On the Vancouver Canucks …
Rick Dhaliwal: Bo Horvat agent Mark Guy said that there is nothing new to report with regards to a new contract. They are going through the process and it can take time.
On Ilya Kovalchuk …
David Pagnotta: A couple teams in the Eastern Conference are trying for Ilya Kovalchuk.
On the Toronto Maple Leafs …
Maple Leafs Hot Stove: Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 590 on not to be surprised if the Toronto Maple Leafs make a big move.
“The one thing that Toronto has that is a real advantage to them is they don’t have any issues with the expansion draft. If you look at Minnesota, they’re definitely tight still. Anaheim has to do some things to protect itself. One of the reasons Tampa made that deal yesterday with Drouin to Montreal and not to Minnesota — who was a team that I think was really chasing Drouin — is because Sergachev doesn’t hurt them in an expansion way. So, Toronto isn’t hurt by that; I think it gives them flexibility.
The Leafs are tight. They do a very good job of keeping information tight under Lamoriello. My guess is what we’re looking at here is we’re looking at the Leafs recognizing they’ve got a two-year window to do something big before they really have to start paying everybody. Nylander has got the one more year under contract. Marner and Matthews have got two. I think they look at those three guys, and I think Nylander has shown that he is going to be a heck of a player, too, along with the other two guys. They have a two-year window to really go for it. I think they’re sitting there and thinking, “what allows us to be the best team we can be for the next two years and make a charge at this?” It would not surprise me if they pull out something big that has us going, “Okay, not sure we really saw that , but I’m not surprised it happened.”