NHL trade rumors: Flames, Jay Bouwmeester have discussed deal

*The Flames and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester have apparently talked about a trade. The 29-year-old defender still has a year left on his contract at a cap hit of $6.8 million, but Roger Millions from Sportsnet out of Calgary says Bouwmeester has admitted the team and the player have discussed a deal. Millions suggests six teams could be interested in Bouwmeester, who has been playing in the league since 2002 but has never played a post-season game, between seasons in Florida and Calgary. Millions tweeted that he bets on interest from teams like Detroit, St. Louis, Nashville, the Rangers and Philadelphia.

That lines up with TSN’s Darren Dreger, who said that the Red Wings have interest in Bouwmeester on NHL Network last night. Detroit would have to part with prospects Petr Mrazek or Jake Paterson to get the Edmonton native. The Flames may also want a goaltender, since Mika Kiprusoff’s future is uncertain. Unrelated to Detroit, Mark Giordano may also be on the block in Calgary, according to Dreger.

*At least one writer suspects the rumors about Ryan Whitney coming to Boston are less than solid. Ottawa Sun writer Bruce Garrioch suggests that he’d be surprised if the Bruins were actually interested in the 30-year-old defenseman. It may or may not be true, but Garrioch would certainly have the Bruins best interests in mind if it were. Whitney, a Boston College product, has already been a healthy scratch at times this season, struggling to crack an Oilers defense that is, let’s face it, not exactly brimming with superstars. Whitney has three goals and 10 points this season, and will be UFA when it ends.

*No one’s really sure how definite the Ryan Miller trade rumors really are, but here’s another piece to any potential deal that would happen: Miller has made a list of eight teams that he will not accept a trade to, according to Andy Strickland. That gives the Sabres 21 options to get a deal done, should they want to, by Wednesday’s deadline. Miller has one year left on a contract that features a limited no trade clause. He has a cap hit and an actual salary of $6.25 million through 2013-14.