Latest NHL Buzz: Canucks bolster their blueline

The Vancouver Canucks announced this afternoon that the the team has acquired defencemen Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenceman Daniel Rahimi and forward Patrick White. The team also announced on that they have signed defenseman Mathieu Schneider.

Ehrhoff, 27, had eight goals and 34 assists last season in 77 games for the Sharks. Ehroff is regarded in league circles as one of the most under-rated defenseman in the game.

Schneider, 40, will be playing for his ninth club in 19 NHL seasons. Schneider had 9 goals and 23 assists last season for the Atlanta Thrashers and the Montreal Canadiens.

While Ehroff was the big prize of the afternoon for the Canucks, Brad Lukowich is a quality depth player who can fill a 6th or 7th defenseman role.

According to the New York Post, “Time is running short for the Rangers to renew their interest — and for the Devils to jump into the bidding — with trade talks said to be heating up elsewhere for Boston’s Phil Kessel. The Rangers are believed to have talked seriously with the Bruins about trading for Kessel, but not lately. At least two other teams are believed to have stepped up their bidding of late.”

The Bruins have been actively shopping Kessel all summer and it’s not just because of the lack of cap space the Bruins have.

They have made no attempts to move salary to keep Kessel long-term. Many league insiders believe, the Bruins organization doesn’t see Kessel as a Bruins type of player and Kessel has not seen eye to eye with head coach Claude Julien.

Minnesota remains extremely interested. Toronto, Phoenix and Florida are among teams to express interest over the past month.

*Boston loves Alex Goligoski and Luca Caputi from Pittsburgh there have been negotiations from the two teams. Boston prefers to move Kessel to the West and Pittsburgh doesn’t have the cap space to absorb Kessel’s next contract.

Miroslav Satan who still has a house in Long Island has held brief talks with the New Jersey Devils but his sights are set on joining the New York Islanders.

Satan is even willing to join the Islanders on a training camp invite.

Petr Sykora has been in talks with the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning and an unconfirmed third team believed to be the Ottawa Senators but at this time, Sykora doesn’t have an offical offer on the table.

There’s interest but the interested parties have not moved forward on a contract.

Contrary to reports, Minnesota and Buffalo are not in the mix. The Wild’s interest has been minimal.

Sykora is likely waiting for Alex Tanguay to sign who is expected to sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning.