Speculation staring to surround the Los Angeles Kings
TSN: Darren Dreger on TSN said that despite the speculation that Los Angeles Kings head coach John Stevens could be on the hot seat, it may not be the first move that Kings GM Rob Blake wants to make.
“He needs his best players to be better quite frankly. Obviously, if it comes off the rails then he’ll look at something. There’s been speculation around Alec Martinez as a trade possibility but I think that Blake needs his best players to be better first before he does anything drastic.”
Curtis Zupke of the LA Times: The LA Kings are off to a 2-6-1 start and speculation is starting to surround the team – Darren Dreger’s report.
GM Rob Blake wouldn’t say much regarding Dreger’s report on Alec Martinez, but did add:
“I’m not going to go into specifics into any of the calls. Listen, when you start a season like this, you’re going to have a lot of different rumors. That’s all I can say.”
Martinez obviously wouldn’t say much on the speculation either.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s not worth giving any thought because it’s not going to make things any better,” Martinez said. “I, like everyone else in this room, am focused on our game, focused on getting wins and quite frankly, I don’t give a … about the rest.”
The Canucks have a couple defensemen that teams may be scouting
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 650 and was asked about the large number of scouts at the Canucks game on Monday night. A light schedule and the number of teams around the West coast played a role, but there are some players that teams might be watching. The Canucks have some extra defensemen, potentially Ben Hutton and Alexander Edler.
“I do think teams are watching Edler this year. From what I understand, Edler is a pretty heavily-scouted player this year. Everybody knows what the situation is, that he is in the last year of his contract and whether he wants to stay in Vancouver or not, it doesn’t sound like there’s been a lot of talk with him about an extension, at least with his representatives.”
Friedman thinks there are teams wondering that if he’s made available and willing to go, would he be a fit for them.
Friedman adds that he reported last year that the Tampa Bay Lightning were interested in Edler, but he wasn’t interested in moving anywhere. The Pittsburgh Penguins are a team that would make some sense.