On the San Jose Sharks …
Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News: Forward Patrick Marleau is on pace for 28 goals this season. He’s a pending free agent and this could be his last season with the Sharks, the only organization he’s been with.
Joe Thornton is also a pending free agent. Thornton’s camp has sent some signals that he’d like to remain, with Pierre LeBrun reporting he’s looking for a three year deal.
Sharks GM Doug Wilson won’t talk about the situation.
“We’re going to concentrate on this season,” Wilson said. “That’s what they want and out of respect for them, that’s what we are doing. Any negotiations or conversations about any of that will be in complete confidence. I will say that both of them should truly be celebrated. To play at this level, for this long, shows their love of the game. And there’s a lot of hockey left in them.”
On the Calgary Flames …
Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun: The Flames lack a quality No. 4 defenseman, and it’s one area that is hurting their playoff chances. Dougie Hamilton, Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie are a solid top three, but after that ….
The Flames are looking to add to the defense before the deadline, but so are many other teams.
If anyone would have take a portion of Wideman’s $5.25 million cap hit, he would have already been traded.
Deryk Engelland brings toughness, penalty killing and is a good third pairing defenseman. Engelland is a pending free agent and the Flames hope to bring him back. Engelland would like to come back as well. He knows he’ll have to take a big pay decrease from his current $2.9 million. It doesn’t make sense for the Flames to re-sign him before the June 20th expansion as they could possibly lose him in the draft.