from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,
- Pittsburgh will never rebuild as long as Sidney Crosby is around. But defeat does not sit well in that corner of Pennsylvania and there is need for renovations. You can understand the eye-rolling that comes with Evgeni Malkin trade rumours, but several other clubs believe there is something to this — that, at the very least, the Penguins are determining the feasibility of the idea.
GM Jim Rutherford declined comment, but hinted at it in a couple of local interviews last week. Malkin has a no-move clause, yet the buzz is that he’s taking some time to decompress and think about a.) if he’d agree and b.) where he’d agree to go to. That would be a short list, maybe the Rangers and Florida? The bigger hurdle might be Mario Lemieux, with The Athletic’s Josh Yohe reporting sources have told him Lemieux is against the idea. For the Penguins to consider this, the return must be good enough to keep them in contention now.
- We know Mark Hunter’s had two interviews with Edmonton. Now that the Under-18s are over, we’re going to find out if Ken Holland and Kelly McCrimmon are legitimate possibilities for the Oilers. The Red Wings took care of Holland, putting him in a position where he doesn’t need to chase. He has to decide if he wants to pursue this. As I write this, Vegas has not yet granted official permission for Edmonton to meet with McCrimmon, although an answer is expected at some point this week. He is, however, expected to ask for autonomy, and it will be interesting to see how the Oilers respond to that.
- Prior to Steve Yzerman’s hiring in Detroit, Holland discussed a return for Pavel Datsyuk. Not sure if the odds would be very high, but Datsyuk was — at least — considering it. He is scheduled to return to Michigan in May, so we’ll see if this goes anywhere.
many more Thoughts...
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