- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: As of Monday night, the Blackhawks weren’t far along with trade talks involving any of their players, including Patrick Sharp. Talk is that GM Stan Bowman has been doing rounds to find out the interest level is with his players.The Blackhawks may be okay with taking back a player if they can use him, but they would have to make less than Sharp, Bryan Bickell or any other player.The Blackhawks would like to make a trade before the draft to make up for the picks they traded at the deadline.Sharp does have a modified no-trade clause, but it shouldn’t be too much of a factor.
The Capitals are one possibility for Sharp. The Capitals and Blackhawks have talked since the season ended, but was just preliminary. The Caps need to re-sign some RFAs and maybe some of their UFAs, and there might be the internal question if they can afford his $5.9 million cap hit.
The Panthers may be another team interested in Sharp, but they may have to move some salary out for their internal budget.
- Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot: Darren Dreger on TSN 1260 on Blackhawks and Coyotes.
“Yeah, you could. I think of the Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes as an example. Arizona is a team that’s going through another rebuild, trying to expedite the process. Whether this comes to fruition or not, I’ve heard that they may have some interest in Bryan Bickell of the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago isn’t looking for anything but a draft pick or draft picks in return, and maybe Arizona needs the help to get up to the floor of the salary cap as early as next season. There’s an opportunity for one GM to help another guy, but in Bryan Bickell you’re also getting a decent player.
“But at the end of the day, every team is looking to improve and make their rosters stronger for the short term and the long term. There’s more flexibility at this time of year than any other time of year, so that’s why some of the names that we see listed on our trade board on SportCentre or TSN.ca are perhaps a bit more impactful than some of the names you might even see at the trade deadline.”
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Red Wings GM Ken Holland has never been shy to see what’s out there to improve his team.
“We’re always looking to upgrade, but it’s hard to upgrade,” Holland told ESPN.com Monday. “Part of what we’re also doing is that we’re going with our young people. We’re like every other organization in the cap world, it starts at the draft table and it’s got to work through your farm system.”
The Wings could look to upgrade through trade or free agency, but it’s not a guarantee.
“Can you find a player that upgrades your top 4 or a player that upgrades your top 6 ? Realistically? It’s hard to do,” Holland said. “Because those people for the most part aren’t available. Then you add in the salary cap and the people we got to sign over the next two years. … It’s a long way of answering, for the most part I’d like to stay the course, keep going with the young players.”
