Posts Tagged Columbus Blue Jackets

Morning Hits: Wolski, Scott, Brunner, Roy and Hemsky

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Rumors on May 20th, 2013

  • Renaud Lavoie: The Sabres signed John Scott to a one-year deal at $750,000.
  • Adrian Dater of the Denver Post: A source confirmed that Patrick Roy is a strong candidate for the Avalanche head coaching position. Roy was offered the position in 2009, but turned it down.
  • Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Ales Hemsky’s days with the Oilers could be coming to an end. GM Craig MacTavish isn’t going to pay $5 million a season for a second line winger with world-class ability.  His knock is missing too many games due to injury.

    “I don’t think there’s a market for him … I shouldn’t say there’s no market,” said former NHL general Craig Button, who now works for TSN. “But the salary cap is coming down to $64.3 million. He makes $5 million for one more year. Would the Oilers pick up half of that to trade him, 50-50 (with another team)? That would still free up $2.5 million in cap space for the Oilers.

    “I don’t know if they can get something tangible in return for Hemsky. Andrew Cogliano got the Oilers a second-round draft (pick). I don’t know if they can get that for Hemsky,” Button said.

    “He’d be rolling along, on pace for 80 points, and bang, he gets hurt. He’s not reliable (to possible trade suitors).”

    Western Conference teams that might be interested: Predators, Blue Jackets, Red Wings, Blues, Coyotes and Jets (moving next season). If the Red Wings lose Valtteri Filppula, Hemsky could be an option if they only have to pay $4 million.

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Morning Hits: Vokoun, Fraser, Gionta, Canadiens injuries, Canucks offseason questions and Blue Jackets free agents

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on May 9th, 2013

  • Pittsburgh Penguins: Coach Dan Bylsma on starting Tomas Vokoun: “We brought Tomas Vokoun in to play big games for us…He’s done that for us & he’s been very good vs. the #Isles.”
  • James Mirtle: Maple Leafs Mark Fraser was taken to the hospital to check for any broken bones after taking a shot off his face.
  • Renaud Lavoie: Canadiens Brian Gionta will have surgery on Friday for a torn left bicep. He hopes to be ready for training camp.
  • Renaud Lavoie: Brandon Prust and Ryan White are out tonight. Carey Price is day-to-day.
  • Brad Ziemer of the Vancouver Sun: Ziemer’s thoughts on the Canucks coaching staff.

    The jobs of head coach Alain Vigneault and his staff are most certainly on the line and general manager Mike Gillis is going to face some uncomfortable questions from ownership over the team’s second straight playoff collapse.

  • Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: The Canucks have the highest payroll going into next season, but trading Roberto Luongo or an amnesty buyout of Keith Ballard($4.2 million for two years) will help them get down below the new cap of $64.3 million. Five questions for the Canucks this offseason are:

    • Do the Canucks have a bona fide No. 1 goalie in Schneider moving forward?
    • Should this team still be built around the Sedins?
    • Will Ryan Kesler ever be injury-free?
    • Does this team have the right supporting cast to still contend?
    • Is it time to retool, rebuild or be patient for one more run with this core?

  • Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen on contract talks with their free agents, including goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

    “We’re working on them. It’s a work in progress on all fronts. Everything has been started, everything is in progress. We’re waiting to hear back from a few agents. Obviously, Bobrovsky is a high priority for us. I told him in the (exit) meetings that everybody talks about his great play, and sure it was remarkable. But I’m even more impressed with his work ethic, how he prepares for the game and every practice, how he takes care of recovery after every game, the routine he goes through every day. That’s what I’m most impressed about Bobrovsky. He sets the bar high for the rest of the guys. I don’t think anybody’s going to argue with me if we says he’s the MVP of our team this year. If he sets the bar that high with the way he works everyday, it’s going to be hard for anybody else in that room to say, well, I’m not going to do this or that today. That’s what I think it’s all about, your best players being your hardest working players. And that’s what we have in Bob.”

    On Bobrovsky’s contract talks …

    “It’s going to take its course, and it’s going to take its time. Some (deals) are quicker than others. We’ll have to stay more patient with some than others. I don’t anticipate any problems. It’s going to be a negotiation. His agent, his representatives are professionals. They have their thought process and we have ours. I’m sure we’re going to reach a result here in the near future.”

