Afternoon Rumors: Maple Leafs, Downie, Goaltenders and Draft Lottery
  • Hope Smoke: Darren Dreger: “Most likely that the Leafs will look to get something done with a team in the West. There is that relationship in Anaheim”
  • James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail: The Maple Leafs could look at the free agent market if they don’t go in-house on a centerman. They could look at Vinny Prospal, but they are tight against the cap. Putting Dave Bolland on the LTIR will give them some flexibility.
  • Brian Stubits of Eye on Hockey CBS Sports: Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 960 Calgary with a little more detail into Steve Downie getting traded out of Colorado:

    “Basically what it goes back to was during training camp Downie got mad at Landeskog for a trip during a scrimmage and he drilled him. I was just told from that day, considering Downie was a bit unrepentanant about it, I just heard the Avalanche decided they were going to make the change at that time. You can’t have guys doing that. The timing is still very odd, it’s an interesting time for the deal, but I was told basically the Avalanche had decided that when that happened and Downie was basically unapologetic about it, the time was going to come where he was going to get dealt.”

  • Matthew Coller: A look at some teams who may need goaltender at some point and goalies who may fit those needs.

    Blues: Their problem is the inconsistency of Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott. Ryan Miller could be a solution.

    Oilers: Devan Dubnyk’s poor start. James Reimer could be a solution.

    Blackhawks: Poor backup play of Nikolai Khabibulin. Scott Clemmensen could be a solution.

    Penguins: Injury to Tomas Vokoun. Signing free agent Jose Theodore could be a solution.

    Islanders: Need someone better than Evgeni Nabokov if you want to complete for the cup. Trading for Jonas Hiller could be a solution.

  • Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Since the Devils have to forfeit their 1st round pick, the NHL isn’t a 100 percent sure how they will be handling the draft lottery. They may keep the Devils as part of the lottery to determine the order.