- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: The Coyotes and Noah Hanifin don’t seem like a fit. GM Don Maloney has received at least three calls about the No. 3 pick. The Blue Jackets (No. 8) and Avalanche (No. 10) want a defensman. The Flyers (No. 7) and Sharks (No. 9) could be interested in drafting one as well.
“It’s starting to happen,” said the executive quoted above. “Teams who want defencemen are phoning the teams ahead of them, laying the groundwork in case they need to move.”
Teams are looking at some of the Kings AHL defensemen – Colin Miller and Derek Forbort.
After their scouting meetings, Canucks GM Jim Benning said that Ryan Miller won’t be traded and that they are looking at ‘hockey trades.’ They’d like to recoup a second round pick, but there is no guarantee that they would move a player, say Eddie Lack, for a pick.
Sounding like Cam Talbot is the top choice for cap friendly, potential No. 1 goalies that are available.
The Red Wings are looking for a defenseman with a bit of a physical edge.
Hurricanes GM Ron Francis after his meeting with agent Rick Curran (represents Eric and Jordan Staal, Cam Ward and Jeff Skinner).
“They laid out what they are thinking, we laid out what we are thinking,” Francis added. “We’ll circle back in the next little while.”
It is believed that Eric and Ward would be interested in three- or four-year contract extensions. Hurricanes would want their cap numbers to drop from $8.25 and $6.3 million.
Joe Sakic has let teams know that he’s willing to listen to offers on Ryan O’Reilly. It is thought that they want a significant defenseman in return. Friedman guessing they’d want a left handed defenseman, but a source disputed that.
Sounding like the Jets and Drew Stafford are trying to get a deal done.
Friedman had once thought that the Predators and Panthers would be interested in Phil Kessel. The Predators were interested in Kessel before he was traded to the Maple Leafs. There is some doubt if they could handle his $8 million cap hit. The Preds will have to sign Filip Forsberg and Seth Jones to new contract in a year. The Panthers are working on a contract extension for Jonathan Huberdeau, and will have to re-up Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad soon.
On if someone would offer sheet Bruins Dougie Hamilton.
“I’d like to see the guy who does that to Jeremy Jacobs,” one GM said. Another countered, “I can think of someone.”
The city of Phoenix reached out the Coyotes last week and offered to move them to the Talking Stick Resort Arena, where they played for seven seasons. It has obstructed views for hockey. The Coyotes declined for now.
