Tortorella not worrying if his job is on the line
Brian Hedger of The Columbus Dispatch: The Columbus Blue Jackets are now in the seventh spot by points percentage in the Central Division as they’ve gone 1-5-2 in their past eight games. There are serious concerns on both sides of the puck.
Head coach John Tortorella when asked if he thinks his job is on the line.
“I never worry about that,” Tortorella said. “I do my job the best I can. If people want to make decisions on me, that’s their decision. I never worry about that. I go about my business and I’m going to coach this team in the best way I possibly can.”
Tortorella doesn’t have a contract beyond this season. Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen didn’t respond when asked about a comment on his coach.
The Ducks have some players they’d need to retain salary one, so others that they wouldn’t
Eric Stephens of The Athletic: The Anaheim Ducks need to decide which direction they are going to go in.
Adam Henrique cleared waivers last week and could be one of the players the Ducks look to move. An executive said that teams would be interested in Henrique and a few others. The Ducks may have to retain some salary for Henrique and maybe for Jakob Silfverberg, Cam Fowler, or Ryan Getzlaf.
They may need to retain 50 percent of Henriques three years at $5.8 million. Getzlaf has a full no-movement clause and a $8.25 million cap hit. Silverberg and Fowler are owed more than Henrique and for longer-term.
Hampus Lindholm and Rickard Rakell will need new contracts after 2022 and would be much easier to move. They should be able to get value for them. Josh Manson is injured and has struggled the past couple of years.
There are the Jake Virtanen for Danton Heinen trade rumors, but the salary is an issue.