- Sarah McLellan: The Coyotes are at their salary limit. If Rostislav Klesla is claimed off waivers, the freed up salary could help them make a trade.
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Hurricanes Tim Gleason and Tuomo Ruutu are being discussed with other teams. Gleason is getting more interest at this point. Both players have no-movement clauses. Ruutu has two more years at $4.75 million cap hit (salary of $5 million) and Gleason has two more years at $4 million (salary of $4.5 million and $3.5 million). The Maple Leafs can’t take on the salary of both players.
Canadiens source said that teams are calling about Max Pacioretty, but they are not shopping him.
Dion Phaneuf’s agents (Newport Sports) made a presentation to the Maple Leafs last week, with a ‘ballpark offer.’ The Leafs are expected to counter next week. Term could be a sticking point, but most like money will be the issue. The next month of talks could be important.
The Flames have already turned down an offer for Mikael Backlund. They won’t move him for the sake of trading someone.
With the new TV deal, it would average to about $14.5 million each year, except Canadian teams get a bigger piece due to “invasion fees.” These fees ” are designed to compensate the Canadian teams for the local inventory lost to the national TV deals.”
- The Fourth Period: Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin isn’t going to rush into any deals. They had four members of their management staff, including assistant GMs Rick Dudley and Larry Carriere, watching the Maple Leafs – Blue Jackets game on Monday. There were several reports that they may be interested in Evander Kane, but it’s unclear if there have been any talk since the offseason.
- Ansar Khan: Red Wings GM Ken Holland said that Pavel Datsyuk won’t play on Friday, but there is a chance for Sunday.
- Pierre LeBrun: The NHL, NHLPA and IIHF had originally agreed to submit Olympic rosters by December 31st, but they may be changing that date to Jan. 6th or 7th.