Will Jonathan Quick stay or will he go?
Josh Cooper of The Athletic: The numbers improved slightly this season but Jonathan Quick remains trade bait. Will he get traded come the trade deadline? Players like Marc-Andre Fleury posting similar 5-on-5 numbers helps the chances a little. However, does it move the needle enough?
Quick competes hard but “father time” has caused him to regress. How much remains to be seen? On the other hand, the Los Angeles goalie is not the same as he once was. So, while he has some trade value, most teams want the Kings to eat half his salary. Until that occurs, a trade cannot even be discussed. More than likely, he stays.
Mark Giordano and his hamstring injury
Eric Francis of Sportsnet: There exists a lot of uncertainty with Mark Giordano and his hamstring. The fact is this. No one is sure what the exact diagnosis is. However, this news trickled in.
A Sharks player told Sportsnet he heard the 36-year-old say “I tore my hamstring.” A rink-side cameraman heard the same thing.
Mark Giordano is week to week for the Flames because of a hamstring injury. The defenseman was injured at 13:53 of the second period in a 3-1 loss to the Sharks at on Tuesday when attempting to take a shot https://t.co/FxMGYVKJHI
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) February 6, 2020
Again, players need to step up in his absence and the hope is the injury is weeks and not months. If the injury is a torn hamstring then most of the stretch run is done for Giordano. Then the question is does Calgary go out to acquire a defenseman?
Lou Lamoriello and the Islanders’ salary cap space
Arthur Staple of The Athletic: The New York Islanders possess $16 million in cap space and could buy sweeteners and players alike at the deadline. They remain one of three teams in a playoff position that have $10+ million in cap space.
New York needs scoring and in its middle-six preferably. Also, there are other possibilities The Islanders would have to let someone go since they are at 49 SPC’s (max is 50). The market continues to shake out but Vegas and Arizona could dangle some depth the Islanders need. After that, it is a pure guessing game.