Dubas confident he can get Nylander, Matthews, and Marner signed to extensions
Andrew Bottomley of Sportsnet: Back in July Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said that “We can, and we will” with regards to signing William Nylander, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner to contract extensions when their entry-level deals expire.
Yesterday on Sportsnet 590 radio Dubas continued that confidence despite not being able to get a Nylander deal done yet.
“I’m still confident,” said Dubas on an appearance on Prime Time Sports Tuesday. “I also understand that these things are not always simple and they take time and patience on all ends and that’s what we’re doing.”
Dubas added that they’ve spoken with the agents of all three players, and their talks will be ongoing.
“We’ve had discussions with all of their people as well,” he said. “Those discussions are ongoing and they will continue to be ongoing. Using the same logic as with William, they are obviously important players to our program.”
31 Thoughts rumor roundup
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: There were approximately 11 teams that went to watch Miami of Ohio 23-year old defenseman Grant Hutton. Hutton will be an NCAA free agent after their season.
San Jose Sharks owner Hasso Plattner spoke with Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, as well as Erik Karlsson and his wife Melinda twice before the trade was made.
Eugene Melnyk asked Erik Karlsson for a face-to-face meeting back in July to see where they were at. The meeting never happened.
Teams that could use some blueline help for their power play could call the Sharks about Tim Heed. If placed on waivers, he could get claimed.
Don’t think the rumors that the Senators asked for Ryan Merkley in Karlsson trade talks were true.
After the Tampa Bay Lightning terminated Jake Dotchin‘s contract, several teams asked for additional information. Dotchin reported to camp with 25 percent body fat and has seven weeks to appeal.
Defenseman Kevin Bieksa had been talking to teams a couple weeks ago but turned them down as they were too far away from his family. He’s looking for something close to his home in California.
Believe that the Philadelphia Flyers talked the Columbus Blue Jackets about Artemi Panarin before they signed free agent James van Riemsdyk.