from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

*The Flames need help everywhere — 29th-ranked save percentage in net is the first Achilles — but they also could use a winger who can score, which is why Dennis Wideman’s name keeps coming up. You can probably forget the Bruins, though. Been there, done that, and he and coach Claude Julien weren’t real chummy in their Boston days. Plus he has a no-trade, no-move clause. If he had one year left at $5.25 million he’d be easier to trade, but he has two years. Columbus could use him, though.

*Boston might like Kris Russell more than Wideman (contract up at the end of the year, good skater, not nearly as much offence), although the hard-working Russell shockingly has the worst plus/minus (minus-13) in the league.

*The Wild would like to send their third goalie Niklas Backstrom to the Iowa Wild for some games but he has a no-move clause in his contract and he’s shown little interest in going even for two weeks of conditioning with the AHL farm club. He doesn’t even dress as backup.

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