Dater’s Daily: Fleury or Lehner, Tkachuk trade chatter, new sportsbook in Black Hawk

Good Thursday to you all. I’ll be working the phones today for any Avs contract news and anything else team-related, and also probably doing some yard work. I accidentally sprayed some weed killer on our lawn – which would be fine if that’s all the chemical solution did, was kill weeds. But upon closer inspection of the bottle, it also kills the grass too. So, I’ve got yellow, dead spots all over the front lawn. (My wife bought the bottle, but I didn’t read it close enough. We both blame each other).

So, I’ve got to dig up the soil and re-plant some grass. I’m not exactly Mr. Greenthumb, but I can probably manage this.

Let’s do some hockey links, thoughts, notes, etc.:

• Former Avs defenseman Shane O’Brien, who now dabbles in hockey media some, made some news by saying, on SiriusXM’s NHL channel’s “The Power Play with Steve Kouleas,”,  that Matthew Tkachuk could be traded to the St. Louis Blues: “I got a little rumor here…I got Tarasenko going to Calgary for Tkachuk,” O’Brien said. “I heard Tkachuk wants out of Calgary. Tarasenko’s time is up (in St. Louis). I think that’s a trade that could happen.”
• I think that would be a bad trade for the Flames. Tarasenko is 29 and has had multiple shoulder surgeries. Aside from Game 4, he was pretty much a ghost in the first round against the Avalanche. Tkachuk is 23 and, while he’s had some injury issues already himself, has more runway to his career than Tarasenko probably.
• Should the Avs make a call to Calgary, if Tkachuk “wants out” from there? Well, it probably wouldn’t hurt to see what they’d want. He’d certainly be a nice top-six, left-wing replacement for a Brandon Saad, if Saad were to leave as a free agent next month. He’d certainly add some “sandpaper” to the Avs lineup too.
• If the Avs added Matthew Tkachuk to their lineup, I think they’d shoot to the top of the Stanley Cup favorites list again, and I’d make a quick visit to instant withdrawal casinos Canada to look into what the odds might say about it.
• As I write this, we still don’t know who the goalie will be for the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 tonight against Montreal. We should know soon, and my bet is that it’ll be Robin Lehner. That’s the “problem” with having two “1-A” goalies: you can always be second-guessed about who you play in these types of games. Marc-Andre Fleury has not shined in the series against the Habs, but he’s also a guy who has won a lot of big games like these.
• Here’s my expert pick for the Vegas-Montreal game (Bookies.com)
• San Jose: Are the San Jose Sharks trying to trade Evander Kane? Could they get fair value back? 
• Kane wouldn’t be a bad left-wing replacement for Saad, either.
• Detroit: More NHL trade talk–Could the Detroit Red Wings trade for a goalie? 
• Washington: Who stays? Who gets exposed? Maybe, who goes? Vitek Vanecek or Ilya Samsonov–the Washington Capitals goalie situation.
• A new sportsbook is opening tomorrow in Black Hawk. The SuperBook at the Lodge Casino in Black Hawk will feature state-of-the-art sportsbook entertainment – similar to the world-famous SuperBook at the Westgate Hotel in Las Vegas. Come on out for lots of fun, prizes and entertainment. I am likely to be there, so stop and say hello (and, yes, SuperBook is a sponsor of this here site).
• Located on the second level of the Lodge Casino, this nearly 7,000 square foot sports book is home to twenty-eight (28) state-of-the-art televisions. In addition, they will have the same type of comfortable and functional seating they are known for in Las Vegas, a fully loaded bar, and the same outstanding service that both the Lodge Casino and SuperBook Sports are known for. Patrons can place wagers by visiting one of their three betting windows, visiting one of the kiosks located throughout the casino floor, or sit and enjoy the game while betting on the app.
• Just in to the newsroom: Former Flyers bench boss Dave Hakstol has been hired as the first coach of the Seattle Kraken (NHL.com)
• A Blues defenseman has announced his retirement (NHL.com)