Helene Elliot of the LA Times: So the LA Kings twice traded for injured players that can’t play in the deals that sent Ryan Smyth to the Oilers, and they are not happy about it. Kings GM Dean Lombardi said yesterday they will “look at our legal avenues” and added,
“The bottom line for me, I would have rather invested my money with Bernie Madoff than invest in Edmonton’s word,”
They knew that Colin Fraser had a fractured foot last season and were told he was days away from being cleared, but a Kings doctor “found not only an unhealed fracture but an alarming cyst in Fraser’s foot and a blood disorder.” Fraser needs surgery and will be out 4 months. Cheif executive Tim Leiweke of the Kings parent company reached out the Oilers according to Lombardi,
“Tim has made several overtures to try and settle this in a fair manner to put the deal back where it’s supposed to and we’ve gotten no response,” Lombardi said. “So the heck with it, we’ll look at our legal avenues right now.
“This kid needs surgery now, which is going to put him out four months. It’s not even close. To be told he’s going to be cleared that Wednesday and now we get him and he’s clearly not cleared and to clear him he’s going to need surgery … and that’s the one they told me about, let alone the other two. On the heels of Brule? Holy smoke.”
Helene Elliott via twitter: The Oilers have chosen not to comment on Lombardi’s comments.
Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger: Zach Parise’s arbitration hearing is set for August 3rd but Parise hopes they can get a deal done before then. He may be interested in doing a 1 year deal to avoid the arbitration process.
“Ideally we’d like to do a multi-year, but I don’t think anyone is opposed to doing one year thing,” Parise told me. “Our goal is to do a multi-year (contract).”
Josh Cooper of the Tennessean: Predators GM David Poile sound more optimistic that Alex Radulov could return for the 2012-13 season. Poile a few days ago,
“I’m not betting the mortgage, but I’m thinking there’s a good chance in a year from now, he could be coming back to the Predators.”
The Fourth Period: Talks between Drew Doughty and the Kings continue, but it’s not believed that they are close. There was no truth to the rumor that a deal was done. Doughty is said to be looking for a deal around 5 years at around $7 million per season.
Damian Cristodero of the St. Petersburg Times: Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, (for likely the 1,000th time) “we are making progress” on Stamkos. They still have Teddy Purcell to re-sign, but aside from the 2, the Lightning are likely done making offseason moves.
“If something unforeseen comes along, we will re-evaluate,” he said. “If there is a good player we can afford to sign, we will explore it. But for now, we have a player who fits what we’re trying to do and the way we play.”
Erik Erlendsson via twitter: Erlendsson thinks that Purcell could get “$2M-plus”
Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Blues GM Doug Armastrong on David Perron,
“All indications are that David is doing well and getting better, but he’s not to the point to workout. Until he gets to that point, he’s not in consideration.”
Coach Davis Payne,
“We still anticipate good things with Perry. We still anticipate him being ready to go. Obviously there’s still a process that he still has to go through with getting into shape and up to speed.