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The Notebook: Caps GM MacLellan always involved in trade talks |
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Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan must have sore toes from kicking all of those tires and weary muscles from turning over all of those rocks.
MacLellan is known for investigating countless trade possibilities and leaving no stone unturned when it comes to keeping his team in contention. It’s what you do when you have a 36-year-old Alex Ovechkin still playing at a Hall of Fame level.
When is the late time you heard of a big name available and the Capitals not being at least listed as a possible destination? It looks like Evander Kane is going to Edmonton. But MacLellan apparently tried to get him to Washington.
Now we hear MacLellan made his pitch for Marc-Andre Fleury. He’s unlikely to want to go to the Capitals because it would all but guarantee that Fleury would have to face his former Pittsburgh Penguins buddies.
The Capitals’ goaltending hasn’t been good enough. Their team save percentage of .908 doesn’t measure up to other contenders.
Not many available goalies. But if he can’t land a goalie, MacLellan will find some other way to improve his team. He is consistent in his aggressiveness. The bottom line for MacLellan he will make every effort not to waste a single season of Ovechkin’s greatness. That’s about all you can ask from a GM.
The Notebook:
2. The Anaheim Ducks are key to the March 21 trade deadline. They boast very desirable potential rentals Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm. They also can also retain salary. But they are in second place in the Pacific. Should they even be a seller?
3. Much like the Buffalo Sabres did with Jack Eichel, the Arizona Coyotes aren’t moving off their demand of four assets for Chychrun. Don’t blame them. He’s a young, experienced defenseman with a cap hit under $5 million. They don’t have to trade him. In fact, they shouldn’t trade him.
4. Apparently, a good path to making an Olympic roster is to play for the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Thirteen former Griffins will be playing for a variety of countries in next month’s Olympics in Beijing. The players: Andy Miele and Pat Nagle (USA); Landon Ferraro, Eddie Pasquale and Ben Street (Canada); Jake Chelios and Ryan Sproul (China); Libor Sulak (Czech Republic); Valtteri Filppula and Harri Sateri (Finland); Tomas Jurco and Patrik Rybar (Slovakia); and Mathias Brome from Sweden.) China doesn’t have Olympic-caliber players so they are using players from the country’s KHL team.
5. One of Canada’s goalies is 20-year-old Buffalo Sabres’ prospect Devon Levi. They acquired him from the Florida Panthers in the Sam Reinhart deal. He is having an amazing season of college hockey at Northeastern. He is 16-7 with a 1.48 goals-against average and .948 save percentage.
6. A three-game suspension for Buffalo’s Aaron Dell is reasonable. But I would have given him at least four, perhaps five. That was a dangerous play because Drake Batherson had no reason to believe he would be hit.
7. Thinking Rasmus Ristolainen or Josh Manson for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Their size and bite are good fits.
8. Don’t believe the Maple Leafs would give up the assets necessary to acquire Chychrun
9. Does center Eric Staal already have a handshake deal to play for an NHL team after the Olympics? If he doesn’t, the 36-year-old will have a deal quickly. With so many teams in salary cap hell, signing him for near the minimum salary is an easy way to add depth.
10. On this day, January 27, 38 years ago, Wayne Gretzky scored his 61st goal of the season in Edmonton’s 3-3 tie with New Jersey to extend his point streak to 51 games. The Los Angeles Kings’ halted Gretzky’s streak the next night in a 4-2 win. In Gretzky’s 51-game streak, he registered 153 points. Gretzky turned 61 yesterday.
11. This week, Nashville’s Juuse Saros moved past New York Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin in the advanced stat of number of goals prevented above a league average goaltender. Saros is at 36.10 and Shesterkin is at 35.34. Saros has had a Vezina-caliber season, but I’d still take Shesterkin. Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry (31.40) is the only other goalie above 30.0
12. The Montreal Canadiens rank third in penalty minutes and their penalty killing (73.2%) ranks 30th. One more reason the Habs have the NHL’s worst team.
13. The Vegas Golden Knights have the worst save percentage (.904) among teams currently in a playoff spot.
14. Now that David Krejci has gone home, the Bruins have been looking for a center. The buzz around the league is the Bruins are interested in Canucks’ JT Miller.
15. Seattle GM Ron Francis has said publicly that he would trade anyone on his roster. Mark Giordano will go. Calle Jarnkrok might have some suitors. Maybe Marcus Johansson. But many of the Kraken players have too much contract time left to be dealt.
16. The Grand Rapid Griffins (AHL) released Justin Abdelkader from his tryout contract to allow him to become an alternate on the U.S. Olympic team. Abdelkader was captain of Team USA at last spring’s World Championships before injuring his knee.
17. Colorado Hockey Now’s veteran writer Adrian Dater said he believes there is a “slight chance” the Colorado Avalanche could make a trade with the Kraken to bring Joonas Donskoi back to the team. He has another season left on his contract at $3.9 million. He was a good fit for the Avs when he was there.
18. Jakob Vrana (shoulder surgery) is skating and shooting while practicing with the Detroit Red Wings. But there is no timetable for his return to the roster.
19. Withe Penguins signing Jeff Carter, 37, to a two-year extension, we can conclude GM Ron Hextall plans to keep the band together a little bit longer. Around the league, the impression is Evgeni Malkin is going to take less to stay. They also need Kris Letang on board.
20. Retaining salaries on trades is going to be key this trade deadline. Teams willing to retain half the salary will receive better returns.
21. Top 10 draft picks have always been valuable, but they seem even more valuable now that we have 32 teams. It’s a long wait between picks these days. How difficult is it going to be to stay on top if you are picking 28th and 60th in the first two rounds.
22. With all of the buzz about the Los Angeles Kings pulling off a major trade before the deadline, could they be interested in trying to persuade Claude Giroux to waive his no-trade clause to come to LA? Would guess Giroux would prefer to go to a stronger contender.
23. Would think the St. Louis Blues have a shot at acquiring Chychrun just based on the fact that Arizona GM Bill Armstrong knows the Blues’ prospect list well and has history with that organization. He was an assistant GM and Director of Scouting in St. Louis before going to Arizona
24. The Penguins are 17-2 in their past 19 games. In that span, they have scored an average of 4.1 goals per game and given up an average of 2.15 goals per game.
25. We are weeks away from the 50th anniversary of a 1972 trade that sent Eddie Shack from the Buffalo Sabres to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Rene Robert. Shack played 87 games for the Penguins. In 1972-73, he had his best NHL point seasons (20 goals, 25 assists, 45 points). Robert went on to have success on the famed French Connection Line. He netted 20 or more goals seven consecutive seasons. Two 40-goal campaigns were included in that run. Robert died last summer at age 72.
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