- Helene Elliot of the LA Times: Kings GM Dean Lombardi said again that “there’s no way” he’s trading Drew Doughty. Doughty remains in London, Ontario after rejecting offers in the 6 to 9 year range. The Kings want avoid a 5 year deal (which would be a reasonable compr0mise) as they want to avoid having Doughty and Anze Kopitar a UFA at the same time.
- Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: Flyers GM Paul Holmgren denies that he traded Mike Richards and Jeff Carter during the offseason due to off-ice issues.
“That (off-ice behavior) had nothing to do with it, nothing to do it,” said Holmgren, the Flyers general manager. “They were young guys with a lot of money who enjoyed their life. And a lot was made of that. And why wouldn’t they? Wouldn’t you?
“A lot of has been said about this, too much really. There have been all kinds of stuff out there, and it’s untrue. Because they were quiet kids and weren’t good with the media, I think some of that came back to them. I think they paid for that. I don’t think it’s been fair. I think the world of both those kids. They gave their hearts and souls to our team.”
- Paul Walsh of the Star-Tribune: Dustin Byfuglien has been charged with boating while intoxicated. His blood alcohol level was 0.031%, with the legal limit 0.08%. Byfuglien was subject to drug-recognition testing and it was determined he was “under the influence of a controlled substance.” He told police that he takes supplements from “16 or 17” bottles but could not recall the names of them. Byfuglien was charged with gross-misdemeanor refusal to submit to blood or alcohol testing, boating while intoxicated, no navigational lights illuminated and insufficient number of personal flotation devices available. The charges may give him trouble entering Canada.
- Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News: Mark Cuban no longer has interest in buying the Dallas Stars. Doug Miller of Allen Americans may have interest in offering more than Tom Gaglardi’s $267 million offer to buy the team. Local sports entrepreneur Chuck Greenberg said on Monday that he’s interested in the team.
- Arthur Staple of Newsday: The Islanders will announce a new captain today and it could be defenseman Mark Streit.
- Szymon Szemberg via twitter: Russian media is reporting that Alexei Yashin is about to sign with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. Dmitry Chesnokov via twitter: Despite some reports, Vityaz did not offer Yashin a 1 year, $1 million deal.
- Allan Maki of the Globe and Mail: The job appears to be open for Mikael Backlund and he just needs to pick up where he left off last season. The top line job between Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay is his for the taking. Other centers on their depth chart are Brendan Morrison, Matt Stajan and Olli Jokinen.
- Pierre LeBrun via twitter: Re-alignment was discussed “at length” by the Board of Governors. Darren Dreger via twitter: Expect a decision on NHL re-alignment during the December Board of Governors meetings. Greg Brady via twitter: There are lots of options for re-alignment, including 3 conferences of 10 teams.
- Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Blues goalie Brian Elliott and Ben Bishop will battle to backup Jaroslav Halak. Both signed the same contract, $600,000 in the NHL and $105,000 in the AHL. Halak is projected to start 60 games this year.
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Senators tough guy Francis Lessard got a talking to from Matt Carkner and coach Paul MacLean after he took a blindsided run at Nikita Filatov during a scrimmage. “To be fair to Francis, he’s here to show the coach what he can do for the team,” said MacLean.
