Kraken GM on their head coach search
Seattle Kraken: GM Ron Francis on the Kraken’s head coaching search.
“We’re looking to hire our head coach and staff as we head into the second quarter… We think it’s prudent on our part to wait and see who is all out there when making that final decision.”
Nick Cotsonika: Francis when asked if they have a list of coaching finalists: “We have a spreadsheet, yeah. We’ve had a spreadsheet for a long time.”
Getzlaf will evaluate his future this offseason
Elliotte Teaford of the OC Register: It hasn’t been a great year for the Anaheim Ducks and Ryan Getzlaf. I was willing to accept a trade at the deadline but it would have been to a team of his choosing, but in the in end a deal couldn’t be worked out. He’ll be a pending UFA and will have to take a big paycut from his current $8.5 million.
“I planned on playing out this year to the best I can and going into the summer and kind of re-evaluating it as it went along. Me and Bob, again, talked about the future of the organization after the past few days. Needs and wants. No matter what, I feel like I’m part of that in some way. For me to worry about contract talks is kind of irrelevant at this point. We’ll go into the summer and have plenty of time to do that.”
Getzlaf has almost 1,000 points in his 17th year career and is closing in on Teemu Selanne‘s team record of 988.
Maple Leafs working on signing Amirov
Josh Simpson of Maple Leafs Hot Stove: Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas on 2020 first-round pick Rodion Amirov.
“He is not signed yet. When signing a Russian player, especially one that is in Russia, it is a challenge. Reid Mitchell deals with this on our staff and does an incredible job of trying to get the players a Canadian visa. Especially during the pandemic, it has been even more complicated.
Our plan right now is to continue to work with Dan Milstein and Ufa to see if we can get Rodion over to North America. Unlike other years, he hasn’t even been here yet.”