- Erik Erlendsson of hte Tampa Tribune: Lightning’s 2010 1st round pick Brett Connolly will play in his 9th game tonight. The Lightning will have to decide whether to send him back to junior or burn a year of his 3 year entry level deal. He could still be assigned to junior after his 10th game, but his contract will have kicked in. Connolly has 2 assists and is a +4 with 17 shots in 8 games.
“Every day we pile on the pluses and the minuses concerning his future and concerning our future and there has to be somewhere in there, something that tells us that both can be combined for this year for us to keep him,” Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. “Up to now he has shown us enough stuff that he can play with the better offensive players on our team.”
“The two biggest factors are, first, what is best for Brett Connolly long term and his development,” Yzerman said. “Number two is, what is the right thing to do for our team this year, and they kind of go hand-in-hand. And as I’ve said before, if he is a contributor on our team, he makes us better and it’s best for his career and his development, then we’ll keep him.”
- Allen Panzeri of hte Ottawa Citizen: Senators forward Mika Zibanejad will play in his 9th game tonight, so the Sens will have to make a decision on his playing future. If he doesn’t stick with the Senators, he’ll be sent back to Sweden for the year. GM Bryan Murray expects to make a decision by the weekend.
“I think out of the eight games so far, I would have to say four (have been) pretty good,” said Murray. “The other night, he looked like he was really uptight.”
“(Coach) Paul (MacLean) loves him in his own end. He thinks he defensively does a good job. But with the puck he hasn’t done as much as we suspect he will in the future.”
- Tim Panaccio of the CSN Philly: A club source has said that Flyers 2011 1st round pick Sean Couturier won’t be going back to junior. A definite decision will have to be made after Thursday’s game against the Jets. Heading into last night’s game he has 2 goals and 2 assists.
“There is no reason to,” the source said. “He can learn just as easily here on the job.”
- Dustin Leed via twitter: Leed wonders if the Flyers will look at this? If Courturier remains with the club, his ELC will end in 2014-15. The contracts of Giroux, Schenn, Read and Meszaros will also end in 2014-15.
- George Richards via twitter: Panthers defenseman Erik Gudbranson has played in 8 games so far, and Richards doesn’t think he’s going anywhere. “Kid’s been a rock,” says Tallon.