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Injury Notes: Crosby, Orpik, Backstrom, Regehr, Horton and Gaborik

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Injuries, NHL News on May 1st, 2013

  • Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: The Penguins will start their series without Sidney Crosby and Brooks Orpik. Crosby still has not been cleared for contract.

    “As soon as he says the word,” Crosby said. “As long as he feels confident I can take a hit, I’ll be confident as well. I’m not going to take any more time. If he says I can play, I will play.”

  • Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune: Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom was injured during their pre-game warm up last, forcing Josh Harding to make his first NHL start in three months. While Backstrom was reaching for a puck, he rolled over in pain. The injury could be a groin or knee, coach Yeo is calling it a lower-body injury.
  • Jeremy Rutherford: From Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr after last night’s game: ”It’s just a broken nose. I got lucky.”
  • Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe: Bruins Nathan Horton had missed the last five games with an upper-body injury, was back practicing on a line with Milan Lucic and David Krejci. If Horton is in, Carl Soderberg would be a likely scratch, along with Jay Pandolfo and Rich Peverley.
  • Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets Marian Gaborik is heading to Philadlephia to see an abdominal specialist. If he’s cleared by doctors, he’ll play for Slovakia in the World Championship.

    “If it goes well, that (he) will not need surgery, Marian has the consent of (the Blue Jackets’) owner to launch at the World Cup,” Team Slovakia general manager Otta Sykora told the website. “It would, in the case of a positive report, mean that maybe on Thursday or by Friday morning, Marian could be in Helsinki.”

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Morning Hits: Hecht, Miller, Babcock, Stars, Atkinson, Nichushkin, Skinner and Clarkson

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Rumors on April 27th, 2013

  • John Vogl of the Buffalo News: Sabres Jochen Hecht retired from the NHL last night.

    “It’s best for everybody to start a new life. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve got some great memories. I lived here and loved this place for 10 years, 11 years, and Buffalo became a second home to me.

    “Buffalo has been like a second home for everybody. I was fortunate enough to play my first game in Buffalo with St. Louis, and I played my last game in Buffalo. It’s kind of full circle, came around. It was a lot of fun.”

    Sabres goalie Ryan Miller may have played his last game in a Sabres uniform.

    “Everything comes to an end. It’s not always clean and easy. Most of the time, it’s little bit dirty and not any fun. It was hard to watch these guys kind of leave a team one by one, but it’s the nature of sports, nature of life. You can’t just hold on to something that’s not sustainable. Everything becomes stagnant if you’re always trying to hold on to one thing.

  • Darren Dreger: Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said that rumors of him being Red Berenson’s successor at the University of Michigan are not true. He has two years left on his Red Wings contract and is happy being the Wings coach.
  • Bruce Garrioch: If the Stars decide to make a GM change, Garrioch wouldn’t be surprised if Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill is the top candidate.
  • Shawn Mitchell: The Blue Jackets sign forward Cam Atkinson to a 2-year, $2.3 million contract extension.
  • Alessandro Seren Rosso: Valeri Nichushkin was traded to Dynamo for $10 million. He’s on a two-year contract with an out-clause after one year, $2 million per year. Slava Malamud: There will be no Nichushkin next year, and likely for 2014-15. TJ ОвечкиH: Russian Media saying that Nichushkin was traded without his knowledge. Could trigger his decision to leave to the NHL.
  • Chip Alexander: Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford on restructuring their blue line: ”We need to be a lot harder to play against. We made it too easy for opponents.”
  • Chip Alexander: Rutherford said that Jeff Skinner at center was an “experiment” but liked what he saw. Creates another option for next season.
  • Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger: Devils David Clarksonwill be a UFA and he may get some offers to convince him to sign with someone else. There has been lots of speculation that the Maple Leafs will be interested.

    “I don’t know where I’ll be. I have no idea what will end up happening,” Clarkson told The Star-Ledger today. “There haven’t been any negotiations between Mr. (Lou) Lamoriello and my agent. I’ve had no decisions to make yet.”

