[sureLoss]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/w...ut-of-chances/

“Everyone is looking for defencemen,” one scout said this past week. “There simply aren’t enough NHL defenceman to service 30 teams. Especially Top six.” An exercise his team did in the offseason was to count the number of legit No. 1 defencemen in the game today. “We came up with 11.”

Calgary needs scoring as well. If they and the Blues can part with a quality D-man, expect a ton of interest, led by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Blues GM Doug Armstrong would prefer to move Carl Gunnarsson, a No. 4-5 defenceman and pending UFA, but that would only bring back a Cam Atkinson-type player, should he deal with the Jackets. If St. Louis wants a Top 6 forward in return, they may dangle Shattenkirk, who has one year left on his deal beyond 2015-16.

In Calgary, pending UFA Kris Russell would fetch a second-line forward for sure. Chicago might be sniffing around the Flames for some defensive depth — they likely can’t afford Russell under their cap. You can bet the Hawks are trying to peddle big, disappointing winger Bryan Bickell, who has been on the market since summertime.