On the Pittsburgh Penguins …
Cap Friendly: With defenseman Olli Maatta out for six weeks, and only seven weeks left in the season, the Penguins could put his $4 million salary cap hit on the LTIR. If the Penguins go above the cap ceiling, they reactivate him for the start of the playoffs. No salary cap during the playoffs.
On the Arizona Coyotes …
Dan Rosen of NHL.com: Doan was thought to have asked for a trade but Shane Doan did not. That’s right. Doan has not said he would like to pursue other opportunities.
alluded to the fact that John Chayka has an open dialogue with Doan. Until things change, it is a case of much ado about nothing. This will be a situation that is closely monitored until the trade deadline.
“To date we’ve talked quite a bit and I’ve left it that if he has a belief that it might be in the best interest for himself and his family to try and take a run at the Stanley Cup I’m open to having that discussion with him,” Chayka said. “I wouldn’t be fair to Shane to not have that discussion. I respect him too much to not have it. Having said that, he hasn’t told me to explore these opportunities and look into things. He’s happy with being a Coyote. He signed here for
a reason. He’s only played here ever. That’s where we’re at today.”
Teams have called Chayka about Doan, and he passed that info along to him. As of yet, Doan has’t told Chayka to explore the possibility.
Other pending UFAs that Chayka may get calls on include Martin Hanzal, Radim Vrbata, Ryan White and Michael Stone.
“It’s a deadline and deadlines create actions and urgency, and we are urgent to try to improve our group,” Chayka said. “We want to be better. We’re 29th and we need to be better than that. We have lots of opportunity and optionality and I’m approaching it as a building opportunity.”