    “I love playing here. My daughter is from here. I’ve loved my time here,” Clarkson pointed out. “What better situation could there be? I have a coach (Pete DeBoer) I’ve had since I was young who I believe, besides my father, has been the biggest part of my hockey career. And Mr. Lamoriello was the first GM to give me an opportunity.”

  • Ian Mendes: Craig Anderson will start in net for the Senators tonight. Robin Lehner could start on Sunday.

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Morning Hits: Jagr, Calvert, Brodeur, Zidlicky and Elias

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Rumors on April 24th, 2013

  • Randy Miller of the Courier Post: Jaromir Jagr said that the Philadelphia management didn’t want to negotiate a contract until after they knew the outcome of the two $100 million offers they had on the table. By the time Zach Parise and Ryan Suter knew where they were going to sign, Jagr had moved on.

    “We made an offer to Jaromir back in February,” Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said of Jagr, who signed with Dallas and then was traded last month to Boston. “It didn’t go anywhere. They decided to wait until after the season was over. We talked a number of times between the end of the year and free agency. I talked to his agent (Petr Svoboda). He called me the day that Jaromir signed with Dallas. He said, ‘We’re getting close, where are you guys at?’ At that point, we weren’t in a position to do anything because we had offers out on other guys.”

    The Flyers may not have wanted to give Jagr a raise from $3.3 million to anything past $4 million. Jagr responded to a question that if waiting for Suter and Parise drove him away.

    “Well, the thing I understand is that if you give two offers to free agents … you cannot give two offers to somebody else,” he said. “Because if they grab it, with the salary cap, what are you going to do? So (Flyers management) had to wait for those players to say no and it took them a week. So it’s the whole free market.

    “I was happy (in Philadelphia). Everybody knew it. I loved that team. I loved the fans. I loved the city. But on the other side, I always believe in God. And I always believed He would find the best place for me. I had a faith that something good would happen to me even if (returning to Philadelphia) didn’t happen.”

  • Blue Jackets.NHL.com: The Blue Jackets have re-signed Matt Calvert (2 years, $1.975 million). In 42 games this season, the 23-year old Calvert has nine goals and seven assists with 32 penalty minutes.

    “Matt is a dynamic young winger that plays with great tenacity at both ends of the ice and we look forward to his continued development and contributions to our hockey club,” said Kekalainen.

  • Rich Chere: Devils Martin Brodeur confirms that he’ll play next season.
  • Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger: Neither Marek Zidlicky or Patrick Eliashas spoken with the Devils about a contract extension.

    “I don’t know yet. It’s pretty tough to say right now,” Zidlicky said. “I would like to come back. I don’t know what Lou wants to do with the team for next year. I’d like to stay here. He knows that.”

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Morning Hits: B’s and Pens, UFAs Smith and Clarkson, Dubinsky, Forensic investigation, Flyers buyout and Brodeur starts

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Rumors on April 20th, 2013

  • Pierre LeBrun: NHL announces that the Bruins-Penguins game will definitely be played today at 12:30.
  • Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: The Coyotes uncertainty will play a role in where UFA Mike Smith will end up. He might be interested remaining in Phoenix, but what if they end up relocating somewhere else? A comparable for Smith could be Jimmy Howard, around $5.3 million.

    “From February of last year and through the playoffs, Mike was as good as any goaltender in the league,” said Maloney, one of the NHL’s sharpest minds. “This year, not quite so good. We’re not a cap team and we have to be careful when we’re talking a contract with a five or six in term. We can’t make a mistake.

    “You look at the top goalies, the Lundqvists of the world … They’ve done it for three, four, five years in a row and they’ve attained a certain level.

    “The long and short of it is Mike is a terrific talent, and if you take a snapshot of what he did last season with what he’s done in his career … we have some, I wouldn’t say uncertainty, but there is a bit of caution there.”

  • Daren Millard: Ken Daneyko said that the Devils probably can’t afford to pay UFA David Clarkson $5 to $5.5 million a season. They might have to let him walk.
  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun:  Senators owner Eugene Melnyk won’t talk about the forensic investigation involving the incident where Matt Cooke sliced Erik Karlsson’s Achillies tendon.

    “Look, it’s got nothing to do with settling down,” said Melnyk. “I’ve committed to not say anything about it until we’ve completed everything we need to do, and speak to the league about it.

