from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

• The Avs have a crushing need for two or three D-men—Erik Johnson is out about two months but a busted leg after Tyler Seguin nailed him with a shot— but goalie Semyon Varlamov at $6 million isn’t helping matters, being outplayed by backup Calvin Pickard, They could easily get a D man for Gabe Landeskog or Duchene but they’re not that deep at forward either. They’re definitely in the hunt for the No. 1 pick in the June draft.

• Sam Gagner is the best bargain in the NHL these days: He signed for $650,000 this summer in Columbus and has 10 goals. No tag-days for Gagner though. He’s made about $27 million in his career since signing at 18 with Oilers. The Hawks were sniffing around Gagner, too. Old memories die hard: they obviously remembered that eight-point game Gagner had against them.

• When somebody mentioned good-looking, clothes-horse NHL players, the talk went to Henrik Lundqvist, of course. He’s been on the cover of several mags. “He told me that during the lockout shortened season (2012-2013), he had a different suit for every game (48),” laughed Cam Talbot, his former backup in New York.

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