from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

- Teams like Duchene, who has a US$6 million cap hit through 2018-19, but they weren’t willing to pay the four elements that Sakic was asking for in return and Landeskog. Lots of teams kicked tires with the Avs but everybody hoped the asking price would drop. It never did.

So, instead of getting a chance to play in the playoffs, Duchene and Landeskog will finish the year with the Avalanche. But you'd have to think there’s a strong chance one of them won’t be back next season. The Avs will likely revisit this deal in the off-season when teams are trying to piece together their rosters.

This was just far too big a deal for the Avs to try to make at this time and it’s believed they were lot more interested in moving Duchene than Landeskog. If Sakic is still at the helm this off-season, he’ll have to deal with the issue in June because the fact these two were available was no secret.

- The Islanders held firm on goaltender Jaroslav Halak and didn’t move him at the deadline. There is a belief — as many as three teams including the Calgary Flames — showed interest in Halak, but with a US $4.5 million cap hit through next season the Isles would have had to pick up part of the salary. The Boston Bruins may have also kicked tires on this one. The Isles would have had to get a goalie back in return for Halak because they need somebody to expose in the expansion draft so trading him didn’t really make sense.

- Must have been a frustrating day for Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray because he didn’t do anything. The Sabres were hoping to move blueliners Dmitry Kulikov and Cody Franson but, by the time the deadline passed, both players stayed put. There was a belief that Kulikov might be able to help someone while Franson has been a contributor for the Sabres.

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