from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

- As Florida GM Dale Tallon tries to unload contracts, the word amongst his peers is he’s getting heat from new owner Vince Viola. Tallon is on shaky ground because “the new owner wants some answers.” Moving defenceman Dmitry Kulikov might be a nice start but teams are concerned he may head back to the KHL as an RFA.

- We’ve been told Nashville GM David Poile has difficult decisions to make. If his club can’t stay in the playoff race, then the speculation is he’ll be putting up the dreaded ‘For Sale’ sign. That doesn’t have to happen until the Olympic break but the issue for the Preds is a balance of the team has time remaining on its contract. Changes will be tough for Poile.

- As reported in this space, Islanders GM Garth Snow is continuing his search for a goalie. This club was expected to make the playoffs and one of those targeted is Buffalo’s Ryan Miller. The goaltender has submitted a list of 10 teams to the Sabres where he doesn’t want to be dealt and it’s not known if the Islanders are among those. Many expect the St. Louis Blues to make a push for Miller and the talk around the league is they might be willing to move right wing T.J. Oshie. The 26-year-old has a $4.175 million cap hit through 2017 and if he’s available he would be an attractive option for a lot of teams.

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