    “I’ll do anything I have to do to protect my players. It’s as simple as that, and that’s exactly what I’m doing there, and after that I can’t really comment.

    “It’ll take a couple of months before anything really comes out.”

  • Sasm Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daily News: Donnellon wonders if the Flyers should use an amnesty buyout on Daniel Briere or Ilya Bryzgalov. Briere is due $5 million total over the next two years, but carries a $6.5 million salary cap hit. Briere wants to stay in Philadelphia, Bryzgalov doesn’t seem to care. The 33-year old is under contract till he’s 40. The Flyers have Steve Mason under contract next season at $1.5 million.
  • Tom Gulitti: Martin Brodeur will start in net for the Devils against the Panthers.

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Injury Notes: Salvador, Kovalchuk, Calvert, Gunnarsson, Smith and Korpikoski

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Injuries, NHL News on April 20th, 2013

  • Tom Gulitti: Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador on returning from his bruised wrist: ”It looks like I’m going to run out of time.”
  • Tom Gulitti: Devils Ilya Kovalchuk wants to play again this season, even if they are eliminated. He has had no thought of shutting it down.
  • Tom Gulitti of the Bergon Recond: It’s sounding like Kovalchuk could play today.

    “I felt the best so far that I felt,” Kovalchuk said. “I feel pretty confident. I took a couple of one-timers and a little bit of contact, so it’s good.”

    “I feel much better than even a couple of days ago,” Kovalchuk said. “With that kind of injury, it’s not just ups and downs. It’s always the same and then you make progress. It’s almost four weeks now, so I feel much better definitely, but if I’m going to play or not, you should ask Pete.”

  • Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets winger Matt Calvert broke his finger on Thursday against the Kings. There is no timeline yet, but it could be two to four weeks, according to Calvert.
  • Jonas Siegel: Maple Leafs Carl Gunnarsson hopes to play tonight against the Senators.
  • Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic: Coyotes Mike Smith has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury, but he could return today. Smith skated for 45 minutes yesterday.

    “That’s a positive sign,” Tippett said about Smith. “So we’ll see where he’s at (Saturday) morning.”

    Coyotes winger Lauri Korpikoski, who has been out with an upper-body injury, could return as well.

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Injury Notes: Hornqvist, Oshie, Anisimov, Lupul, Pyatt, Enstrom, Sharp, Hishon, Varlamov and Hejduk

Posted by Mark Easson in Fantasy Hockey News, NHL Injuries, NHL News on April 15th, 2013

From twitter unless otherwise noted

  • Jim Diamond: Predators Patrick Hornqvist is out for the next couple games with an upper-body injury.
  • Lou Korac: Blue TJ Oshie is getting close to returning to the lineup, could happen later this week during their home-stand.
  • Shawn Mitchell: Blue Jackets Artem Anisimov (head) traveled with the team to Denver, but is out indefinitely.
  • Terry Koshan: Maple Leafs Joffrey Lupul has been cleared for contract. He is close to returning to the lineup, but realizes that there is no rush.
  • Erik Erlendsson: Lightning’s Tom Pyatt left last night’s game with an upper-body injury.
  • Ken Wiebe: Jets coach Claude Noel said that defenseman Tobias Enstrom is week-to-week and not day-to-day with a mid-body injury (back).
  • Lou Korac of NHL.com: Dave Bolland returned to the Blackhawks lineup yesterday, but Patrick Sharp missed the game with an upper-body injury. It’s believed to be the shoulder injury that kept him out of 14 games, before returning last week.
  • Adrian Dater of the Denver Post: Avalanche prospect Joey Hishon suffered another head injury on Friday after being hit from behind into the boards. He missed almost two years with a concussion. They haven’t called it a concussion just yet. Semyon Varlamov returned to the Avalanche lineup yesterday after missing time due to a hip injury. Milan Hejduk could return to the lineup tonight. Talk of Hejduk retiring at the end of the season may be premature.

    “I’m not really sure right now. We’ll sit down and make some decisions after the season,” said Hejduk.

