Scouting the Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars …
Luke DeCock: Scouts listed to attend last night’s Hurricanes – Stars game: Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets, and Arizona Coyotes.
On the St. Louis Blues …
Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Calgary Flames winger Jaromir Jagr said that he was very close to signing with the Blues.
“You know what, it was very close. Very close,” Jagr said Monday. “It just didn’t happen. I had to make a decision in probably two, three hours, and I made this decision.”
Jagr got a $1 million base salary with up to another million in potential bonuses. What the Blues offered for Jagr was competitive with Calgary’s offer.
“At my age, I felt very comfortable to go somewhere where at least I know somebody as a coach,” Jagr said. “Plus, I never played in Canada, so I wanted to try it.”
On the Toronto Maple Leafs …
Update: Leafs recall Nikita Soshnikov and send Frederik Gauthier to the Marlies.
Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: If forward Nikita Soshnikov isn’t on the Maple Leafs roster today, he has the option to leave and head back to Europe.
Dan Milstein, Soshnikov’s agent, indicated in an email that there were “no expectations” out exercising the out clause.
Coach Mike Babcock didn’t have an update on the roster decision.
Mike Augello: “The Nikita Soshnikov roster dilemma should be solved one way or the other today. The #Leafs will probably demote Freddy Gauthier & recall him. A trade is possible, but not likely….and him returning to Russia is a longshot.”
On NHL Expansion …
Emily Kaplan: Gary Bettman about expanding to 32 teams: “You don’t expand just to be symmetrical…. Under the right circumstances, maybe. But it’s not our manifest destiny .”
Emily Kaplan: Bettman when asked if there is a shortlist of potential expansion cities: “We’re not considering anybody. There are places that on an ongoing basis that express an interest in having a team. We listen, but we’re not doing anything with it.”