Penguins looking for depth up front
Dan Kingerski: Have been told that Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford has been aggressively trying to acquire some depth down the middle.
Zach Aston-Reese is now injured and Nick Bjugstad‘s rehab has been going slowly.
Flames looking for a top-six and maybe some depth on the blue line
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The Calgary Flames had been on the lookout for a top-six, right-handed forward for so long. They may now have to search out some depth on the blue line due to the injuries to Mark Giordano and Travis Hamonic.
The Flames may have talked to the Los Angeles Kings about Tyler Toffoli, but may not have gone after him hard.
They’ll likely look for a cost effective depth defenseman.
There could be some interest in a rental like Jean-Gabriel Pageau, but they may prefer someone with term.
Anaheim Ducks forward Ondrej Kase could be a fit. He has a $2.6 million cap hit through 2021. The Flames still hold their top three draft picks for this year.
New Jersey Devils Wayne Simmonds may interest in the Flames, but believes the Flames are on his eight-team no-trade list. He might waive it for the Flames though and a chance to play in the playoffs.
Four-year extension coming for Muzzin
TSN; Darren Dreger said the Toronto Maple Leafs and defenseman Jake Muzzin have agreed on a four-year contract extension but it isn’t official yet.
“I believe there’s an agreement in place for Jake Muzzin to extend with the Toronto Maple Leafs four years just over $5.5 million ,” Dreger said Thursday on Insider Trading. “I believe it’s a heavily front-loaded contract extension for Jake Muzzin. It will have some variety of forms of trade protection. Now, because of the tagging issues – the salary cap complications the Toronto Maple Leafs continue to wrestle with, I don’t believe that the Maple Leafs will announce are going to announce anything until perhaps later this month or early in March.”