On the Carolina Hurricanes …
Bob McKenzie: There is lot of speculation that Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk could be heading to Carolina.
On the Chicago Blackhawks …
Frank Seravalli: The Marcus Kruger to Vegas trade wasn’t announced. It is possible that the Marian Hossa developments have changed things.
Scott Powers of The Athletic – Chicago: It had been assumed for weeks that both Trevor van Riemsdyk and Marcus Kruger would end up in Vegas but the assumptions wasn’t as strong yesterday after the announcement that Marian Hossa would miss next year with a skin disorder.
Source saying Kruger wasn’t expected to be selected or traded on Wednesday and that he future with the Blackhawks was unknown.
On the Nashville Predators …
Adam Vingan of The Tennessean: The Predators protected Calle Jarnkrok over James Neal and it was not a surprise that Vegas selected him. Neal has a year left on his deal at a $5 million cap hit and could be used as trade bait for even more assets, either now or at the trade deadline.
“It came down to more of a business decision,” Poile said. “We signed (forward Calle) Jarnkrok to a six-year deal last year. I think he’s an improving player, plays multiple positions and I think his career is clearly on the upside.
“James had a much bigger contract and he only had one year left before he was an unrestricted free agent. We didn’t have any negotiations, but there was no guarantees that we would be able to keep him. It really was a business decision. It was as simple as that.”
GM David Poile spoke Vegas GM George McPhee about protecting exposed players but he didn’t like the asking price.
“The price was too high,” Poile said. “My feeling is I still have that asset or assets because I didn’t trade away anything. Because of that, if I need to, if I can make a difference of adding a player or filling it in, I’ll possibly be using these assets to do that.”