- Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic: Coyotes GM Don Maloney has made it clear is willing to move out players now and pending UFAs Antoine Vermette, Martin Erat, David Moss, B.J. Crombeen and Zbynek Michalek could be on their way out before the March 2nd deadline.
“Definitely it’s creeping into my head more and more as we get closer to the deadline,” Michalek said. “The season that we’re having, the changes that are already in progress. I know that I’m a free agent at the end, and I could be one of the guys moving on, too. Just try to stay off the Twitter if possible and Internet and just focus about the next game.
“But it’s hard. It’s definitely hard. But it’s part of our business and as hockey players, you have to be prepared pretty much for anything. Have a suitcase packed in a few hours and move on. If it comes, I’ll have to deal with it. But right now I’m committed to this team.”
- Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe: The Flyers need to improve their blueline, but it won’t be easy which some defenseman locked up through 2016: Andrew MacDonald, Luke Schenn and Nicklas Grossmann. Teams would be interested in Flyers forward Matt Read, who is signed through 2018. GM Ron Hextall would selling low on Read as he only has three goals in 45 games.
- Hope Smoke: Darren Dreger on TSN Radio: “It’s hard to make those deals , especially when you’re losing” … “I had a brief chat with mgmt this weekend. We can speculate about ROR all we want.” … “Information I have is Nonis hasn’t spoken to Colorado in over a month, month and a half” … “What’s the ticket for ROR going to be $6 million plus? Then we look at what they’re paying Clarkson & others & say they can’t miss.” … “ROR is a heck of a hockey player, but at that kind of change you better be absolutely certain.” … “You’re looking for a top line C & a top line D. The needs of this organization are fundamentally huge.”
- Nichols on Hockey: Pierre LeBrun on TSN 1200. The Senators are looking for a long-term solution in their top-six. The Blues have many pieces upfront that they could look at moving in the offseason. They could get Vladimir Sobotka back from the KHL. If the right offer is there, they could move a forward before the offseason. The Blues and Bruins were scouting each other for awhile, but nothing ended up happening. The Flyers could be another team to watch as they need to fix their blueline and are in a position of strength upfront.
Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff on TSN 1290: The Jets and pending UFA Michael Frolik have been in constant contact, but there is nothing new to report. It’s probably too premature to be engaging in talks with Alex Burmistrov about returning to North America.
