Canucks active on the trade market as they look for defensemen
Rick Dhaliwal: Source is saying that the Vancouver Canucks are very active in the trade market.
Getting the sense that GM Jim Benning has made some trade offers to improve their blue line.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if they called the Philadelphia Flyers about defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.
Rick Dhaliwal: J.P. Barry, the agent for Canucks Loui Eriksson on his future: “If something makes sense, I’m sure Vancouver will look at it. If they are going to explore a move, we will talk about it.”
Rick Dhaliwal: Barry said that he talks to GM Jim Benning two or three times a week “for a lot of hockey reasons, it might be better for Loui to play somewhere else.”
Rick Dhaliwal: Barry also represents free agent defenseman Tyler Myers and Jake Gardiner: “I think the #Canucks will definitely be 1 of the teams in the mix but they could make 2 trades for 2 defenseman next week. They have opportunity in the top 4, it’s a team that definitely will be on the list.”
Keys to the St. Louis Blues offseason
Emily Kaplan and Chris Peters of ESPN: Looking at the Keys to the St. Louis Blues offseason.
Jordan Binnington‘s new contract – The Blues need to re-sign goaltender Jordan Binnington. Finding a comparable for either side to use won’t be easy. A bridge deal could be an option.
All of their other RFAs – Easy decisions to bring back Ivan Barbashev and Oskar Sundqvist. A three- to five-year deal for Joel Edmundson at $5 million or less could make sense. Robby Fabbri has had injury issues and has fallen out of favor.
Reload to repeat – The Blues won’t have a lot of salary cap space and don’t have a first-round pick. Could try to re-sign defenseman Carl Gunnarsson and forward Patrick Maroon to short-term deals.
Lock in Craig Berube – remove the interim tag from Berube.