- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: It is believed that five teams have made calls on Jason Spezza – the Blues, Ducks , Coyotes, Predators and Panthers. The Senators would like to have a deal done by Friday and have an first round pick to use.
“Internally, Bryan told us at a certain time, what Jason’s possible demands were,” said Dorion at the club’s recent pre-draft availability. “We’ve talked about it for awhile so we’ve prepared for every type of scenario.
“We’ve known since (Spezza) came in and asked Bryan. We met with the pro scouts (two weeks ago), we met with the amateur scouts in May and those guys are aware. We’ve gone through every team in the league.”
- Bruce Garrioch: The Senators will be going over Jason Spezza options in Philadelphia, the offers will only improve.
- Michael Russo of the Star-Tribune: Wild GM Chuck Fletcher thinks he could add a veteran player or two this offseason. Thomas Vanek and Matt Niskanen are a couple of the top free agents, and their agent Steve Bartlett told them not to come to Philadelphia to talk with teams.
“The whole isn’t working, at least from the player side, the way it was intended,” said agent Steve Bartlett, whose top two free agents this cycle are Vanek and Tampa Bay’s Ryan Callahan. “It handcuffs everybody when everybody’s sitting in Philly.
“The way this was envisioned was players could go into cities and see the schools, the neighborhoods, look at the facilities, go out to dinner. When someone has to make what often they feel is a pressure decision on July 1 or 2, they want to have a sense more than just what they might know from playing on a visiting team.”
Don Meehan won’t have Jarome Iginla, Brad Richards, David Legwand and Matt Moulson in Philly either.
Steve Bartlett on Vanek and the Wild.“I don’t know what level of interest is. I’ll be curious to see,” Bartlett said. “There’s a lot of teams out there that need what Vanek brings. He’s interested to see what’s out there and he’s confident he can help a team.”