- Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun: If/when Sami Salo returns to the Canucks lineup, a forward could be moved instead of a much rumored defenseman. One train of thought is the Canucks can’t risk losing Kevin Bieksa and Christian Ehrhoff to free agency this summer. 3rd liners Raffi Torres ($1 million) or Mikael Samuelsson ($2.5 million) could find themselves being moved if Salo returns. 3rd pair defenseman Keith Ballard ($4.2 million) could be a candidate to be moved as well as he hasn’t lived up to his billing, but has 4 years and almost $17 million remaining, which could be difficult to move. Another option could be to have Salo not play a regular game and return in the playoffs.
- Wayne Scanlan of the Ottawa Citizen: Scanlan thinks the Senators should bottom out and start thinking 2 or 3 years down the road.
- Allen Panzeri of the Ottawa Citizen: Robin Lehner will get the start for the Senators tonight against the NY Islanders, and Corey Locke will be on a line with Nick Foligno and Ryan Shannon. Erik Karlsson may not be in the lineup after blocking a shot on the right foot against Boston.
- Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Burnside is surprised that Senators owner Eugene Melnyk hasn’t demanded someone’s head on a platter for the teams continued struggles. LeBrun thinks that GM Murray will make a couple deals before the trade deadline (he’s been rumored to be working the phones for months with no luck) and that coach Clouston and players are not on the same page. Burnside adds their goaltending has been a “blackhole” and the Kovalev and Gonchar acquisitions have been disasters. If Murray and Clouston are not in the plans to rebuild/retool this team, time to replace them. LeBrun adds that Murray may go behind the bench again, and there were rumors that Melnyk nixed a coaching change earlier in the year. Bruce Garrioch emailed the below to LeBrun,
“I’m not sure they need to blow this up, but they need changes,” … “The first thing that has to happen is Melnyk needs to make some sort of announcement here. He needs to let people know what the plan is going forward.
“If Bryan Murray is going to be the guy, then what action is he going to take? They really need a goalie in a bad way and they have to get another forward. They should house-clean at the deadline and try to get draft picks.”
- Larry Brooks of the NY Post: Marian Gaborik has a limited no-trade clause, but if a team came calling that he could be dealt to before the February 28th trade deadline, the Rangers would listen. The Rangers don’t want to trade him, and are not shopping him but … He’s only scored 7 goals in his last 30 games, and has shown an inability to mesh with a variety of linemates. The Rangers badly need a point man (someone with a shot for the PP), but they also need Gaborik to start producing.
- Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail: Despite being on mini roll, Brian Burke continues to looks for deals, “My phone bill the last couple of weeks could feed a small country.” Since the team has been playing better recently, the trade proposals haven’t been as outlandish, and not as frequent. Burke reiterated: “We’re trying to add, not looking to dump. I’m getting fewer calls, better offers and our goal is to keep getting better.”
- Jonas Siegel of AM640: The Maple Leafs don’t have any imminent deals, and their looking to add talent over draft picks. “As we get closer to the deadline we’re gonna try to add,” said “If we get a pick as part of a bigger deal that’s fine, but we’re not looking to dump here, we’re looking to add.” Burke added he hasn’t talked to the agents for Luke Schenn and Clarke MacArthur.
- David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News: Logan Couture is doubtful for tonight after taking the brunt of a knee-on-knee hit from Colton Orr on Tuesday. “Did he blow out his knee? No, if that ‘ll help you,” Todd McLellan said. “Surgery? I’ve never heard that word used with it at all.” Couture was at the rink yesterday walking around with no brace, and is day-to-day.
- Joe Yerdon via twitter: Chris Pronger will practice with the Flyers tomorrow, and could be back in the lineup next week.
