Blue Jackets looking for help at center
Sportsnet: Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen said that they are looking to acquire a center, but they aren’t easy to find.
“It’s a challenge because (centres are) just not available via trade so you usually have to draft and develop one and I think we did that very well with one player and now he’s not here so we have to get back into our hunt finding a centreman through draft or trade,” Kekalainen said Tuesday.
“There could be some available in the free agent market next summer, but I can assure you we understand the importance of the centre ice position and that’s why we did a lot of the different moves we tried to do in the off-season to strengthen that position and it hasn’t exactly gone as planned. We’ll keep searching and doing our job and building the team.
“I think we have some very good potential centre icemen growing into that role within our team, but we’re also going to look for ways to strengthen that position from the outside.”
Coaching options for the Seattle Kraken
Mike Johnston of Sportsnet: The Seattle Kraken still need to hire a head coach, but they are not in a rush to do so. GM Ron Francis has already said their options could grow if a team fires their coach mid-season.
Seven candidates for the vacant spot – Gerard Gallant, Bruce Boudreau, Claude Julien, Rikard Gronborg, Rod Brind’Amour, Todd Nelson and Mike Vellucci.
Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic: (article posted a couple of weeks ago) Bruce Boudreau said he is interested in coaching again and would be interested in Seattle.
“Anybody that has done this wants to be coaching in the greatest league in the world if they can. It is new. It is fresh. It is a new team and I think the whole idea is exciting. It’s not like you sit there and say I do or do not want this job because it is a West Coast type thing. If someone offers you a job, it is an amazing thing. Especially with the success Vegas had. It is not like an expansion team in 1967. You knew then you were not going to be very good or have the dregs of every team.
“The way they have gone about it now, Seattle is going to start off with a pretty good team.”
