On the Florida Panthers …
George Richards: After the addition of Jared McCann, sounding like the Panthers are out on Alexander Radulov.
Harvey Fialkov of the Sun-Sentinel: Newly promoted GM Tom Rowe said that he and former GM Dale Tallon felt that they had enough depth with Mike Matheson, Aaron Ekblad, Alex Petrovic and Ian McCoshen, that they could trade Erik Gudbranson for some offensive help.
“The fact we were able to add draft picks this year, second and fourth round, 33 and 93, we felt gave us two picks that we got back that we lost on the trading deadline .
Rowe added that though Jared McCann is natural center, he has the ability to play the wing.
Rowe said that they have told Brian Campbell and his agent they would like to re-sign the pending UFA, but he’ll likely test the free agent market first.
On the Vancouver Canucks …
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: Canucks GM Jim Benning was looking for a big, top four defenseman, and he moved quickly on Erik Gudbranson.
“We wanted to get it done before other teams got involved in a bidding war,” Benning told Hockey Central at Noon Friday. “On the back end, I didn’t think we were big and strong enough.”
Benning admits they gave up a lot – including the second and fourth round picks. He felt they were dealing from a position of strength up the middle. Their No. 5 pick could be a future top-six forward.
“We’re going to get either a first-line player or top-four defenceman with that pick,” Benning said. “Where we pick at five, that player might need one more year of development in junior. We don’t want to rush him. He has a chance to be a first-line player.”
The trade for Gudbranson doesn’t mean that Dan Hamhuis won’t be back next season with the Canucks, as they continue to talk with him.
“We’re still talking to Dan. We still have some decisions to make,” the GM said. “We’d still like to have Dan on board, so we’re going to try and figure that out.”