $7 million range. He is available, but the return they might get for him won’t be overwhelming.
- Mason Raymond has another year left on his three-year, $9.45 million contract.
On the Blue Jackets …
- The Fourth Period: Multiple sources are saying that the Blue Jackets have had trade conversations with teams including the Flyers, Lightning, Devils, Hurricanes and Blues. It is unclear if any trade is imminent. The Flyers have talked to the Blue Jackets about Luke Schenn, though his $3.6 million salary cap hit doesn’t fit with the Blue Jackets, who have just under $3.5 million in available cap space.