Metropolitan Notes: Flyers, Johnson, Anderson, Penguins

The Flyers were quiet yesterday in terms of activity with their lone move of the day being the waiver claim of Johnny Oduya from Ottawa.  GM Ron Hextall told reporters, including Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, that their position in the standings wasn’t going to dictate how aggressive they were going to be:

“Because we’re a point out of the division lead, we’re not going to make a deal that makes us a little better right now but we give up two young assets, a good young player, a draft pick.  We’re not going to make deals to go essentially all-in for one year.”

Hextall also stated that they were looking into a couple of things but that he wasn’t prepared to overpay for a rental upgrade.   Instead, Philly will look inwards for their post-deadline upgrades.  Winger Wayne Simmonds is out for another seven-to-ten days while netminder Brian Elliott is expected to return at some point before the postseason as well which should only be a boost for the currently-surging Flyers.

More from the Metropolitan:

• Considering his trade request earlier in the year and the fact that Columbus acquired Ian Cole early on Monday, it came as somewhat of a surprise that the Blue Jackets didn’t deal defenseman Jack Johnson by the trade deadline. Despite that, both Johnson and GM Jarmo Kekalainen acknowledged to George Richards of the Columbus Dispatch that there could still be a chance that the rearguard chooses to stick around after the season.  Johnson’s ice time has gone up since his request to be moved and at one point last week, talks were held regarding a possible contract extension although talks didn’t progress particularly far.
• Still with the Blue Jackets, the verdict is in regarding Josh Anderson’s injury and the news isn’t great. The team announced (Twitter link) that the winger will miss approximately the next four weeks as a result of a knee sprain sustained on Monday against Washington.  That should immediately free up a spot for the recently-acquired Thomas Vanek without disrupting the rest of the lineup.
• The Penguins made a strong push to acquire Wild center Matt Cullen, notes Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. However, Minnesota set a considerable asking price, one that GM Jim Rutherford wasn’t willing to pay for a player who would have been more of a luxury instead of filling a need.  Mackey adds that Pittsburgh had also set a very high asking price on top prospect Daniel Sprong, who could see time with the Pens down the stretch.