Latest NHL Buzz: Jordan Staal not looking to jump ship and force a trade to a contender

(Jordan Staal did a lot of winning as a player in Pittsburgh) LATEST NHL BUZZ When the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Jordan Staal, former Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford envisioned Carolina being a serious threat in the Eastern Conference with a 1-2 punch down middle in the Staal brothers. Things obviously haven’t panned out and Eric Staal’s dip in play is why that 1-2 punch will never be what the Hurricanes organization had hoped. Jordan Staal, though, remains a building block for new GM Ron Francis and sources close to Staal say he is fully committed to riding this thing out in Carolina and has no intentions of waiving his no movement clause in the near future, were Hurricanes management to approach

Penguins have made their interest known for Andrew Ladd & More Buzz

LATEST NHL CHATTER — The chances of Eric Staal being moved during the season is extremely small, rival executives with knowledge of the Hurricanes thinking say. New Hurricanes GM Ron Francis is committed to playing this season out and evaluate the future for Staal after the season. The Hurricanes want to see how this team performs fully healthy under head coach Bill Peters before making any moves that could alter the franchise. The Hurricanes, though, will continue to be a team that scouts will be flocking to watch. Jiri Tlusty is a hot name in scouting circles, a player several teams have their eye on but with Francis scouring the market for another scorer, Carolina doesn’t seem too inclined to

Latest NHL Buzz: Nail Yakupov could interest Penguins GM Jim Rutherford, NHL sources say

LATEST NHL BUZZ *Rumblings Around the League* — Nathan Horton’s back injury is so bad, his career could be over. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Horton has been diagnosed with “degeneration” of the entire lumbar region of his spine/lower back. Having surgery to fix the issue would end his career. The Blue Jackets are a team that is in a win-now mode and already on the hunt for a top-6 forward. Don’t be surprised if a two team battle emerges between the Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins aggressively going after Sabres forward Chris Stewart who is in demand. Others in the East like Penguins, Canadiens figure to also poke around on Stewart. One NHL executive on Stewart: “He has Boston

Two rising prospects in Penguins system make noise in 4-3 win over Senators prospects

Two of the more intriguing forward prospects in the Penguins system, J.S. Dea (TIOPS No. 10 prospect) and Anton Zlobin (TIOPS No. 9 prospect) were among the standouts in the Penguins 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators prospects on Saturday. Dea scored the game winning goal with 18 seconds left and had a three point game with a goal, two assists. Dea who has scored 94 goals over his last two junior seasons, led the Penguins in scoring last year at the September Rookie Tournament with four points. A fast rising prospect in the Penguins system, Dea is arguably the second most skilled forward in the Penguins system behind Kasperi Kapanen. There are quite a few doubters out there in

Veteran goaltenders Brodeur, Vokoun, more likely to be forced to retire than playing this season

VOKOUN, BRODEUR LOOK HEADED TOWARDS RETIREMENT Marty Brodeur received one official offer this summer all the way back on July 1, within the first 30 minutes of free agency. That offer came from the Pittsburgh Penguins, a one year contract in the neighborhood of $1.5 million but the two sides were unable to bridge a gap of over $1 million and Pittsburgh quickly moved on, agreeing to a one year deal with Thomas Greiss worth $1 million. It remains unclear what incentive the Penguins saw in trying to add Brodeur but the 42 year old whose play has severely declined the last two years, has claimed all summer he still wants to play, yet, his demands have been a contract

Who will blink first in Blue Jackets, Johansen dispute?

JOHANSEN LIKELY TO BLINK FIRST? It won’t surprise many around the league if Ryan Johansen’s contract dispute goes into the NHL regular season. The Blue Jackets continue to hold firm on offering a two year deal worth $7 million, while Johansen seeks $6.5 million over two years. Who will blink first with the two sides $3 million apart? Johansen’s agent Kurt Overhardt is a strong believer that a player holding out gives the player the leverage, not the team. “If he’s not in camp, the pressure slips to the other side,” Overhardt told the Columbus-Dispatch. The obvious scenario would be meeting in middle at $5 million but don’t look for the Blue Jackets to cave in. If there’s going to

Prospects Buzz: Archibald, Wilson, Rust are next wave of young forwards with NHL potential in Pens system

LATEST PROSPECTS BUZZ The Pittsburgh Penguins are an organization that has struggled mightily to develop forwards in their system. There’s no denying that fact. The team doesn’t have one forward in their system right now that screams top-6 forward/winger, but there’s a small group of forwards who project as the next wave of young forwards who could become NHL players in the next 1-2 years. Jayson Megna has come onto the scene this year and has shown enough where he could earn a full time bottom-6 role next year and Brian Gibbons has some in the organization believing he’s an NHL player who could have a future here, though, he’s more of a tweener. After those two, there’s not a

Latest Deadline Buzz: Cam Ward for Ryan Miller? Ott’s trade value; Would Stafford flourish in Pittsburgh?

LATEST TRADE CHATTER ON SABRES MILLER, OTT AND STAFFORD Watching Ryan Miller play behind the Sabres woeful defense, he’s not going to know what to do for himself when he gets traded to a team in the coming weeks that can play some kind of resemblance of NHL defense. The goalie market is soft for Miller with the likes of Minnesota and Washington kicking the tires, along with the St. Louis Blues, but one scenario to watch is with Carolina. NHL sources say there’s been some exploratory talks between the Hurricanes and Sabres regarding a goalie blockbuster with Ryan Miller going to Carolina as a rental for a run to make the playoffs and Cam Ward going to Buffalo to

Devils one of few teams in East that could give the Penguins a scare

MORNING PENS BUZZ The Pittsburgh Penguins are 2-2 in four games against the New Jersey Devils this season after Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Devils in Newark on New Years Eve. New Jersey’s tight defensive system and excellent goaltending has made them emerge as one of the very few teams in the Eastern Conference that could cause the Penguins fits in a playoff series. At the mid-point of the season, the Devils have been the one team in the Metropolitan Division to cause the Penguins the most matchup problems from a system standpoint and it’s not a stretch that the Penguins and Devils could meet in the first round. While many have believed the two Wildcards would come from the

Prospects Buzz: Improvement in key area has Penguins believing Pouliot is on fast track to NHL

PROSPECTS BUZZ Improved defensive play has some in the Penguins organization believing that 2012 1st round pick Derrick Pouliot, the 8th overall pick, is likely to emerge as a strong candidate for regular NHL action next season, sources say. Pouliot made a strong impression on the Penguins coaching staff in training camp with his top end offensive skills but the Penguins and scouts outside the organization all seem to be in agreement that Pouliot is evolving into a more complete player. That’s what scouts coming out of the recent SuperSeries are telling me about Pouliot and if paired with a defensive minded defenseman at the NHL level, the Penguins could have two 20 year old defensemen in the lineup next