from TSN quoting a recent interview Bob McKenzie did with TSN Radio on Ottawa,

“They’ve got lots of defencemen, when healthy. When you’ve got (Hampus) Lindholm and you’ve got (Cam) Fowler and you’ve got (Brandon) Montour and you’ve got (Josh) Manson - there’s a lot of really good young defencemen on that team. Some would say they have almost too many, that there’s a surplus, versus some of the other weaknesses in their lineup.

“I’ve got to believe that Bob Murray is looking at any and all trade options, both in terms of trying to make his team better in the very short term, so they can snag one of those playoff spots - the wild-card spots - but also with an eye toward, ‘You know what? For most of the last couple of decades it seems it’s been (Ryan) Getzlaf and (Corey) Perry and everybody else,’ and they obviously need to transition to a younger team and get a younger core. So if there’s hockey deals to be made that would allow him to do that as well…

“So I think he’s got a lot of balls in the air in terms of going in both directions. Try and make a move here that might push a button that gets them over the top and into one of the wild-card playoff spots, but also maybe has him to think trading some players that might otherwise wouldn’t think of trading, so that you can continue a renewal if you want - not a rebuild by any stretch - but just a bit of a renewal to try and change to change the look of this team long term for many years to come.”

more plus Cody Ceci could be moved and Edmonton Oilers goaltending talk...