Montreal Canadiens
Tomas Tatar is trying to focus on helping the Montreal Canadiens win, and the forward and isn’t worrying about trade rumors involving him.
“I’m trying to block these things out, but obviously we wanted to be in a better spot than we are,” Tatar said after the Canadiens morning skate at Capital One Arena, where they will play the Washington Capitals on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSWA, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV). “But you just have to go out and play and battle, battle for the logo.”
The 29-year-old is signed through the 2020-21 season, but with the Canadiens eight points behind the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division, they appear to be looking toward the future. Montreal traded defenseman Marco Scandella to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday for a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Tatar leads the Canadiens with 54 points (21 goals, 33 assists) in 62 games and would be a valuable addition for a contender looking for more than a rental player.
“To be honest, I don’t really want [Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin] to come down and talk to me,” Tatar said. “I’m trying to play my game and focus on my team, and if something happens, that’s just the way the business works.”
Tatar has been in this situation before, getting traded by the Detroit Red Wings to the Vegas Golden Knights prior to the 2018 trade deadline.
“I kind of gained experience from that first trade,” he said. “I’m not too worried now. It’s just part of the business. The first one kind of teaches you how things are. Now I’m just thinking it would be part of the business. Anything can happen obviously. No one’s really safe, I want to say, and it always depends on the offer and what the GM or the organization decides to do in a certain moment.”
Colorado Avalanche
General manager Joe Sakic said he’s known for about a month what players the Avalanche would like to add to their roster and is taking a practical, open-minded approach to the deadline.
“We know the guys we think would be a good fit to our team,” Sakic said Wednesday. “If it works out, great. There’s obviously things we’re not willing to move, but if there’s a deal that makes sense for us we’d like to do it.
“I’d rather not [trade a first-round pick], but I won’t rule anything out. It all depends on what packages are out there. To be honest with you, I prefer a hockey trade rather than going in the rental market. We’re going to be open to the rental market as well. What’s the cost going to be? I’m not here just looking short term; I’m paid to look after the big picture.”
One area the Avalanche would like to upgrade is their goalie depth. Philipp Grubauer is out indefinitely because of a lower-body injury sustained during the third period of the 2020 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series game against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Hunter Miska, who has one game of NHL experience, was recalled from Colorado of the American Hockey League on Sunday to back up Pavel Francouz, who is in his first full NHL season.
“We’re going to pursue, see if we can add a depth goalie for us,” Sakic said. “We’ll see where that goes. We’ve had injuries in that department, not only here but with [AHL Colorado], so ultimately we’d like to see if we can add a depth goalie just for protection.”
New Jersey Devils
Goalie Louis Domingue won’t play against the San Jose Sharks at Prudential Center on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, NBCSCA, NHL.TV) for precautionary reasons that aren’t connected to an injury.
“Precautionary reasons and for potentially a roster move,” coach Alain Nasreddine said.
The Devils did the same thing with forward Blake Coleman prior to trading him to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
Domingue is 3-8-2 with a 3.79 goals-against average and .882 save percentage in 16 games this season but has 138 games of NHL experience and was the backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy when the Tampa Bay Lightning reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2018.
Veteran goalie Cory Schneider was recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League to back up Mackenzie Blackwood on Thursday.
Calgary Flames
How active the Flames are before the deadline could be determined by the health of defensemen Mark Giordano and Travis Hamonic.
Giordano has been out since Feb. 4 with a hamstring injury but could play during the Flames’ five-game road trip, which starts Sunday. Hamonic is week to week with an upper-body injury sustained Feb. 8 but is expected to play again this season.
“We’re going to get both guys back, it’s just when,” Flames general manager Brad Treliving said Wednesday. “Does it affect what we’re doing the next couple days? Yes and no would be the best way to describe it. We’re looking to see if there’s ways we can help ourselves in a way that makes sense. Chasing it with high prices for rental players, I don’t know if that’s a direction that we’re in favor of. But if there’s ways to help us we want to do it. Next few days will determine that.”
In addition to adding on defense, right wing has been an issue of need. With Derek Ryan injured, the Flames’ only right-shot forwards are Elias Lindholm and Buddy Robinson, who has played five games this season.
“When Elias Lindholm plays right wing you have more depth there than when he plays center,” Treliving said. “You focus on the last 25 games you have left but you’re looking long term and it’s a position we need to upgrade moving forward. Whether we’re able to do that between now and Monday, we’ll see.
“But we’ll do what we always do, which is always try to be real aggressive in seeing what’s available, seeing what those prices are and if they make sense. And if we can get something done that makes sense we will, and if we can’t then we won’t.”
Chicago Blackhawks
Erik Gustafsson would like to remain with the Blackhawks but the defenseman is prepared for anything that may happen.
“I don’t know if it’s nerve-wracking or something like that,” he said Thursday. “Whatever happens, happens. I want to stay here. But we’ll see what happens.
“I kind of try not to look at the phone or hear anything on the TV or radio or anything, but it’s hard. … It’s something I can’t control. Like I said before, I want to stay in Chicago. I like it here.”
Gustafsson leads Blackhawks defensemen with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) in 59 games and can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
NHL.com staff writers Tom Gulitti and Tracey Myers and independent correspondent Rick Sadowski contributed to this report
