Scouting the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators …
Bruce Garrioch: Scouts listed to attend the Rangers-Senators game: St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, and the Florida Panthers.
Scouting the Montreal Canadiens and Vegas Golden Knights …
Dennis Bernstein: Scouts listed to attend last night’s Canadiens-Knights game: New York Islanders (2), Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, and the Washington Capitals.
Scouting the Edmonton Oilers and Arizona Coyotes …
Rob Tychkowski: The Islanders had a scout at the Oilers-Coyotes game.
Scouting the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs …
Dan Kingerski of Pittsbugh Hockey Now: Scouts listed to attend last night’s Penguins-Maple Leafs game: Calgary Flames (VP of Hockey Ops – Don Maloney. Second consecutive game the Flames watched), St. Louis Blues (assistant GM Kevin McDonald), Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils.
On Brian Gionta …
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: Brian Gionta’s agent Steve Bartlett said that he spoken with three or four teams, and focusing on one team, about a potential return after the Olympics.
“I said maybe you could get a playoff run with a team, and a couple of months away from the family is better than all year,” Bartlett said. “He liked that idea. So it’s been in the back of our mind as he prepared for the Olympics. I’ve had discussions with 3-4 (NHL) teams, and we’re kind of focusing in on one right now that I think is the front-runner. Assuming that those talks continue to move forward, I think he’ll have a landing spot when all is said and done. We’re optimistic. I’ll continue to have discussions with interested teams, but right now our list is getting pretty short as far as what we think is a good fit for him and vice-versa.”
Gionta would need to sign an NHL contract before February 26th at 3 PM to be eligible for the playoffs.