Plenty of NHL Rumors to go along with some Injury news
  • Elliotte Friedman of CBC Sports:
    • The Leafs wanted to send Jeff Finger to the Ducks instead of Jason Blake, the Ducks said no.
    • Friedman thinks the Canucks might have been scouting Tomas Plekanec the other night, though he thinks there won’t be a deal.
    • The Blues probably won’t deal any of their young core, including David Backes. Eric Brewer could be had though.
    • The Kings have the money and assets to make a run at Kovalchuk or Lecavalier. The Thrashers would want Wayne Simmonds, but the Kings may be reluctant to do that.
  • Pierre LeBrun and Scott Burnside of ESPN: LeBrun and Burnside talk about potential Ray Whitney suitors. Teams that might be interested are the Senators, Bruins, Kings (if no Kovalchuk or Lecavalier), Rangers, Canucks, and 2 dark horses, the Coyotes and Predators
  • Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun: The Calgary Flames may not be done dealing. Sutter may swing for the fences with Ilya Kovalchuk, or look to add a player like Ray Whitney, Alex Tanguay, or maybe Kristian Huselius.
  • James Murphy of NESN: The Bruins may be looking to acquire Blues forward Keith Tkachuk. They almost had a deal last year that would have sent Phil Kessel to the Blues for David Perron and Keith Tkachuk.
  • Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette: The Canadiens will be without Michael Cammalleri of 6 to 8 weeks with a damaged MCL. Cammalleri joins the list of Andrei Kostitsyn, Paul Mara, and Jaroslav Spacek on the sidelines.
  • Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald: Jay McKee, a healthy scratch last night, might interest in the Chicago Blackhawks. The ‘Hawks might also look at Aaron Ward, Garnet Exelby or Sean O’Donnell.
  • James Murphy of NESN.com: Potential trade targets for the Boston Bruins; Ray Whitney, Aaron Ward, Matt Cullen, Raffi Torres, and Peter Mueller.
  • Mike Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Niklas Backstrom, out with an illness, rejoined the team in Dallas but is doubtful for tonight’s game. The Wild are still in the playoff hunt, so they probably won’t be sellers. If they are buyers, it won’t be a significant deal. They are still hoping that P-M Bouchard will be able to return this year. If they do become sellers, the Wild have 4 players who might interest other teams; Marek Zidlicky, Kim Johnsson, Owen Nolan and Eric Belanger.
  • Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Andres Lilja has been assigned to the AHL by the Detroit Red Wings on a conditioning loan. Lilja as been out since last February 28th with a concussion. He’ll play at least 3 games with Grand Rapids, then they’ll re-evaluate.