On Ilya Kovalchuk …
Igor Eronko: Ilya Kovalchuk tell @rsportru that he’ll be heading to the U.S. for contract talks. He’ll be heading back to Russia by May 7th for Putin’s inauguration.
On the Carolina Hurricanes …
Jimmy Murphy: Hearing that Steve Greeley is the frontrunner for the Hurricanes GM position.
On the Minnesota Wild …
Jimmy Murphy: Hearing that Paul Fenton is the leading candidate for the Wild GM position.
Michael Russo of The Athletic: (mailbag) Fenton is the frontrunner for the GM position. If he’s not offered or doesn’t accept it, other candidates could include Kyle Dubas, Dean Lombardi, Tom Fitzgerald, Bill Guerin, Scott Mellanby, Chris Pronger, Martin Brodeur, Pierre McGuire, and Brian Lawton.
Jason Zucker has the most trade value, but it would be a mistake to trade him. The new GM would likely be taking a lot of calls on Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter and Jonas Brodin. Owner Craig Leipold wants to win now, so trades would be for players and not picks and prospects.
Given their salary cap situation and contracts, hard to see them being big players in John Tavares if he hits the open market.
The Wild and Montreal Canadiens have discussed Alex Galchenyuk in the past 14 months and could do so again. Max Pacioretty could be another option.
The Wild have until June 1st to sign Dmitry Sokolov.
wouldn’t trade Eric Staal despite his high value.
Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and Mikko Koivu have full no-movement clauses. Eric Staal, Jared Spurgeon and Devan Dubnyk have partial no-trades.
On the New York Islanders …
John Shannon: As of Wednesday night the New York Islanders hadn’t approached the Toronto Maple Leafs for permission to speak with GM Lou Lamoriello. Lou’s contract expires on June 30th.
On the Washington Capitals …
@Prospects_Watch: Darren Dreger: “I believe the Washington Capitals will do whatever they can to keep John Carlson.”
