Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins, P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadians and Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild are this year’s finalists for the Norris Memorial Trophy, awarded to the defenseman that shows the “greatest all-round ability” at the position, as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the regular season. It is the first time each finalist [...]

Per Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets may be discussing a deal that sends the offensive-defenseman Jack Johnson to the Penguins as a potential long-term addition. Rossi points out that GM Ray Shero has a pre-deadline history of trading otherwise promising defensemen for those who seemingly fit in for the long haul. And a [...]

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the Pittsburgh Penguins are expected to go hard after unrestricted free agent Ryan Suter next week. The Penguins want a top-line defenseman to pair with Kris Letang on the team’s first power-play unit and could have $15 million in cash to spend on free agents. Pittsburgh also will show considerable interest in Zach [...]

Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal was answering a reader’s emails and proposed The Edmonton Oilers may try to snag a young defenseman from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Ales Hemsky ahead of the deadline: Matheson says “the Oilers need a puck-moving Kris Letang-type defender. I suspect they’ll be trying to get a blue-liner should they decide not to re-sign Ales Hemsky, [...]

NHL.com reports that Max Pacioretty has been suspended for three games for hitting Penguins’ Kris Letang in the head. Letang broke his nose on the play and is questionable for Tuesday’s contest. Pacioretty will miss the Canadiens’ games this week, but he is eligible to return on December 6th. Pacioretty is Montreal’s leading goal scorer and [...]