Snapshots: Daley, Hainsey, Cannone

Several reports from around the league have teams in hot pursuit of Trevor Daley, including Detroit and Boston according to Craig Custance of The Athletic and Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald respectively. Daley was ranked #23 in our annual free agent rankings, and while Pittsburgh seemed a likely destination for him to return to it was easy to see why there would be interest from elsewhere.

The veteran puck-moving defenseman continues to log big minutes and put up respectable point totals. While not exactly an offensive defenseman who will contribute a ton of goals, he can move the puck quickly and accurately out of the zone and carry it through the neutral zone. That ability, combined with his extensive playoff experience the last couple of years winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, will seem pretty appetizing on the open market on Saturday.

• In terms of other Red Wings free agent notes, Custance and Ansar Khan of MLive both link the team to fellow Stanley Cup champion Ron Hainsey. Khan also lists Dan Girardi and Brian Campbell as options, as the Red Wings continue to look at veteran options to help their blueline. While Detroit isn’t expected to compete next season, Ken Holland has been clear about his desire to return to the playoffs as soon as possible. Adding any of the above defenders won’t do that on their own, but they could potentially be flipped at the trade deadline for a younger asset.
• In addition to all the love that Patrick Marleau is feeling on the open market, Andy Strickland of Fox Sports reports that the San Jose Sharks have apparently made a two-year offer for their long-time forward. It will be interesting to see if the 37-year old is able to secure a third year from a competing team, and what the cap hit would be on it.
• The Minnesota Wild have re-signed Patrick Cannone to a one-year two-way deal. The minor league forward made his NHL debut this year getting into three games with the Wild, but was held scoreless and is still looking for his first NHL point. A dynamic AHL player, Cannone was set to be an unrestricted free agent but will come back for $650K in the NHL and $225K in the AHL next season.