Red Wings winger Thomas Vanek is no stranger to being part of trade deadline speculation having been dealt in that situation three times already. However, as things stand, it doesn’t appear likely that he’ll be on the move again. GM Ken Holland told reporters, including Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News (Twitter link) that there has been no interest in the 35-year-old so far. Vanek has picked up his play as of late with 13 points in 21 games since the calendar flipped to 2019 which is decent production for a secondary scorer. However, it doesn’t appear to be enough to intrigue anyone just yet. Vanek is a pending unrestricted free agent with a full no-trade clause and carries a $3MM salary and cap hit.
More from the East:
- The Devils would like to move goaltender Keith Kinkaid by Monday’s trade deadline, reports Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland (Twitter link). However, he adds that the goalie trade market is pretty weak at the moment. With Cory Schneider locked up long-term plus promising youngster Mackenzie Blackwood waiting in the wings, there isn’t room for the pending unrestricted free agent beyond this season. Kinkaid carries just a $1.25MM cap hit but has struggled this season, posting a 3.36 GAA with a .891 SV% in 41 games.
- Carolina is set to welcome back a key piece of their forward group as the team announced that center Jordan Staal has been activated off injured reserve. The 30-year-old has missed 30 of the last 32 games due to an upper-body injury. While his output when healthy has been low this season (he has just 11 points in 29 games), he has picked up at least 45 points in each of the last three seasons so it’s reasonable to expect that he’ll be a contributor down the stretch for them. Staal is also consistently one of the top faceoff players in the league, giving the Hurricanes a boost in that regard as well as they continue to chase down a playoff spot.