- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: Cory Sarich is hoping for one more shot at the NHL after a horrific bike accident in July. He’s been skating the past two weeks and hopes for a tryout from someone.
The Bruins are calling teams that have cap space to see what it would take for them to take on some salary. He’d like to free up some room to make other moves. The Bruins and Blues need to look at future cap space and have been tied to each other. The Bruins have RFAs in Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug and Reilly Smith that they must deal with. The Blues have Jake Allen, Jori Lehtera, Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko.Blues Patrik Berglund’s and T.J. Oshie’s names are out there. They both have two years left on their deals. Berglund has a no-trade that kicks in on July 1st (seven team no-trade list). The Blues may be fine with taking on Loui Eriksson as he has only one year left on his deal while the others have tw0. May not make sense for the Bruins though.
Zack Kassian could be another option for the Bruins, though the Bruins may have cooled on this one recently.
The Ducks could have nine defensemen when Ben Lovejoy and Eric Brewer (January) return, which could be GM Bob Murray some flexibility. The Wild may be looking for some depth on the blueline, as are the Jets.
The Hurricanes were interested in Jeremy Morin before the Blackhawks traded him to the Blue Jackets, but they couldn’t work out a deal. The Hurricanes can only retain salary in one more deal for this season. Retained salary in Jay Harrison and Tuomo Ruutu trades.
Friedman wonders if Taylor Hall’s name is out there just to see how he responds to it.
The Oilers will continue to look for a center, defesneman and goalie. One executive said that he were the Oilers, he’d target Brandon Sutter. The Panthers have cap space, need a winger, and have defensive prospects in Michael Matheson and Ian McCoshen.
The Coyotes could use some young forwards that can score. GM Don Maloney won’t trade Keith Yandle unless it provides them with a long-term solution. Teams will call on Antoine Vermette. He can play center and wing.
Kings Justin Williams would like to get an extension done before the New Year, but if not, could hold off until the offseason.
If Sabres goalie Matt Hackett plays eight games with at least 30 minutes, he’ll be a Group IV free agent.
Vladimir Sobotka owes the Blues one more year before he can become a UFA. The Oilers, Canadiens and Lightning are believed to have talked with the Blues about Sobotka, but were scared off because his future was uncertain.
- Nichols of Hockey: Canucks GM Jim Benning on TSN 1040. On if he’s talking to the Bruins
“No, I talk to all the managers in the league weekly or biweekly just to find out what’s going on and stuff around the league. But we’re not close on any sort of deals around here. I’m happy with our group and stuff, so we’re not talking – I’m not talking trades with any other teams.”
On if he’s trying to improve or change things.
“Yeah, well I’m always going to have an open mind. If there’s something out there that I think makes sense and makes us a better team, now and in the future, that we can do – I’m going to definitely do it. But there’s nothing going around like that right now that is going to solve that problem.”
On trade talk.
“I’ve noticed the last couple of weeks a lot of the talk around the league has picked up. I don’t know necessarily what that means, at the end of the day. But I think managers are kind of seeing now where their teams are at. They get to know their players and try to add a piece here or a piece there to make their teams better, so they’re exploring. I think that’s going on for sure. Whether there’s going to be a lot of trades or not, I don’t know. I think there’s a lot of chatter right now.”