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Roster Notes: Kovalchuk, Bolland, Hedberg, Capitals, Blackhawks, Wild, Bobrovsky, Mason and Howard

Posted by Mark Easson in Fantasy Hockey News, NHL News, NHL Starting Goalies on April 12th, 2013

From twitter

  • Ian Mendes: Devils coach Peter DeBoer confirms that Ilya Kovalchuk won’t play tonight against the Senators. Said he’s still day-to-day.
  • Chris Kuc: Blackhawks Dave Bolland won’t play tonight, but said he’ll travel with the team for Sunday’s game in St. Louis.
  • Tom Gulitti: Devils Johan Hedberg’s sore back isn’t good enough for him to be the backup tonight. He didn’t skate today.
  • Katie Carrera: Capitals lines: Johansson-Backstrom-Ovechkin; Erat/Volpatti-Ribeiro-Brouwer; Chimera-Perreault-Fehr; Wolski-Hendricks-Beagle.
  • Mark Lazerus: Blackhawks lines: Saad-Toews-Hossa, Sharp-Kruger-Kane, Bickell-Handzus-Stalberg, Carcillo-Shaw-Frolik.
  • Michael Russo: Wild lines: Coyle back w top line;Pominville w Brodziak/Bouchard; Rupp w Mitchell/Clutterbuck; Konopka (Zucker coming?) w Granlund/Seto
  • Aaron Portzline: Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net for the Blue Jackets against the Blues.
  • Josh Cooper: Chris Mason will start in net for the Predators against the Stars.
  • Tracey Myers: Jimmy Howard will start in net for the Red Wings.

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Quick Hits: Bryzgalov, Bozak and Grabovski, Filppula, Blue Jackets, Soderberg and Rinne

Posted by Mark Easson in Fantasy Hockey News, NHL News, NHL Rumors on April 10th, 2013

From twitter unless otherwise noted

  • Randy Miller of the Courier-Post: Flyers Ilya Bryzgalov is a candidate to be bought out after the season with the salary cap dropping to $64.3 million. Bryzgalov’s thoughts:

    “To be honest, I don’t care,” he said. “Really, I don’t care. I have no control on this, so why should I care?”

    On if he’d like to be a Flyer next year.

    “You know, I have no control in this,” he said. “I can’t read the people’s mind. I can’t project things what they’re thinking, that’s why I’m not worried about things I can’t control. I maybe want one thing and they want a different thing.”

  • James Mirtle: Mirtle thinks it will be interesting to see if the Maple Leafs will keep both Tyler Bozak and Mikhail Grabovski next season.
  • Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: The Red Wings have moved Valtteri Filppula from the wing to center in hope generating more offense. He’ll center the third line between Daniel Cleary and Damien Brunner.
  • Shawn Mitchell: The Blue Jackets reassign defenseman Cody Goloubef and center Michael Chaput to the AHL.
  • Kirk Luedeke: The Bruins have signed Carl Soderberg and expect him to arrive in the next 7 days for so.
  • Josh Cooper of the Tennessean: Predators coach Barry Trotz indicated that Pekka Rinne could start all of their remaining games. That would mean Rinne would have started 45 of their 48 games, and appearing in 46.

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Roster Notes, Lines and Goalies: Canes, Habs, Caps, Wings, Lightning, Leafs, Devils, Jackets, Pens and Hawks

Posted by Mark Easson in Fantasy Hockey News, NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Starting Goalies on April 9th, 2013

