Dater’s Daily: NHL trade talk heating up again, Olympics in trouble

Good Friday morning to all. A fine weather day in store for Denver, low 60s, clear skies. Hope everyone had a good turkey day. I only like turkey with a lot of salt and pepper, and some gravy poured all over it. Otherwise, I think it tastes bland. I love stuffing, though, and pumpkin pie. But enough about me, let’s do some hockey links, starting with some increased NHL trade talk:

• Our Jimmy Murphy has original reporting on who’s on the NHL trade block. No Avs are on it, but there are some semi-big names on it (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)
• Regarding Phil Kessel: I floated his name to some Avs people if they might be interested, and got looked at like I had three heads.
• I don’t know, I like Kessel as a player myself and think he could be useful in a playoff/late-season-playoff-push scenario.
• The NHL’s participation in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing is looking very precarious of all a sudden (32 Thoughts)
• My take: it’s going to be canceled. That’s just my pure, Friday morning, Nov. 26 hot take, nothing more. But has anyone perused the headlines this morning about the scary new Covid variant that may be immune to the vaccines, and has airlines canceling international flights suddenly and has the stock market in freefall? Yeah, things like hockey games in China are therefore suddenly in peril.
• The debate is starting again: Who’s better, who’s had the better career and who will finish as the better of the two when all is said and done – Crosby or Ovechkin? (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)
• TSN: Matt Murray is 0-5 this season and is coming under fire in Ottawa
• Calgary: The Calgary Flames are a powerhouse this season. One of the leading changes is the resurgence of big Milan Lucic.
• Toronto: Scott Cullen took a look at the former Toronto Maple Leafs around the NHL. Nazem Kadri is the big loss. 
• The Canadiens are in trouble. Deeeeeppp trouble. Our boys in the NHL’s most rabid hockey city take a poke at grading the goalies and defencemen at the quarter mark.
• Book recommendation: “Bourdain: The Definitive Oral History.” 
• Still hard to believe he’s not with us anymore. I loved his TV shows.
• My NHL 3 Best Bets for tonight, including an Avs-Stars pick (Bookies.com)