Penguins/NHL
Draft Day Buzz
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins are in similar situations.
They both have very promising young goaltenders who are ready to be full-time starters, in Pittsburgh’s case a 22 year old goaltender in Matt Murray who is their No. 1 netminder and won 15 playoff games and a Stanley Cup this spring.
Both teams also have proven veteran netminders who are either the current starting goaltender or were with cap hits pushing $6 million.
Both teams need cap space and avoid losing one of their young goaltenders next season for the expansion draft.
So why are the Lightning sounding like the team that will shed their veteran goaltender and not Pittsburgh?
The Penguins are playing the card in recent days that they want Marc Andre Fleury back and are comfortable with having both goaltenders back, while Steve Yzerman of the Lightning is looking at his goaltending situation much different.
‘It’s better to make a trade now than wait’
Yzerman said if or when a deal with a goalie makes sense, he'd do it. "Not to wait for better cause better might not come along."
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) June 24, 2016
Maybe because there’s a serious trade market for Ben Bishop and not one for Marc Andre Fleury?
The Penguins say there is interest in Fleury but those around the league are saying otherwise in that there is little to no market for him.
If Marc Andre Fleury is a top target of the Calgary Flames, Calgary is doing a very good job of keeping it quiet.
It’s well known Calgary was a runner up for Frederik Andersen.
TSN’s Darren Dreger reported Thursday the Flames are looking “real hard” at Ben Bishop. Pierre LeBrun backed that up in reporting Thursday that Bishop is Calgary’s top target.
If the Flames miss out on Bishop, Bob McKenzie reported on TSN’s Insider trading that Brian Elliott is their likely fall back plan.
When it comes to the likes of McKenzie, Dreger and LeBrun, they are as connected as you could be to the Canadian teams and they don’t miss much.
If the Flames come out of tonight with either Ben Bishop or Brian Elliott, something many are expecting, where does that leave Marc Andre Fleury?
The Ottawa Senators poked around on Fleury but wanted Pittsburgh to take on Craig Anderson as part of a package, NHL sources say.
One rumor floating around in the past 48 hours was that Pittsburgh approached the New York Islanders about a Ni[kolai Kulemin – Fleury swap and were quickly rebuffed.
The Penguins have, as expected, been cautious in what they say publicly due to the great amount of respect they have for Fleury. Those outside of Pittsburgh, though, say Pittsburgh certainly has the appetite to move Fleury to enable them to do a couple other things.
Problem is the Lightning’s willingness to move Ben Bishop might have a great impact on whether the Penguins are able to trade Fleury or not with the one potential landing spot, the Calgary Flames, putting a higher priority on acquiring Ben Bishop than Fleury.
Draft day always has a ton of twists and turns, today might be no different, but it’s crickets right now surrounding Fleury.
More Buzz
— The Penguins have received some calls on the availability of Eric Fehr, one of the teams believed to be Flames. Has two years left on his contract with a $2 million cap hit. Fehr’s been somewhat of a questionable fit for the Penguins system but is very tight with Sidney Crosby off the ice.
— Anaheim’s Cam Fowler will be traded tonight and is most likely headed East. A slew of teams in the East courting him from Buffalo, Montreal, New Jersey, and Philadelphia among them.
— The Penguins with a log jam of left handed defenseman, some talk whether they’ll consider trading Ian Cole to clear some cap space and open up a roster spot for Derrick Pouliot in the top-6. Mike Sullivan, though, became a big fan of Cole and his shot blocking ability as the season progressed……[/hide]
