On the Edmonton Oilers …
- Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot: Darren Dreger on TSN 1200 on the Edmonton Oilers and the trade deadline. They have some big players that could be in play. Jordan Eberle’s name could come up in trade speculation. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was tied to the Predators, and he could come up in trade talks again. The Oilers will have Connor McDavid as their No. 1, and Leon Draisaitl could be a No. 2. If GM Peter Chiarelli thinks he can get a big deal for RNH, he could move him. On if things for the Oilers won’t fall into place until they can get a No. 1 defenseman.
“No, and that’s exactly what he’s thinking. Look, if it was as simple as moving a forward like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the Islanders for Travis Hamonic, the deal would have been made a long time ago. But clearly Garth Snow doesn’t want that. He wants either a good young defenseman very similar in contract and whatnot in age to come back his way, or he wants the team that wants Travis Hamonic the most to find a defenseman as part of potentially a three-team trade before Travis Hamonic gets moved.
“But I still think the Oilers have a keen eye on what Garth Snow and the Islanders are up to.”
- Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot: Bob McKenzie on TSN 1040. There is no question that the Oilers would like to trade defenseman Justin Schultz. Not saying that he will get traded. McKenzie thinks are talking to the Oilers about him.
On the Buffalo Sabres …
- Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News: Sabres GM Tim Murray said yesterday that he’s talked with the agent of pending UFA Jamie McGinn. They’ve had multiple conversations about a possible contract extension. McGinn is happy to hear that they are talking.
“I hope that they’re talking a lot but it’s out of my control,” McGinn told The Buffalo News after Thursday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins in First Niagara Center. “What I can do comes on the ice, being a good teammate and trying to help this team win. That’s between them. My focus in here is to play hockey. I like it here and that’s why I have an agent to deal with that kind of stuff.”
Murray on WGR Radio.
“We’ve asked what their thoughts are on term and on money. We’ve given them our thoughts on term. So if we can do something that suits both parties, we will try. And if we can’t, again depending on these three weeks how the team does, I don’t want to have a player leave here without getting anything back.”
Harrington thinks he could get a three to four year deal that could be close to $4 million. GM Murray knows it might not be an easy deal to get done.
“He’s played well for us,” Murray said. “Besides playing well and scoring, I like his approach to the game. I like his on-ice and off-ice demenaor and approach. I think he has personality and cajones that we like in some of our players. If we could get a deal done, that would be great.
“But what we might be offering now based on comparables might not be a realistic deal because we know when guys like him are so close to July 1 that his comparables today will go out the door on July 1. … We might be talking two different languages here but we’re talking.”