Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Matheson wonders if it’s time the Pittsburgh Penguins trade Evgeni Malkin for a couple wingers, and maybe a young gun or draft pick. 2 Top 6 wingers could combine for $8 million, to go along with Crosby and Staal. The knock on the Penguins all season long was the lack of scoring from the wings. The free agent market for wingers isn’t great, and maybe Eric Tangradi is ready. Matheson does the hometown plug offering a package of Ales Hemsky, Dustin Penner, and Andrew Cogliano.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: There’s a good chance the Senators will try to move Alex Kovalev this summer, but they might have trouble finding a dance partner. Kovalev has $5 million left on his deal, and is coming off ACL surgery and a subpar season. “I don’t think anybody is going to want him,” a league executive said Saturday. “Sure, they could try to see if anybody wants to take him, but he’s a high-risk, low-reward player. There’s not a big market for those types of players.” TSN analyst Pierre McGuire is now the leading candidate to the vacant Lightning GM job. Steve Yzerman has only shown mild interest in the position. The Lightning have also talked to Ron Hextall (Kings asst. GM) and Paul Fenton (Predators asst. GM)
Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Matheson wonders if the Canucks should trade one of Mason Raymond or Michael Grabner, as they are very similar players.
TSN: There is a good chance that the Vancouver Canucks will not be trading goalie prospect, Cory Schneider. GM Mike Gillis says that Roberto Luongo’s workload needs to be reduced and he expects Schneider to be the backup. Luongo’s captancy will be under review.
