Quick Hits around the NHL - Feb. 27 Edition

It's another installment of Quick Hits around the NHL - a look at stories from around the league and those particularly concerning the Detroit Red Wings. The Feb. 27 edition features stories revolving around the impending NHL Trade Deadline on March 4th.

• George Malik at Snapshots gaves his take on the trade deadline -- the Wings likely won't do anything unless something falls into their lap. 
• Adrian Dater at the Denver Post thinks the Wings are eying Ian Laperriere.
  
• That's a thought that should irk any Avs fan (case in point, Mike at Mile High Hockey), and IwoCPO at Abel to Yzerman is just the guy to gloat over that fact.
• Earlier this month, Mike Mouat reviews The Hockey News' two proposed Red Wings trades for the Detroit Examiner.
• Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun believes the Senators are open to trading Chris Neil and hinted that Detroit is one of the candidates.
• Speaking of the Senators, please welcome our newest SBN hockey blogger PeterR at Silver Seven. Two other hockey blogs also joined us this week: Matchsticks and Gasoline (Calgary) and On the Forecheck (Nashville).
• The first big trade has already occurred with the Pittsburgh Penguins shipping Ryan Whitney to Anaheim in exchange for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi. You can read both sides opinions at PensBurgh and Battle of California.
• As I am a big college hockey fan and the U.S. National Team Development Program is based in Ann Arbor (where I live), I wanted to pass this piece of news along. The NTDP is no longer in the NAHL as it has now joined the USHL. 
• The Red Wings' Toast of Hockeytown event on Monday evening raised over $145,000 for the Detroit Red Wings Foundation. I worked the event, but definitely had a chance to enjoy the music and the surroundings. You can see a collection of photos (including one of me -- it's the second to last one if you're looking) at the official Wings blog.