On the Colorado Avalanche …
Terry Frei of the Denver Post: Avs GM Joe Sakic is expected to be with the team today as they play in New Jersey. He’ll be with them in Buffalo on Thursday and Carolina on Friday. Sakic will be watching Hurricanes defensemen Justin Faulk, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and Ryan Murphy. The Hurricanes also have defensive prospects in Jake Bean, Haydn Fleury and Roland McKeown.
Dan Rosen of NHL.com: Gabriel Landeskog is playing in sixth season with the Avs, and Matt Duchene is in the eight. Both are well aware that there names are out there, but realize they can’t control it.
“Obviously it’s not what you want to be a part of, you don’t want to see your name in any of those discussions, but at the same time that’s the nature of the beast,” said Landeskog, who has four years remaining on a contract that carries a $5.571 million salary-cap charge. “When your team is not performing and you’re not performing individually that’s part of it and you have to accept that I guess. For me, it’s just a matter of controlling what I can control. I’ve said that before. I sound like a broken record, but really that’s what it is. I’m just trying to help this team win. I can’t control what rumors or articles my name might be floating around in.”
Duchene admits that it’s not always easy.
“Yeah, sometimes you wonder where you’re going to be tomorrow, where you’re going to be next week, where you’re going to be in two weeks, where you’re going to be in six months,” Duchene said. “That’s where your head can go sometimes, but once it’s gameday, I try to tune that out the best I can. I play for the Colorado Avalanche and I’m going to play as hard as I can.”
Landeskog has told management that he wants to stay and help turn things around. Duchene has also spoken with Sakic, but more to do with the team and not about the rumors.
Duchene on if he does get traded.
“I might be OK with it, but when I say that I might be OK with it I mean I might be OK with the transition,” Duchene said. “It might be an easy transition or it might be difficult, I’m not sure. It’s never happened to me before so I have no idea what to expect.”