- Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun: The Canucks won’t be trading away future assets according to GM Jim Benning.
“I talk to other general managers in the league and have a feel for what’s going on,” Benning said. “But if we decide to do something, we’re not giving up future prospects or draft picks. We’re going to do everything we can to give this team a chance to compete for a playoff spot and once we get in, try to win. Our focus there hasn’t changed — but with an eye to the future, too.
“We’re not going to be moving any more picks.”
- Matt Larkin of The Hockey News: Martin Jones has seven shutouts in 27 NHL starts and Larkin thinks the Kings should look to capitalize on this and trade him “because we can’t be sure Martin Jones is as good as he is.” Jones is an RFA at the end of the season, and with his numbers, he could be looking for a nice raise. Larkin mentions the Wild as a possibility (before the Dubnyk trade).
- Nichols on Hockey: Kings GM Dean Lombardi on Sportsnet’s Hockey Central @ Noon on Tanner Pearson and leading up to the trade deadline.
“I don’t think his season is done. There’s a chance he could be back down the stretch here. But whether or not, I don’t think the cavalry is coming. Like two years ago, it was Carter. Last year it was Gaborik. The one thing we do have, our Manchester team has been really good this year in terms of the way the players have come on as individuals and then themselves as a team.
“The other problem we have, don’t forget, is when we went through all of this stuff with Voynov – the cap space that we gained really doesn’t help you in terms of filling the hole. All we were after was to be able to field a roster.
“Because the reality, and this is what you asked earlier, that if we go out and say get a $4 million defenseman or whatever, a winger, and Voynov comes back, I’ve got a problem. So that whole thing about thinking getting the space helps me… unless they tell me Voynov is done for the year, or whatever, which I can’t ever get an answer, and I guess you’ve just got to wait the court process to play out, that option probably isn’t that available to us anyway.
“So we’re going to have to figure this out internally and I think that’s the way it should be.”