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“There’s a lot of teams talking,” a league executive said Saturday.

Photo by Julie Jacobson / AP

OFF THE GLASS

The Coyotes, who went into Saturday’s visit to Ottawa, with only one regulation victory. are willing to talk about pretty much every player on their roster. There’s no way the plan was to go in the tank this season after acquiring centre Derek Stepan from the New York Rangers and defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson from the Chicago Blackhawks. GM John Chayka is receiving plenty of calls because the best bet for the Coyotes now is to get the best odds in the draft lottery. Forward Brad Richardson will be a deadline rental, while teams have called to see what path with defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who can become an unrestricted free agent in 2019. He is making $6.5 million this season and $7 million next season, with a $5.5-million cap hit, but hasn’t been very good this season. “They’ve got to be getting a lot of calls, but I’m not sure what the thought process is there,” one league executive said. “I can assure what’s happening there was not their plan. You don’t make those deals in the summer if you plan on picking the top three.” … The Florida Panthers have been looking around for a winger … Teams looking to make a deal might want to call Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving. He wouldn’t mind picking up a forward for the bottom two lines.

AROUND THE BOARDS

Don’t be surprised if the NHL looks at the possibility of playing in Berlin next season because last week’s Colorado-Ottawa series in Sweden was a resounding success. The German league’s Berlin Eisbaren are owned by the Los Angeles Kings and have a relatively new rink. It would make sense for the Kings to be involved in the Global Series during the regular season, and commissioner Gary Bettman wants more games overseas … The start by the Dallas Stars been a little surprising. The club hired coach Ken Hitchcock, acquired goalie Ben Bishop from Los Angeles and added defenceman Marc Methot by making a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights. No, the Stars aren’t out of the playoff picture, but many felt they’d be near the top of the Western Conference and not battling for one of the final postseason spots. They must be better defensively … The New York Islanders have a decision to make on defenceman Calvin de Haan. A potential unrestricted free agent as of July 1, he’s earning $3.3 million per season and hasn’t had any talks about a new deal. There has been talk the Isles may move de Haan before the deadline, but there will be contract discussions before that happens. Of course, the Isles’ first priority is to re-sign centre John Tavares.