Hope Smoke: Darren Dreger: “McGuire has interviewed for a number of GM jobs (Minny, TB). He has good support from the Commissioner’s office”
Hope Smoke: Darren Dreger: “Tallon told me, prior to Bylsma being let go, that he was ready to push into the 2nd round of coaching interviews next week” … “Tallon was down to a group of 6 and Ron Wilson is included in that list.” … “but when you have a guy the quality of Bylsma pop loose everybody is going to look at what they’ve got, certainly Fla, Van & Car”
Hope Smoke: Bob McKenzie: “Some people are going to say that Bylsma becomes a top candidate for Van but I don’t think that’s 100% the case”
Harvey Fialkov: Source saying the Panthers have reached out to Dan Bylsma.
Harvey Fialkov: Hearing that Panthers assistant coach John Madden is a long-shot, but still in the picture. George Richards: Tallon said that Maddon would remain as an assistant and the new coach would bring in the other assistant.
George Richards: Panthers GM Dale Tallon said that he’s interviewed 12 candidates, hasn’t spoken with Bylsma as of yet (8:11 PM last night) … He hopes to talk to Bylsma soon “to see what his interest level is.”
Hope Smoke: Nick Kypreos: “If you connect the dots, Willie Desjardins and the Canucks are a logical choice here”
SportsNet: Potential assistant coaches in Toronto: Craig Ramsey and Rick Tocchet. John Shannon: Add Ted Dent to the list of possible assistant coaches for the Maple Leafs.
Mitch Melnick: Pierre McGuire: “I think it’s time to focus in on TV & not have these courtships every spring”
Nicholas Hand: Hearing that there could be a major shakeup in the Blues front office.
Hope Smoke: Doug MacLean: “I can tell you for a fact that Trotz was the only guy they wanted in Wash. They considered nobody else”