On the holiday roster freeze …
John Shannon: 11:59 pm on December 19th to 12:01 am December 28th.
On James van Riemsdyk and the Toronto Maple Leafs …
Sportsnet: Hockey Night in Canada Headlines. Elliotte Friedman saying it’s all quiet with regards to trade talk around the league.
Nick Kypreos said Toronto Maple Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk’s name has been out there, but there is nothing going with any hard offers for him.
“Teams are asking about him, and certainly the Leafs are willing to listen. They know that he wants a long-term deal and that’s a deal that can start negotiations as early as July as he becomes a UFA as of July 2017. But they will hold him at a premium much like Kessel. They think that, that rate of return could be out there for JVR and maybe even beyond that as he has another year at a $4.2 million cap hit. That has a value all by itself.”
Transcribed by My NHL Trade Rumors…
On the Chicago Blackhawks …
Scott Powers: The Blackhawks still own the rights to Maxim Shalunov and GM Stan Bowman would like to bring him over.
On some pending KHL free agents …
Aivis Kalnins: SKA has started contract extension talks with Vadim Shipachov.
Aivis Kalnins: The teams of Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgenii Dadonov and Shipachov are trying to get them signed to a contract extensions now and not allowing them to hit free agency.
On the KHL …
Slava Malamud: Ten KHL teams owe their players their salary. Lada Togliatti hasn’t paid any of their players since August.
On the Ottawa Senators …
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen: Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is confident a deal will be finalized to hold an outdoor game at TD Place against the Montreal Canadiens on December 17th, 2017. Melnyk had preferred to hold the game on Parliament Hill, but knew TD Place could be a fallback option.
“As far as we’re concerned, we’re all in,” Melnyk said. “We’ve been all in since the beginning. We just didn’t tell anybody. We hope it’s going to happen, we think it’s great for the fans and the city.
“The fact it’s not on Parliament Hill, I’m still scratching my head, but it is what it is. It could have been a three hour infomercial globally for Ottawa in front of Parliament Hill but we’ll do our best. I think we can do a lot of fun things at TD Place and try to make it very, very unique experience.”