- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: The Bruins were among the teams that made an offer to the Sabres for Chris Stewart back in the fall. Sabres GM Tim Murray is still holding firm on his asking price which is believed to be a second round pick and a prospect.Source said today that nothing is imminent. This could drag on till the 3:00 pm ET March 2nd deadline.
Think the Bruins will circle back on Stewart, but they won’t be alone.
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Though Panthers GM Dale Tallon wants to make the playoffs, he not trading future assets for short-term gains.Sean Bergenheim ($2.75 million cap hit) wants a change of scenery is getting the most interest from the Panthers pending UFAs. Wouldn’t be a surprise if the Jets are interested as they were already looking for a top-nine forward before Mathieu Perreault’s injury.
Tomas Fleischmann ($4.5 million cap hit) is still a good offensive player if he’s given the right opportunity.
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: There have been rumors thrown around that the Blackhawks need to move a key player to be better suited for next year’s salary cap. Patrick Sharp and Bryan Bickell’s name have been thrown around. LeBrun doesn’t think that GM Stan Bowman would move either of Sharp or Bickell, or any of his other core players. It could be a quiet deadline for the Blackhawks.They may look to add a depth, experienced defenseman. They may have five or six names who are on their radar, with Scott Hannan possibly one of them.
There would have to be an injury for them to do something bigger.
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: The Lightning will be a ‘careful buyer.’ GM Steve Yzerman won’t give away a top prospect or a first round pick.Needs: an experienced defenseman after the injuries to Matt Carle and Radko Gudas. If there is a way for the Lightning to get Andrej Sekera for less than a first round pick, they might consider. A right-handed defenseman may be a bigger need for the Lightning, so Jeff Petry could be of interest.
Finances: the Lightning have about $4 million.