Gary Lawless: Hearing a deal is done with Barry Trotz to coach the Capitals. Owner Ted Leonsis is fine with Dick Patrick hiring a coach. Patrick and Trotz have a long association together. Lawless wouldn’t be surprised if Claude Noel was a candidate for an assistant position with the Capitals. Trotz deal is close but not complete. They could announce it early this week.
Chuck Gormley: Trotz not responding to attempts to contact. President Dick Patrick said at the end of April that if it made sense, they could hire a coach before naming a GM. It’s likely that Trotz (if hired) knows what options they may have as GM and be OK with it. Gorlmey speculates that Ray Shero or Paul Fenton could make sense.
Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe: There could be lots of trade activity at the draft. There will be seven recently hired GMs taking over teams compared to at last years draft. The Leafs, Sharks, Oilers and Blues are planning on making some changes. Draft picks will be available as it’s been noted that this may not be a good draft. With the Sharks splitting up Joe Thornton and Brent Burns (moving Burns back to the blueline), it could mean GM Doug Wilson is open to trading Thornton. The Flames may kick tires on Ryan Miller. Shinzawa thinks the Wild would be foolish to chase Thomas Vanek as they have some good pieces upfront and need help on defense.
