- Darren Dreger via twitter: Marek Zidlicky has agreed to waive his no-trade clause to go to the Devils. A deal isn’t done yet.
- Elliotte Friedman of CBC: No GM is burning up the phone more than Capitals GM George McPhee. After landing in Toronto part way through their back-to-back games on Jan. 31st, the Penguins got a full-body cavity search when they got off the plane. The Maple Leafs don’t want to go above $5 million for Mikhail Grabovski. Grabovski’s side are looking at something along the lines of Phil Kessel’s $5.4 million. A source said that the Canucks might be a landing spot for Jeff Carter. Years ago the Canucks and Flyers talked about a Carter-Kesler deal. Carter’s deal doesn’t fit into the Canucks pay structure now though.
- Craig Custance of ESPN: Burke would love to Ryan Getzlaf, but it wouldn’t likely happen to the summer, if at all. The Leafs may not want to meet the asking price for Rick Nash. They’d like James van Riemsdyk, but he’s out with a concussion. A rival NHL executive on Burke:
“He’s a deal-maker. He likes to make deals if there’s a common fit. He’s very fair when you’re trying to make a deal. Nonis does some of the groundwork, but Burkie likes to keep his nose in there. He’s famous for his texting and emailing.”
There are still no plans for the Leafs to trade for a goalie. They don’t have much interest in Jeff Carter. Ryan Malone could be an option, but he has a no-movement clause, the Lightning aren’t sellers yet, and he has 4 years left at $4.5 million. Malone could come cheap. For the right deal they could move one of their defenseman: Carl Gunnarsson, Luke Schenn, Keith Aulie or Cody Franson. They haven’t ruled out moving Mikhail Grabovski. One scout on the Leafs deadline strategy:
“Everyone wants to get bigger and skilled, and it’s hard to get. They’re not a dime a dozen. Personally, their goaltending and back end would be a bit of a concern for me. Their coach, Ron Wilson — and I’m not a big fan of him — seems to be getting the most out of his players. I didn’t think Lupul would keep this pace; him and Kessel obviously have chemistry. That’s great for Toronto. is trending up, but he’s not the biggest guy. In the playoffs, you have to be able to wear down teams. When you’re small and finishing checks, you’re still not making the D work that hard. I think Columbus would jump all over , and I think they would take a little less what Philadelphia got for him. I can see Toronto wanting more up front. I’m not 100 percent sold on their goaltending. I’m not sure they know who their No. 1 guy is. As a team, if you don’t know who you’re going to run with — you just want to have that confidence if you have a bad game your goalie is going to pull one out. I don’t know if Toronto has that.”
- Chris Kuc via twitter: Sources saying the Blackhawks don’t currently have anything going on in the trade front.
- Chip Alexander via twitter: Hurricanes Tuomo Ruutu will miss about 3 weeks with an upper body injury. Corey Masisak via twitter: Doesn’t think that this injury will scare off contenders. Maybe teams that are looking for a boost to get into the playoffs.
- Rich Chere via twitter: Travis Zajac will begin skating by the end of the week.
- Eric Stephens via twitter: Scouting the Ducks-Wild game last night (teams on seating chart): Blackhawks, Coyotes, Jets, Sharks, Oilers and Canucks.
- Aaron Portzline via twitter: Scouting the Blues-Blue Jackets last night: Lightning, Stars, Avalanche, Hurricanes, Kings, Penguins and 2 from Washington.