- Nick Kypreos: Sources are saying that Flames Miikka Kiprusoff has told team management that if his rights are traded, he won’t report due to family reason.
- Greg Brady: Mike Keenan says there was a mutual understanding between the Flames and Kiprusoff that he wasn’t going to play out the 2013-14 season at $1.5 million.
- Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News: Sharks GM Doug Wilson after trading Douglas Murray,
“Can this lead to other deals?” Wilson asked, repeating a question. “Sure it can.”
He said it’s “very doubtful,” that they are looking for a short-term, rental fix. They also plan on keeping all their draft picks. So that leaves three possibilities. 1. Gain immediate help by trading one of their roster assets. 2. Continue to obtain more draft picks. 3. Trade an expiring contract (ie. Ryane Clowe) for a young player.
- Craig Custance of ESPN: Teams that are willing to sell now have an advantage. The numbers of teams may double next week. The addition of Brad Stuart in the offseason, made Douglas Murray expendable for the Sharks. If you’re going to trade for draft picks, this is the year to do it. The Sharks performance in the next week will dictate how the Sharks refresh/reset will go. Ryane Clowe could be the next to go. If things don’t go well over the next week, Dan Boyle could also be on his way out. After next season, the contracts of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelskiand Boyle will come off the books. They currently have just $27 million on the books for 2014-15. Thornton and Marleau have no-movement clauses.
“This is coming to crunch time,” Wilson said, saying the bigger refresh comes now or in the summer. “The phone has been busy, and we’ll take all calls.”
- Andy Strickland of True Hockey: Some wonder if the recent play of Kris Russell and Wade Redden will reduce the urgency of GM Doug Armstrong’s search for a partner for Alex Pietrangelo.
- Craig Morgen of Fox Sports Arizona: Coyotes GM Don Maloney if they be buyers or sellers,
“We’re right at the cliff as far as I’m concerned,” Maloney said. “If we slide much further, all bets are off. We’re going to go out and find assets. This is reality.”
He has been in “constant” talks with other teams about trades. If they lose to either or both of the Wild and Predators this week, names that may not be on the roster after the deadline could be Boyd Gordon, Raffi Torres, Derek Morris and others.