“The Blue Jackets are among the clubs that have spoken to the Vancouver Canucks about trade scenarios, including a trade that could bring forward Kiefer Sherwood home to Columbus. Sherwood, 30, has emerged as one of the NHL’s top power forwards over the past few seasons and is an unrestricted free agent this summer. He leads Vancouver with 12 goals after scoring a career-high 19 last season. The Canucks, who notified all 31 clubs last week that they are open for business, are looking at major changes this offseason. One other club to watch here is Boston, and the Bruins have a big fan of Sherwood already in their dressing room: Sean Kuraly, another Columbus native, has been friends with him for years.”

“I’m told there is lots of interest in Sherwood, but I also know that Vancouver is not in a rush, that they want to get a full read on the market and understand what’s out there for them. Among the teams that I believe have inquired, one is the Minnesota Wild. That makes sense, they’ve been looking at top six options. I think the Montreal Canadiens have at the very least picked up the phone to see what was going on there… I will say this too, that I think that, in a perfect world, the Canucks get a young player back if they ever decide to go down this road as opposed to just a futures deal; not easy to do with a pending UFA, but that’s something else to keep in mind as well.”