On the Colorado Avalanche and Toronto Maple Leafs …
Maple Leafs Hot Stove: Bob McKenzie on TSN 1050 talking about Maple Leafs assistant GM Kyle Dubas and the Avalanche.
“Dubas is not going to Colorado, but here is my understanding: The contact being made was from Colorado ownership. The contact with the Leafs and Dubas was in hopes of getting Dubas to come in and run the entire hockey operation of the Colorado Avalanche. What that means for everybody else there, and what the timing on all that is, I’m not sure. But we do know now that Dubas isn’t going to Colorado; at least not now.”
On Ilya Kovalchuk …
Larry Brooks: “How much has Tortorella changed? Enough so that Jackets have inquired about Kovalchuk’s interest in coming to Columbus.”
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman on NHL Network was talking about Ilya Kovalchuk. Talk from the combine was the Kovalchuk still plans on playing in the NHL next season. Larry Brooks mentioned the Blue Jackets, there are ties to San Jose, Toronto and St. Louis, and Friedman thinks it’s deeper than that.
“Now, they’re still doing a bit of a dance. His agent, Jay Grossman, and Ray Shero, the GM in New Jersey – you have to make a deal with the Devils. You have to make a deal with Kovalchuk. So it’s a two-step process.
“But I do think guys there are a lot of teams saying, ‘We’re interested. How do we make this work?’ “
Darren Dreger’s sources don’t think the Maple Leafs are interested.
Bob McKenzie thinks Kovalchuk could be looking for a two- or three-year deal and “looking for between $6-7 million, and maybe closer to $7 million a year.”
Maple Leafs Hot Stove: Darren Dreger on TSN 1050 saying the Maple Leafs likely aren’t interested in Kovalchuk.
“I don’t believe the Maple Leafs are interested. I saw the reports, and I did my work in digging through my Maple Leafs sources, and I’m told it’s BS. I guess I’ll leave it at that from a Toronto Maple Leafs perspective.”