Teams are reportedly interested in Nikolay Zherdev; Holmgren says no

Last week, when we urged Paul Holmgren to trade Nikolay Zherdev, the one doubt in our minds that a deal could get done was the interest other teams in the NHL might have in No. 93. After all, it's not like he has the best reputation in the world. 

At the same time, he's a 15 goal scorer despite being a healthy scratch and playing limited minutes when he does get on the ice, and if a team needs scoring, Zherdev is certainly an option for them. Today, we learned that the Flyers are actively shopping Zherdev, according to our own Teemu H. and Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly.

We also learned today that there's interest from other teams, too. Via Dimitri Chesnokov of Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy:

I just learned there are at least half dozen teams interested in Nik Zherdev.

Chesnokov knows what he's talking about when it comes to Russian (and Ukrainian, whatever) players and the news surrounding them. There's no reason not to trust him on this one. He's a good source of information -- unless your name is Paul Holmgren.

According to beat writers at practice today, Holmgren didn't agree with that report and said that the Flyers would be reluctant to trade Zherdev because he's a good insurance policy for the playoffs. We'll see what happens. 

Further Reading

• Blueshirt Banter thinks the Rangers should trade for Zherdev.