- Greg Brady: Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis was scheduled to be on the Fan 590 at 9:00 am, but has been postponed until after 12:00 pm.
- Darren Dreger: Not complete yet, but Phil Kessel-Toronto Maple Leafs deal is expected to be for eight year at approximately $8 million a season. Has a limited no-trade clause. Announcement expected today.
- Darren Dreger: With Kessel deal likely completed this morning, Dion Phaneuf negotiations will soon become a priority.
- Adrian Dater of the Denver Post: There was talk over the weekend that the Avalanche could have been looking at a trade for a defenseman, possibly with the Flyers. John Mitchell’s name was mentioned. Patrick Roy has said they won’t be making any deals for a little while. They have $10.6 million in cap room.
“We’re happy with our roster. We’re happy with the signing of (depth D-men) Nate Guenin and (Nick) Holden,” Roy said. “Holden has been very impressive. Same thing for Guenin. They’re going to start the year with us. When (Ryan) Wilson comes back, we’ll make a decision. But as of right now, we don’t have to make a decision. They’re steady, they’re consistent in their game and been great guys to add to our roster.
“Right now, the problem in the NHL is there are a lot of teams that are close to the cap. They’re trying to unload the player that basically no one wants. That’s no help for us. We need to go for the players that we think will play a role. And quite frankly, I like my four lines, with (Marc-Andre) Cliche as the fifth guy. I’m very comfortable. I don’t mind our D. We’re not going to replace our D with D that we don’t think are going to make our team better. We’ve been working with them for the last two weeks. Let’s keep working with this group, let’s see where we’re going to go. I feel like I owe it to this group to start the year and then we’ll see about any moves.”
- Josh Rimer: Ilya Bryzgalov’s agent, Ritch Winter, on if they are talking to the Penguins: “I do not make any comments on these sorts of things unless requested to do so by my client, which is not the case in this instance. Sorry.”
- James Gordon: Gordon finds it funny that people think that there is a “crackling trade market” for Senators forward Stephane Da Costa.
- Dan Rosen: Bill Daly said that hybrid icing has been approved.
- Chip Alexander: Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford said that talks continue with Radek Dvorak and they should know by today which direction they are going.
- Frank Seravalli: According to GM Paul Holmgren, the Flyers are about $25,000 under the salary cap.
- Renaud Lavoie: The Penguins AHL team signed Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers to a 25-game contract.