  • Michael Smith: Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller on Alex Semin: ”My belief is that he is in.”
  • Dave Molinari: The Hurricanes activate defenseman Just Faulk from the IR and he’s expected to be in the lineup tonight.
  • Katie Carrera: Joel Ward and Martin Erat did not practice this morning with the Capitals.
  • Erik Erlendsson: Lightning lines: Poiliot-Stamkos-St Louis; Pyatt-Thompson-Crombeen; Killorn-Lecavalier-Purcell; Connolly-Johnson-Panik
  • David Alter: Maple Leafs lines: JVR-Bozak-Kessel blue:Komarov-McClement-Kulemin, R: Hamilton-Grabo-Frattin: Gree,, MacArthur-Kadri-Orr-McLaren-Colborne.
  • Tom Gullitti: Devils lines: Elias-Zajac-Sullivan; Ponikarovsky-Loktionov-Clarkson; Zubrus-Henrique-Bernier; Cater-Gionta-D’Agostini; Barch-Josefson-Kostopoulos. Extra: Kovalchuk.
  • Shawn Mitchell: Blue Jackets lines: Prospal-Anisimov-Gaborik; Umberger-Johansen-Foligno; Calvert-Letestu-Atkinson; Gillies-MacKenzie-Comeau.
  • Dave Molinari: Penguins lines: Kunitz-Malkin-Iginla, Morrow-Jokinen-Dupuis, Cooke-Sutter-Kennedy, Glass-Adams-Bennett. Vitale and Jeffrey are the extras.
  • Jim Jamieson: Canucks lines: Sedins-Burrows; Raymond-Kesler-Kassian; Weise-Roy-Hansen; Sestito-Lapierre-Ebbett.
  • Katie Carrera: Capitals defensive pairings: Alzner-Green; Erskine-Carlson; Hillen-Oleksy; Schultz-Poti
  • Tracey Myers: Ray Emery will start in net for the Blackhawks.
  • Rich Chere: Martin Brodeur will start in net for the Devils.

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Garrioch’s roundup … Hejduk could retire … No calls for Komisarek … Flyers fans shouldn’t expect Weber

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Rumors on April 7th, 2013

  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Four GMs that could be on the hotseat: Greg Sherman (COL), George McPhee (WAS), Jay Feaster (CAL) and Dale Tallon (FLA).Marian Gaborikturned down a $79 million from the Wild in 2009, thinking that he could get $100 million. He ended up signing a 5 year, $35 million deal the with Rangers. The Blue Jackets were the only team interested in his $7.5 million contract for next season.

    Sources say the Blue Jackets offered one of their three first round picks to the Stars for Jaromir Jagr. The Red Wings were also interested in Jagr at the deadline.

    A decision on the Phoenix Coyotes is imminent. ”In Canada, the fans have been very forgiving,” said a league executive. “There are 20 owners in the United States who are sick of writing cheques for $1 million to prop this thing up.” Garrioch thinks that moving them to Quebec City and keeping the Blue Jackets in the West makes the most sense until they have expansion.

    The Sharks thought about trading defenseman Dan Boyle but they went on a 5 game winning streak. The Flyers, Rangers and Red Wings were interested. They could look to move him in the summer.

    Ryane Clowe gave up on his sign-and-trade thoughts when he found out that nobody would give him an 8 year deal in the $5.5 to $6 million range.

    The Devils and Sabres had interest in Jets Alex Burmistrov.

    It wouldn’t surprise some people if the Wild bought out Dany Heatley and his $7.5 million salary in the summer.

    Expect the Flyers to be looking for a new coach at the end of their season.

  • Adrian Dater: Avalanche winger Milan Hejduk remains out with a shoulder injury and he could retire after the season. “Hejduk, 37, has hinted this season will be it for him. He could change his mind, and here’s hoping he might. But I doubt it. Age is the great equalizer, and Hejduk has suffered his share of injuries in recent years. Along with the shoulder, he has had serious knee injuries and a troublesome back.”
  • Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis called both James Reimer and Ben Scrivens five minutes after the trade deadline to let them know that neither was offered in a trade. The Canucks did ask for Scrivens in their offer, but the Leafs wouldn’t do unless they included a “significant portion” of Roberto Luongo’s salary. The Flames had agreed to take a 2nd round pick from the Maple Leafs for Miikka Kiprusoff. The Leafs didn’t get one call on Mike Komisarek.
  • Dave Isaac of the Courier Post: Isaac notes that Flyers fans shouldn’t expect to see Shea Weber in a Flyers uniform anytime soon. After all of Weber’s signing bonuses, the Predators will pay him $27 million before next season and $41 million before the 2014-15 season starts, 37% of his contract. Weber also has a no-trade clause.

    “That’s a financial unlikelihood for Nashville looking to move him, especially to Philadelphia,” said Stu Grimson, a former NHL tough guy who now is a radio commentator for the Preds.

    The Flyers will have to look elsewhere. Coyotes Keith Yandle? Could they outbid the Islanders for Mark Streit if he doesn’t sign before free agency starts? Do they look at Senators Sergei Gonchar or Ron Hainsey?

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