- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Hurricanes Andrej Sekera will now be the most sought after pending UFA defenseman. Sekera is a left-handed shot. A few playoff teams are looking for a right-handed shot, which could lead them to Jeff Petry.Guessing that Oilers GM Craig MacTavish would like to get a 2nd round pick plus another asset in a Petry trade. Teams that missed out on Franson may come calling for Petry.
Coyotes Zbnyek Michalek is also a right-handed shot, but is not offensive like Petry. He’d be a good 3rd pairing on a contender.
The Ducks, Red Wings, Canadiens, Lightning, Bruins and Penguins are looking for blueline help. The Canadiens and Lightning aren’t really interested in trading for a rental.
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: The Leafs will have plenty of bidders for Daniel Winnik, and it might be easier to list the teams that are not interested in him as opposed to the teams that are interested.The Jets are one team that is looking for a top-nine forward. They tried to sign Winnik last summer.
The Penguins are another team that is still interested in Winnik.
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Red Wings GM Ken Holland has some interest in pending UFA defensemen Jeff Petry, Andrej Sekera and Zbynek Michalek, but it’s about price to acquire them. Holland may be more careful as to how many times he trades away 2nd round pick. It’s doubtful that he could get Petry or Sekera for anything less than a 2nd round pick.LeBrun wonders about Dion Phaneuf and the Red Wings.
My sense is this: For the Wings to even contemplate taking on that type of contract, Phaneuf would have to become a $5.5 million player, with the Leafs retaining the rest of the salary. And I don’t think Detroit would pay a large return, either; you can forget a first-round pick ever being part of it.
They may be mildly interested if not paying full value. The Leafs are more likely to wait until the summer, and sense is that right now they don’t intend to retain any salary if they were to trade him.