Rumors X: Red Wings, O’Reilly, Blues, Blackhawks and Miele

“Like every other team, the Wings’ approach is to “pick the best player,” assistant general manager Ryan Martin told the Free Press. “But we would like to add a goalie to our system, and we didn’t draft any defensemen last year, partly because of what we thought of the D in the draft and also because we have young defensemen in Grand Rapids.”

“Especially since we don’t have a second-round pick, the possibility of trading back to acquire an extra pick is always there,” he said. “We wait until the closest we can to our pick and then we assess the names on our list and if there is somebody that we really want that we don’t want to chance that they’re gone, then we wouldn’t do it. But if there are several players that are all within the same range, and we are happy with any of them, then we might do it to get another pick.”

“If the New York Islanders really put Kyle Okposo up for bid, that could undermine Blues general manager Doug Armstrong and efforts to get big offers for Oshie.”

Then again, it may be difficult for the Blues to find proper value at all.

“There aren’t a lot of big-time centers, period, and not many are available unless you count past-their-prime guys like Eric Staal and Joe Thornton.”

“On the other hand, Oshie would seem to offer superior value over faded scorer Jeff Skinner, who has struggled in Carolina since coming back from a concussion.”

“It’s still early,” Bowman demurred on Wednesday. “Those things typically heat up as you get closer and closer to the draft. I would characterize it as a typical time of year. There’s a lot of talk among all the GMs, most of which doesn’t really go anywhere. Sometimes, things will play our and you can make a deal.”

As has seemingly become an annual tradition, the Blackhawks have much to consider beyond whom to select in the draft. Lazerus notes:

“ Sharp, with his $5.9 million cap hit, is on the block. The Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars are among at least eight interested teams. Dallas is a particularly intriguing possibility. Two sources said that the Blackhawks would want 25-year-old agitator Antoine Roussel and his cap-friendly $2-million salary as part of a potential deal.”

While Bryan Bickell and Kris Versteeg also remain candidates to be traded away, it seems Bowman knows who he’ll retain: Brandon Saad, Marcus Kruger and even David Rundblad.