- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: Hiring an assistant GM to fill his old position is not high on Flyers GM Ron Hextall’s priority list. Flyers fans shouldn’t expect major changes.
“I don’t anticipate anything real big,” he said. “. . . I like our team, like our youth up front. I like a lot of things. In saying that, there are a few things we have to take a peek at. But I’m not expecting anything earth-shattering right now.”
On adding a more productive left winger for Claude Giroux.
“If there’s something out there, we’d look at it, but I think it’s more left wing in general” where the Flyers need help. “Our right side is real strong, our middle is real strong. The left side is probably our weak spot, so if we can add a left winger, yeah, we’d love to do that.”
There will be many left winger UFAs this year, and Jets Evander Kane could be on the trade block. Hextall has talked to their pending free agent defenseman Kimmo Timonen, though no offer has been made as of yet.
“My hunch is it will be an ongoing process with Kimmo for the next few weeks or month, for him to see where his body is at and where he’s at, mentally,” Hextall said.
Carchidi lists some free agent left wingers: Thomas Vanek, Jussi Jokinen, Matt Moulson, Mason Raymond, Mike Cammalleri, Milan Michalek, Benoit Pouliot, Dustin Penner, Dany Heatley and Nikolai Kulemin.
- Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: The Senators, Maple Leafs, Capitals, Jets and Hurricanes need to make major roster changes. The Penguins, Sharks, Canucks, Predators, Panthers, Oilers and Flames may also need to go through some change.
Four teams are looking for a GM and five for a head coach.
Players that could be available for trade this off-season: Jason Spezza, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Eric Staal, Dion Phaneuf, Evander Kane, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
The Maple Leafs are listening more than shopping Dion Phaneuf.