Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Defensemen In Play

02/23/2017 at 7:47am EST

from Pierre LeBrun of TSN,

We've spent enough time telling you about pending unrestricted free agent stud Kevin Shattenkirk. He's at the top of the blue-liner heap. But here are other pending UFA defencemen who could move as rentals between now and the trade deadline at 3 p.m. ET on March 1. So, just for fun, I played matchmaker and paired up a few deserving D-men with teams in need:

Mark Streit, Philadelphia Flyers

The 39-year-old likely doesn't fit into the Flyers' plans past this season, so the question is whether GM Ron Hextall figures his team still has a run at a playoff spot left in it or not. Given the youth in the organization on the blueline, the smartest thing might be to get the best possible draft pick or prospect for the respected Streit. The Flyers would likely have to eat some, if not half, of Streit's $5.25 million cap hit to facilitate a trade. I would love to see Montreal try to bring Streit back to where his career started. Streit is a left-handed shot who plays both sides. He'd fit in nicely on a pairing with Shea Weber. The Alexei Emelin experiment has lasted long enough. Plus, I'm sure that the Habs' power play could use Streit's talent, too.

Dmitry Kulikov, Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres are in a tricky spot. They've been playing their best hockey of the season the past few weeks and have emerged just on the fringes of the playoff race. So does GM Tim Murray hang on to Kulikov? I think the decision on the 26-year-old pending UFA will go right down to the wire next Wednesday and will depend on how the Sabres fare coming out of their break...

more on Kulikov and other names...

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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