Another losing streak could put the Flyers GM on the hot seat again
Charlie O’Connor: “My understanding in December regarding Chuck Fletcher’s job status was that his seat was getting quite hot, but it was going to take another major team-wide falter (read: another extended losing streak) for ownership to decide to fire him in-season.
That, uh, hasn’t happened.
Whether he remains the GM after the season is an entirely different story, and probably depends a lot on how the rest of the second half goes.
But the improved record of the team since late December always was likely going to help Fletcher’s in-season job security a fair amount.”
The Hurricanes prefer term but done rule out rentals if an extension can be reached
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The Carolina Hurricanes have an extra $7 million in LTIR space now that Max Pacioretty is back on the LTIR after another Achilles tear. Hurricanes GM Don said they aren’t in a rush to add someone.
“We certainly are in a different position because now we have cap space,” Waddell said. “But we still really like our team. We’re going to look and see if there’s anything that makes sense moving forward. But we’re otherwise not out there looking to make a deal just to make a deal.”
The Hurricanes will be looking for scoring help, but the price may have to come down on some of the bigger names that could be available. The Hurricanes don’t have a history of giving up a lot for rental players and they prefer players with term according to Waddell.
They won’t rule out pending UFAs in Bo Horvat, Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko. It would be price dependent. If they were to acquire Horvat, thinks they would want an extension in place, but the Canucks may not grant teams that access.
Timo Meier may interest the Hurricanes as well if they could get an extension done. The Sharks may eventually allow teams to talk to his agent.