- Pass it to Bulis via twitter: (via @RenLavoieRDS) (translated from French) Roberto Luongo: “I’m willing to stay here this season because it will be short. But I don’t want to stay here long term.” Luongo said that it lost some context when translated: Not “get me out of here” so much as “I don’t see myself here long-term”.
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: The Canucks won’t trade Roberto Luongo for the sake of trading him, they want equal value for him.
“He’s an All-Star goalie,” veteran Canucks GM Mike Gillis told ESPN.com Monday. “It’s a completely media-driven notion that we have to do this quickly and it’s going to be a terrible situation . It wasn’t a terrible situation last year and it won’t be this year if he’s here.”
The Maple Leafs remain the obvious choice, and new GM Dave Nonis and Canucks GM Mike Gillis have touched base. LeBrun’s understanding is that the Canucks want an established player and a high end prospect. The Canucks may want Leafs prospect, Nazem Kadri, and the Leafs may not want to move him at this point. The Leafs haven’t given up on James Reimer and may want to see how he starts the season before deciding whether to make a move on Luongo.
- John Vogl via twitter: The Sabres have 9 NHL caliber defensemen for 6 spots. They already lost Joe Finley to waivers yesterday.
“You’d prefer trade versus waivers for the individual,” Regier said tonight after a scrimmage in First Niagara Center. “If the player can’t play here, you’d hope that they’d have an opportunity elsewhere and you can get something in return for that as well.””What’s obvious is we have nine guys that can play,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “It’s a decision that we’re going to have to make when it comes down to our first game on who those six guys are going to be.”
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Senators GM Bryan Murray said he’s been on the phones talking deals for a defenseman, but the asking prices are high.
“We keep talking. I’ve been talking to a variety of teams about what they might have available,” said Murray. “It doesn’t sound promising at the moment. Not a lot of people are going to give unless you give a lot back.
“We’ll keep looking and talking. The priority right now is to promote our own people. We’ve got a number of young guys that are probably deserving of a look early on in particular, and then we’ll have to see.”
They’ll give Patrick Wiercioch, Mark Borowiecki and Andre Benoit a look. The Sens have talked with free agents Chris Campoli and Milan Jurcina.
“I’ve talked to a number of agents,” said Murray. “I’ve put a couple of on hold. I’ve made no promises to anybody other than after a few days here I would consider it.
“I wanted to look at our young guys first and then I would get back to them if there’s any interest. I just have to wait because that’s the sort of decision we’ll make as a group if I’m going to pursue it.”
- Montreal Canadiens: The Canadiens have acquired defenseman Jason DeSantis from the Panthers for defenseman Brendon Nash.