from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

- The word is Carolina GM Ron Francis is poised to try to cut some cash and willing to move pretty much any blueliner. Naturally defenceman Andrej Sekera, a UFA, will go somewhere along with Tim Gleason and Brett Bellemore but Francis would also like to see if there’s any interest in John-Michael Liles’ $3.875 million cap hit.

- A league executive said New York GM Glen Sather is looking for a forward but he “wants to make a lopsided deal.” Those are usually hard to find.

- Nobody is sure where to start with the Oilers, especially after GM Craig MacTavish’s press briefing Friday in which he tried to defend the club’s record. He can’t — and shouldn’t — and many believe he probably was better off to stay under the radar. The Oilers have been fielding calls for forward Jordan Eberle, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be among those moved. Six teams (possibly Montreal, Ottawa, Columbus, Florida, Anaheim and Boston) have shown interest in forward David Perron.

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