- Elliotte Friedman of CBC: Martin Brodeur on his disappointment that Ilya Kovalchuk left:
“Oh, definitely … Look what did to get him to New Jersey. Losing some of the draft picks, some of the current players, the money that was thrown at him, for him just to walk out like that … I know him and it’s just not like him to do that. The lockout created everything — the taste of what his life would be in Russia and he liked it … But it affects us, so that’s why I’m disappointed … As a guy, he’s a great guy, still going to have a lot of fun with him, but at the end of the day, it’s a tough one for what the organization did to get him.”
Avs Matt Duchene is expected to center Ryan O’Reilly. Nathan MacKinnon is expected to be the third center behind Duchene and Paul Stastny.
- Chris Nichols: Miikka Kiprusoff: “I decided to retire at the end of last season. I appreciated Jay Feaster & Flames permitting me to take summer to be 100 % sure.”
- Randy Sportak: The Flames have about $12 million in cap space and 46 players under contract. If Sean Monahan and Patrick Sieloff are sent back to junior, they’ll have 44 under contract.
- Sam Carchidi: Expected Flyers lines: Hartnell-Giroux-Voracek; Schenn-Lecavalier-Simmonds; Cleary-Couturier-Read; Talbot-Hall-Rinaldo. Extra: Rosehill.
- Bill Meltzer: Flyers goalie Steve Mason said that he’s talked to Ray Emery about what the best ways are to take advantage of their puckhandling skills, saving some wear and tear on their defensemen.
- Chip Alexander: The Hurricanes will have 48 players at training camp, 12 of which were at Traverse City.
- Bruce Garrioch: The Senators will have 57 players at training camp, including seven goalies.
- Tom Gulitti of the Bergon Record: Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid was shocked and upset when the Devils traded for Cory Schneider at the draft.
“At first, I was pretty upset,” Kinkaid told me. “But I don’t think it changes the situation here at all. We’re still fighting for the top job in Albany and anything could happen and we just have to keep working at it.”
“You always want to be up there as soon as possible, but it takes time for goalies to mature and be ready for the NHL,” Kinkaid said. “It just gives us another year, I guess. Whether Marty re-signs or not, it just gives us more time to develop in the minors and then if there happens to be an injury one of us can maybe get a shot up there.”