Canadiens owner on a third jersey, rumors involving the president of hockey ops position, and on GM Bergevin
Stu Cowan: Montreal Canadiens Geoff Molson owner said that they will be coming out with a third jersey at some point. It won’t happen this season but could be done for next season.
Eric Engels of Sportsnet: Montreal Canadiens Geoff Molson owner – addressing the rumor that they would be hiring Vincent Damphousse within the year – doesn’t have any plans on hiring a new president of hockey operations.
“I have no intentions of hiring another president of hockey operations,” Molson concluded. “There are very few teams that do it around the NHL and there are many reasons for that.”
Molson also backs GM Marc Bergevin, calling him one of the most respected and experienced GMs in the NHL.
“If we look at the history of Marc’s time as GM, in the first few years, with the core of players we had, we had a lot of success but we didn’t win,” he said. “But we had a lot of success. It was decided two years ago that with the core of players we had, we weren’t going to win and we had to make changes. We readjusted. It’s not an excuse, but we readjusted. And we’re trying to realize the plan of those readjustments. And I have a lot of confidence in that plan, and that’s the only way I can explain it.”
Braden Holtby on the uncertainty of free agency
J.J. Regan of NBC Sports: Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby on the uncertainty of this offseason and free agency.
“To be honest I have no clue,” Holtby said in a video conference Friday when asked about is future status as a free agent. “I haven’t thought of it past the fact of when it might be. You know, there is so much up in the air right now, even if free agency is later on, October, November, whenever. Our first thought was what do we do with the kids in school or anything like that with so much uncertainty, but who knows if schools will even be running by then so I don’t know.”
The 31-year old Holtby is in the final year of his deal and there are plenty of reasons that this could be his final year with the Capitals. He’ll likely be looking for his last big contract, but that option may be hard to find given a flat cap and all the uncertainty.
A long-term deal with the Capitals doesn’t make sense because of Ilya Samsonov. A one-year deal with the Capitals and re-visit free agent next offseason may not make sense for him as he wouldn’t be a No. 1. The Capitals will also be tight against the cap and even if he’s on a one-year deal, fitting a potential $6 million deal would be difficult.