NHL Rumors III: Bruins, Coyotes, Maple Leafs and Blues

Hope Smoke: Darren Dreger: “I look at Boston as a team perhaps getting involved in something as early as this week.” … “we’ve been talking about the Vermette rumours for weeks. I know Boston is a team that has considerable interest in him” … “Maybe the time is now that Boston pays whatever Maloney’s asking price will be “

Hope Smoke: Darren Dreger: “From Toronto’s perspective: ahh, the interest is always there to upgrade & make improvements but as early as this weekend the information I was given was that it was relatively quiet when it comes to the Leafs” … “The Leafs are going to get some guys back. Kadri will be back in a week & Holland will be back then you wait for Lupul again.” … “This is on the players once again to bounce back. Not on mgmt to plug the holes. The talent is in this org to play better”

Hope Smoke: Darren Dreger: “There’s always a chance & yes in season is there a risk in him perhaps losing his job ? Yes of course there is. But I think the Leafs would have to really hit the skids in the 2nd half more so than how they did in the 1st half” … “I still revisit the conversations we had with Shanny, Nonis & Carlyle before the season when they were pushed on what would be a successful season & would it HAVE to be a playoff season to be a success & they said no, as long as there was improvement.” … “But, if they don’t make the playoffs, then it’s going to be tough to define the areas of improvement.” … “You also have to face the reality & the reality is that the Leafs are in a Wild Card spot at the midway point in the season.” … “I think anyone who graded or made a bold prediction at the start of the season would have had Toronto as a 7-10th place team in the East. So, in that regard, they’re not disappointing.”

Nichols on Hockey: Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 960. The Bruins are trying hard to make a deal. There was the rumor last night about them trying to land Antoine Vermette. There might be at least one team that has asked about Milan Lucic, but there may not have been a deal to be made. Friedman thinks the Blues and Bruins may have talked about a Loui Eriksson for T.J. Oshie deal. More on Lucic …

“Lucic, I mean if you trade him. Here’s the thing with Boston. I think the question with Lucic is he’s not a $6 million player right now, but he can be one. He is a guy who emotionally controls a team. When Boston was at its best, Lucic was very much their emotional core. He can play a major role. I think the question is – there’s two questions. No. 1, is something wrong with his body that it’s finally breaking down because of the role he’s played? No. 2, are they trying to get him to play whistle-to-whistle and he’s simply lost his effectiveness.

“I think one of the biggest questions being asked in Boston as an organization right now is, ‘What has happened here?’ and, ‘How long-term is this? What does it mean?’ I think the Bruins are being asked about him. I think there’s a lot of hard, internal questions being asked about, ‘Do we do it, or do we think that there’s still a lot left to give because if we do trade him, we change the makeup of our team in a major way.’ “

Rumors III: Bruins, Coyotes, Maple Leafs and Blues