On the Pittsburgh Penguins …
Sam Werner: Penguins forward Chris Kunitz was very definitive when he said he’s not considering retirement at this point.
Pens Inside Scoop: Penguins forward Matt Cullen said he has a pretty good idea if he’s going to play next season or retire, but he’s going to take a step back before finalizing his decision.
On the Edmonton Oilers, Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild …
Pete Jensen of NHL.com: Sportsnet reporting six team are interested in Edmonton Oilers winger Jordan Eberle. He has two years left at a $6 million cap hit. If he’s not traded before Saturday’s 3 PM ET trade freeze, they’ll have to decide whether to protect him or not.
Red Wings GM Ken Holland was on Sportsnet 960 and said they will go the 7-3-1 protection route and won’t make any deals with the Vegas Golden Knights.
“I’m not prepared to pay any future assets to protect players on our team,” Holland said. “We’re submitting seven , three and one , and when we submit that list then obviously the decision to make which player going to take off our roster.”
The Red Wings could make a deal with another team beforehand, but if not, they know who they will protect. They could be looking to move one of Jimmy Howard or Petr Mrazek.
“We’ll let Las Vegas pick a player off our team and we’ll reassess where we’re at after they pick that player,” Holland said.
The Minnesota Wild know they are going to lose a good player. They could work out some sort of deal with Vegas to get them to take a specific player or not take a specific player.
“There’s ways I think we can come to an arrangement that benefits both parties,” Fletcher said. “But they’re trying that with other teams too.”
