Over the Boards: Knights GM wants to keep roster intact
Golden Knights GM George McPhee has surplus draft picks to move and plenty of salarycap space with which to work. But he says he doesn’t feel the need to make a move between now and Feb. 25. “There are years where you feel like you have to do something to help your team, and there are years you look at your team and say, ‘It’s a solid team and we like it as is,’ ” he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “And that’s how we feel this year. We’re a pretty solid team, and we’re not interested in taking anyone off of our team, off our roster. We’ll be involved, and we’ll see where it goes.” BUY OR SELL? Hurricanes GM Don Waddell has not made up his mind which way to go on the trade front. Carolina, with a 28-22-6 record, remains on the outside looking in as far as the playoffs go, but in a better position than most to challenge for a wild card. The ’Canes have not been a playoff team since 2009, so they might go for it, but they have some key players who will become unrestricted free agents after the season — forward Micheal Ferland in particular. “We’ve got some UFAs and one that has gotten some interest and traction,” Waddell told the Raleigh News & Observer. “I’ve said maybe that’s our rental piece if things are going well. We know we may not be able to sign him, but if we trade him we have to go out and find a piece. I would say we’re talking to a lot of people, a lot of teams, but I’ve told everybody we’ll get through the (current road trip) and see where things are.”
WINGING IT: Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist, nearing a career-best season with 14 goals and 33 assists, is one of those pending UFAs whose name is in many rumours. “I’d be lying if I said you didn’t hear anything,” Nyquist told the Detroit News. Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard, forwards Thomas Vanek and Martin Frk, and defencemen Niklas Kronwall, Nick Jensen and Luke Witkowski are also potential free agents who could be moved. General manager Ken Holland has said he’s making and receiving phone calls, but is also open to re-signing some of them. BLUES CLUES: The Blues find themselves in the Western Conference playoff race thanks to a six-game winning streak going into Tuesday’s games. The players say adversity at the beginning of the season has them playing better as a team now. “I think we’ve started actually playing for each other,” said forward Oskar Sundqvist, “actually starting working for each other instead of working for the individual. I think that’s turned it around. Our mentality got better. We thought that even during the beginning, when we were playing good but we didn’t win, we pushed each other to keep going, keep playing the same way … it’s going to come.” McTRADE BUZZ: Defenceman Adam McQuaid may well be on the trading block with the Rangers’ playoff hopes dimming, but coach David Quinn sounds like he hopes GM Jeff Gorton holds on to the veteran, who has helped Brady Skjei develop his all-round game. “He’s done a lot of great things,” coach Quinn said Monday. “Him and Brady have really played well together.”