The Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t interested in patching up their blue line with a quick fix.
According to Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet, Toronto has made it clear it wants more than a stopgap with Chris Tanev out and having skated yesterday. The Maple Leafs are willing to pay a premium price if they believe they’re landing a real difference-maker on defense, but they are not about to spend premium assets on what amounts to a B-level replacement. They’d also be open to a younger player, including the possibility of moving an older player out for a younger one.
Pittsburgh is heading in a similar direction, just with a different roster need. Friedman said the Penguins want to create space for younger players as they continue transitioning toward a younger roster. That means they’d be willing to move a veteran forward in exchange for draft picks or prospects.
In Dallas, contract talks with Jason Robertson are set to begin soon. Tracey Myers of NHL.com reported that Stars general manager Jim Nill said the team will be ready to start extension discussions with Robertson at the start of December. Robertson is on a one-year, $12 million contract and cannot sign an extension until January 1st.
Nill said, “I’m going to wait until probably around the first of December. I don’t want any distraction. Just get off to a good start and I’ll sit down with his representatives around the first of December, see if we can get something done.”
In Other News...
Penguins Still Havent Solved The Problem Crosby Keeps Pointing To
The Penguins came away from their meeting with the Golden Knights looking a lot like a team still searching for a steadier gear. Pittsburgh was chasing almost from the opening shift after Vegas jumped ahead early, and even a second-period power-play goal could not pull the game back into line. What lingered afterward was not just the final score, but the familiar concern Sidney Crosby and Mike Sullivan both pointed toward afterward: the need for the group to be more consistent and harder to rattle when a game starts slipping away.
For a team that wants to keep its season moving in the right direction, the frustration is less about one bad night than what it suggested about the bigger picture. The Penguins have enough talent to generate offense in spurts, but losses like this keep exposing the same issue, and that is why Crosbys postgame message carried extra weight. Sullivan echoed the need for improvement, leaving Pittsburgh with more questions than answers as it tries to turn individual stretches of play into something more dependable. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Blue Line Shuffle Puts Spotlight On One Short-Term Opportunity
With the blue line still dealing with injuries, the Penguins made a quick roster adjustment by recalling Ilya Solovyov from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after sending Ryan Johnson back to the AHL. Solovyov gets a short-term opening on the NHL roster, and it comes at a time when Pittsburgh is trying to keep its defensive depth intact while waiting for regulars to get healthier.
Solovyov already has some NHL experience, with 30 games across two teams last season, and he has one assist in three AHL games this season. The catch for Pittsburgh is that Trevor van Riemsdyk and Ryan Graves remain on injured reserve but are expected back soon, which could make this stay a brief one and leave the Penguins sorting out their next move again before long. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Suddenly Face More Urgency In Dylan Larkin Situation
The trade market around the NHL is already nudging teams toward tough calls, and Pittsburghs situation fits right into that broader churn. The Penguins are in a spot where selling off older pieces for younger assets is very much on the table, a sign of how the organization is weighing the present against what comes next. Around the league, that same tension is showing up in different forms, from Torontos reluctance to part with Easton Cowan in a bigger defensive deal to Detroits growing sense that the Dylan Larkin question may not stay quiet for long.
For the Penguins, the most relevant part of that picture is the kind of player they could potentially move if the right offer comes along. Interest around veterans has only intensified as contending teams look for help and retooling teams look for value, and Pittsburgh has made it clear it would listen on the right names. That leaves a familiar kind of deadline-season suspense: which experienced players stay in place, and which ones become part of a larger reshuffle before the market really tightens. [Read more 🡒]