Bob McKenzie via twitter: McKenzie’s take on the Jordan Staal situation: “PIT doesn’t want to trade him, wants to sign him and may make him a long-term (7 to 10 yrs maybe?) offer.” … “At that point, it would be up to Staal to commit long term to Pens or not sign. If it’s not, PIT would have to explore trade options.” … “IF outcome is trading Staal, PIT’s return/field of teams SEVERELY limited by fact Staal 1 yr from UFA. No team pays big for 1 yr rental.”
Renaud Lavoie via twitter: Sources in New York are saying that it appears P.A. Parenteau is headed to free agency.
Rich Hammond of LA Kings Insider: According to reports in the LA Times and Daily Breeze, Kings defenseman Drew Doughty allegedly forced a 25 year old women into a cab and then sexually assaulted her at her place. “Per the Daily Breeze, Higgins said Doughty said the encounter was consensual. Per the Times, Higgins said that the accuser has been “less than cooperative” and that “credibility problems” have been found in her story. Doughty has not been charged with a crime. Doughty’s lawyer, Craig Renetzky, posted on Twitter that that case is under review by the District Attorney’s office and that “a charging decision will be made in the next few days.”
Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Brian Burke on keeping 5th overall pick,
“I fully expect that,” Burke told ESPN.com. “We’ve had discussions with other teams that I would characterize mostly as tire kicking, nothing that we’ve had to even huddle on. Now, the way the draft works, the time frame gets very compressed as you get closer. So it’ll crank right up. Teams who haven’t even called me, I expect will call starting tomorrow. But I fully expect to keep that pick.”
Burke on if they can’t land a goalie,
“We are prepared to go forward on that basis,” Burke said. “If we can upgrade at the goaltending position, and at a reasonable price, we’ll do it. But we are prepared . I believe in James Reimer. He’s young, he’s athletic, I believe in this kid. If we have to start like that, we will.”
Sabres GM Darcy Regier on if dangling picks to make a trade,
“We’d like to,” GM Darcy Regier told ESPN.com on Wednesday morning. “We view it as an opportunity because of the additional first-round pick and the additional second-round pick. We’ve got some flexibility. So we’re approaching this as, ‘Let’s see if we can find some opportunities with this flexibility.’ Right now, though, the costs seem to be on the high side. But we’ll see where it goes. It’s probably too early right now.”
LeBrun thinks Regier has already called the Blue Jackets about Rick Nash, and would be shocked if they didn’t call the Ducks about Bobby Ryan who may be available now. The Panthers and Jason Garrison are expected to talk again tomorrow. The Wild don’t have any plans on trading Niklas Backstrom now that Josh Harding signed a 3 year extension.
“Not at all,” Wild GM Chuck Fletcher told ESPN.com. “We believe we need a strong one-two punch in goal. We’ve got that with Josh and Nik. We have no interest in disrupting that. You look around the league and you see the importance of having depth in goal. That’s what we want.”
WRAL Sports – Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford – Rutherford: Priority is to get a guy to play with Staal and talk on the draft.