Kekalainen isn’t worried about Dubois not being signed yet
Jacob Nitzberg of 1st Ohio Battery: Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen on SiriusXM radio said isn’t worried that RFA forward Pierre-Luc Dubois isn’t re-signed yet or missing part of training camp or part of the season.
“I’m confident that we’ll have Pierre-Luc Dubois under contract before the first day of training camp…we’ve always had a good relationship with Pat Brisson (Dubois’ agent) and his company. We’ve had good negotiations with previous players that (have) had their contract up like Zach Werenski last year. We got it done just before training camp. (Werenski is a) huge part of our team, as is Pierre-Luc Dubois, so I’m confident things will get done.”
Trade tiers for the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline
Kevin Kurz of The Athletic: It’s hard to see the San Jose Sharks being a top-four team in the ‘Pacific’ division this season. It’s doubtful they’ll be looking to have a firesale at the trade deadline, but they’ll likely be looking to make moves with an eye towards 2021-22. They do have some long-term contracts with trade restrictions they will limit what they can do.
Putting the Sharks into trade tiers.
Every team would take their call – Timo Meier – Don’t expect the Sharks to put him on the market this season.
Has value, but limited flexibility – Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane – Hertl is coming off knee surgery but still have value with two years left at $5.625. He’s unlikely be moved unless something goes off the rails and a team is will to overpay – a top prospect and a first-round pick.
Potential 2021 trade bait – Devan Dubnyk, Stefan Noesen and Matt Nieto – Might be added depth options for contending teams at the trade deadline.
Getting older, wants to win now and still has value – Brent Burns and Patrick Marleau. Believe that Burns could eventually end up with the Seattle Kraken through the expansion draft. He has a limited three-team no-trade clause. He has four years left at a $8 million cap hit.
Has value, but still has to prove worthy of his new contract – Kevin Labanc and Radim Simek. Both are on four-year deal and likely part of their future plans.
Untradeable contract – Erik Karlsson and Martin Jones. The 30-year old Karlsson has seven years left at $11.5 million per season with a full no-movement clause.
Little value, but maybe swap him for a draft pick – Marcus Sorensen and Antti Suomela
Keep him to expose to Seattle – Dylan Gambrell
Only if another young player is coming back – Noah Gregor, John Leonard, Joachim Blichfeld, Brinson Pasichnuk, Sasha Chmelevski, Lean Bergmann and Alexei Melnichuk.
If they play well, maybe they garner interest at the deadline – Joel Kellman and Jacob Middleton