- Michael Augello: SportsNet Doug MacLean said that the Maple Leafs already have a deal in place with Mason Raymond for $925,000 if he makes the team. Darren Dreger: Mason’s agent, J.P. Barry said that there are talks with the Leafs, but no agreement is in place. Raymond is the Leafs ‘property’ under the PTO until the end of September. After that, he can sign with anyone, possibly at well over $1 million. Raymond is a good fit with the Leafs, and they want him, but their cap situation complicates things.
- James Mirtle: Randy Carlyle on Cody Franson: “He doesn’t even become part of your thought process. It’s a cruel thing to say but you move on without people.”
- Chris Johnston: Franson on contract stalemate: “I honestly didn’t think it would come to this.”
- Josh Rimer: UFA Brenden Morrow: “I haven’t signed anything yet, considering an offer & some action is happening now. Shouldn’t be too long though.”
- Josh Rimer: The Flyers are not the team that made the offer that Morrow is considering. The Flyers were talking to him in the past, but they never made a formal offer.
- Pierre LeBrun: Players still unsigned: Brenden Morrow, Simon Gagne, Ilya Bryzgalov, Jose Theodore, Mike Knuble, Carlo Colaiacovo, Wade Redden, and PTO’s Tim Thomas, Hal Gill, Mason Raymond, Brad Boyes, Ian White (released yesterday).Brenden Morrow may be getting close on a deal. He visited a team on Thursday.
“Things are starting to happen now,” he said on the line from Dallas. “I’ve got some things starting to evolve a little bit.”
“I’m thinking about another team visit as well,” Morrow said while not divulging names. “I’ve actually got a few offers that I’m mulling over at the moment. It’s a tough marketplace, they’re not the biggest offers or what I had been hoping for, but at this point I just want to get playing again. So I’m mulling over these offers.”
Simon Gagne is still hoping for a shot and is working out in Quebec City.
“This is new for sure, I’ve never gone through this before,” Gagne said from Quebec City. “It feels almost like a lockout in a way. I’m lucky that I’m able to work out every day with the Quebec Remparts, that’s been good.”
Wade Redden didn’t feel that a PTO was for him.
“I felt good there for sure. Boston was great,” Redden said on the line from Kelowna, British Columbia, where he’s working out and living with his wife and kids.
“My plan is still to play,” said Redden. “I’m just waiting. Hopefully something will happen where a team has a need and I know I’ll be ready to go. It’s hard to predict, really, what’s going to happen.”
“I didn’t think it was my best option. I just thought I’d stay here and skate every day, be ready for when a team calls,” said Redden. “I think teams know how I can play.”
Mike Knuble may be ready to move on.
“At the beginning of the summer I was probably 50-50 in terms of playing, but I’ve seen what’s gone on and I’m pretty much in the process of moving on,” Knuble said. “There’s some pretty good players without jobs. I had a lot of fun last year with the Flyers and that might be the last kick at the can. That’s not 100 percent, I’m not announcing my retirement yet, but it’s how it looks right now. It would really have to be the right situation. I’m not sitting beside the phone, let’s put it that way.”
- Eric Stephens: Ducks Matt Beleskey signed a two-year, $2.7 contract extension.