Scouting the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday
Bruce Garrioch: There were six teams that were scouting the Senators and Maple Leafs on Saturday. The Winnipeg Jets had two scouts.
The cost for Kovalchuk
Pierre LeBrun: There is some belief that it would cost at least a second-round pick for Montreal Canadiens pending UFA Ilya Kovalchuk.
Have been hearing that the Canadiens have talked about keeping him. He has had a good impact on the team on the ice and in the dressing room. The Canadiens could wait until the last minute to decide what to do with Kovalchuk.
The Sharks have some pending UFAs they can move
Kevin Kurz of The Athletic: The San Jose Sharks season definitely hasn’t turned out the way they hoped. Teams will be calling to see who is available and they’ll be listening to see what they could get in return.
“The results dictate what we do. Our record is our record,” Wilson said. “You always explore things that are the right things for the team both now and for next year. Not prepared to surrender this year or anything like that but my job also is to make decisions that get us back to where I know we’re going to get in September. If opportunities are there, we will explore.”
Pending unrestricted free agents that could be moved include Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Brenden Dillon, Melker Karlsson, Tim Heed, Stefan Noesen, Aaron Dell and Radim Simek.
The Sharks already have $63 million committed to 12 players next season.
Goaltender Martin Jones has really struggled the past two seasons. He has four years left on his deal at a $5.75 million cap hit. Could they look to buy him out?
“Right now we’re focused on helping all our players get on top of their game and playing the right way, so I’ll stop there,” Wilson said.
Erik Karlsson and Marc-Edouard Vlasic have no-movement clauses. Logan Couture, Thorton, Jones, Brent Burns, and Evander Kane have limited no-trade clauses. GM Doug Wilson said that the players would have to come to him if they wanted to move.