- Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: The Red Wings don’t really need to add depth. The only thing that makes sense is to upgrade. The Wings will have about $9.5 million in cap space available at the deadline. They could use an upgrade on the blueline. GM Ken Holland has said he is not interested in a “rental,” but it doesn’t it mean they wouldn’t acquire one and look to sign him to an extension.
If they are looking for an offensive defenseman, they could look at Coyotes Keith Yandle. The asking price would likely be Gustav Nyquist or Tomas Tatar plus more.
Andrej Sekera could be a good fit, but he’s pending UFA.The Blue Jackets may ask for something like Xavier Ouellet and a 2nd round pick for Fedor Tyutin.
The Red Wings were luke warm on Cody Franson as he’s slow and pending UFA.
James Wisniewski is turnover prone and lacks recovery speed.
Jeff Petry may cost a 2nd round pick.
- The Fourth Period: The Flames are looking for a top-six winger. They have shown interest in Chris Stewart, who is also being considered by the Bruins and Capitals. The Sabres may wait until the deadline in hope of increasing the price. The Flames are also thought be watching Jiri Tlusty.
- The Fourth Period: The Blackhawks are looking to add some depth by the deadline. They have shown some interest in Antoine Vermette and Daniel Winnik. They have been linked to defenseman Zbynek Michalek, Andrej Sekera and Jeff Petry. They don’t have a lot of cap space and may have to include a roster player. Michalek has a list of up to eight teams in which he can’t be traded too. The Blackhawks have a lot of defenseman in their system that could be used as part of a package.
- Bob McKenzie: Hurricanes GM Ron Francis and head coach Bill Peters scouted the Ottawa-Kingston (OHL) yesterday in Ottawa. Logic suggests they are scouting Lawson Crouse and Travis Konecny, but could also have other reasons. The Kings are interested in Hurricanes Andrej Sekera, and the Kings had three prospects in the game including Roland McKeown (2014 pick 50th overall), Alex Lintuniemi (2014 pick 60th overall) and Jacob Middleton (2014 pick 210th overall).
- Chris Hofley: Oilers Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish were at the Ottawa-Kingston game.