NHL Rumors: Scouting Ott-Bos, Blues, Lightning, Canunks and Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are actively shopping Max Pacioretty.
Scouting the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins …

Murray Pam: Teams listed to scout the Senators and Bruins: Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils.

On the St. Louis Blues …

Jeremy Rutherford: “It’s understandable that fans want a trade, but what middle-six forward is going to come in and boost this offense? This doesn’t get any better until 3-4 guys decide they really want to score.”

On the Tampa Bay Lightning …

Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Pierre LeBrun on TSN 1260 on the Lightning: “Keep an eye on them. They’ve got cap room, and I think they want to get better before February 26. So hold on to your seats.”

On the Vancouver Canucks …

Rick Dhaliwal: Mark Guy, the agent for Erik Gudbranson on the trade talk: “I am not willing to comment on speculation from the media.”

On the Montreal Canadiens …

Emily Sadler of Sportsnet: Nick Kypreos on Sportsnet’s Headlines said that he believes Max Pacioretty‘s day in Montreal could be numbered.

“We know that Marc Bergevin, general manager of Montreal, is actively shopping Max Pacioretty,” Kypreos said during Saturday’s Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada. “While an eventual trade may include draft picks and prospects, it’s been clear to other teams that Bergevin’s top priority is moving him for a top goal-scorer back — preferably a younger one than the 29-year-old Max Pacioretty.”

A Pacioretty trade may take awhile to happen, similar to the Matt Duchene – Colorado Avalanche situation.

Kypreos adds that if Bergeron doesn’t get what he looking for by the trade deadline, he could wait until the draft in June.

Elliotte Friedman on Pacioretty.

“And thinks that one of the reasons, as Nick said, the price is so high is that they know if goes somewhere where he doesn’t have to deal with this everyday and he can just worry about playing hockey, he might just take off,” said Friedman. “And that’s the way he sees it: Pacioretty is simply trying to find answers where there may not be any.”