On the Edmonton Oilers …
Chris Nichols: Darren Dreger on the Oilers at the trade deadline: “I’m not going to say there was zero interest, but I know there was limited interest in Nail Yakupov”
On the Ottawa Senators …
Wayne Scanlan: Defenseman Patrick Wiercioch on the possibility that he won’t be with the Senators next season: “I’ve been a possibility to be changed for six years now.”
On Eric Staal …
Michael Smith: Eric Staal on where he might be playing in the future: “We’ll worry about that kind of stuff after the season and in the summer.”
On the Vancouver Canucks …
News 1130 Sports: Prospect Thatcher Demko on signing with the Canucks in two weeks: “I have not talked to the Canucks but will after the season, they are giving me space.” … “I will talk to my family, they know what’s best for me, make sure we have all the information before we make a decision.”
Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot: Darren Dreger on TSN 1040 on being asked about tampering years ago.
“I, in fact, was accused as part of a tampering process years ago by the Vancouver Canucks, specific to Daniel and Henrik Sedin. The belief was that based on the alleged relationship that I had with their agent, J.P. Barry of CAA Sports, that I might have been the conduit to the Toronto Maple Leafs. That was prior to Daniel and Henrik signing their extension. Brian Burke, then with the Toronto Maple Leafs, went to Sweden and all of these things. But it was quickly dismissed.
“So it sort of supports your point, in that ‘What is tampering? How clear cut is it?’ “
On the New York Islanders …
Brett Cyrgalis of the NY Post: It would be foolish if GM Garth Snow lowballed pending UFA Frans Nielsen this offseason. Nielsen is one of their more consistent players this season and he would like to stay.
“I just feel that I’ve been through this rebuild with all these guys and we finally have a team here,” Nielsen told The Post on Tuesday morning. “For me, my first choice is to stay here and to keep building this team toward a Stanley Cup. You don’t know what’s out there, you don’t know what teams have interest. Do you want to go through another rebuild?
“So there is a lot of stuff like that. I feel like I’m in a good spot here, we have a good team and hopefully we can work it out here. That, for sure, would be my first choice.”