Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Pre-game reading: Are the Bruins and Avalanche on verge of trade?

H2bIahw3fpJz
Jeremy Roenick takes a closer look at Gustav Nyquist's high stick on Minnesota's Jared Spurgeon. JR calls it "one of the worst stick infractions" he's seen in a long time and expects at least a six-game suspension.

-- Up top, Jeremy Roenick deemed Gustav Nyquist’s attack on Jared Spurgeon “one of the worst stick infractions” he’s seen in a long time. Nyquist is facing a lengthy suspension for the inexplicable infraction. He’s been offered an in-person hearing with the league, which could mean a ban of six games or more.

-- Don Sweeney and Joe Sakic had a lengthy chat Sunday in Boston, and once again the speculation is heating up that the Bruins and Avalanche could be close to making a trade. The B’s are known to like Gabriel Landeskog, but would they give up young d-man Brandon Carlo to get him? The Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa analyzes the situation in Beantown. (Boston Globe)

Read more: Sweeney says Bruins’ core deserves chance to ‘win now’

-- Speaking of the Bruins’ defense, it’s sure been a big part of the offense since Bruce Cassidy took over from Claude Julien. Zdeno Chara notched his fifth goal of the season in Sunday’s win over Montreal. Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller, and Colin Miller also scored this weekend, which began with a win over Vancouver. One of Cassidy’s objectives has been to get more scoring from everybody -- i.e. not just Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak -- and so far, so good in his short tenure. (CSN New England)

-- Speaking of the Avalanche’s defense, there’s a reason they have to fix it. The Avs have enjoyed very little success at drafting blue-liners, and that’s when they even bothered to try. The Denver Post delves into Colorado’s “failure to land an elite defensemen,” and why it’s such a major challenge facing GM Joe Sakic. (Denver Post)

-- Wayne Simmonds thinks the NHL has a rat problem. “You’ve got guys running around doing stupid stuff and then guys don’t want to answer the bell. They’ll two-hand (slash) you, they’ll butt-end you, they’ll knee you and then you go to confront them and they don’t want to do anything about it. They try to draw a penalty (for retaliation). I don’t think that’s the way the game’s played or should be played. If you’re going to do something dirty … back it up. If you’re gonna do something that’s going to warrant a fight, back it up.” (Courier-Post)

-- On Saturday, Blackhawks prospect Alex DeBrincat notched his 300th career point with OHL Erie. The 19-year-old forward had 104 points in his first season with the Otters (when Connor McDavid and Dylan Strome were teammates), 101 in his second (with Stome still there), and currently has 97 points in just 47 games this season. “It’s pretty crazy. I never thought it would be like this. But with the team we’ve had the past three years, they helped me out a lot. A lot of credit to them.” (GoErie.com)

Enjoy the games!