Fletcher on the Flyers deadline and Laughton
Anthony Mingioni: Philadelphia Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher on if they were considering any big trades: “There wasn’t anything imminent. Vast majority of trades were expiring deals. Woke up this morning not knowing we were going to sign Scott Laughton or trade him. That was the big decision.”
Ryan Gilbert: Fletcher on signing Scott Laughton to a five-year deal: “Laughton wanted to be a Flyer, so the deal got done … Certainly, there was a lot of interest in Scott Laughton, but we value him highly and we’re happy with the deal.”
Wild GM straight up with teams about their UFAs
Jessi Pierce: Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin had let teams know a few weeks ago about what their plans were with their pending unrestricted free agents:
“You just shoot straight with guys and give them the situation you’re in. ‘Hey look, if we’re in a playoff spot, we’re going to hang tight, I’m going to keep my guys.’ If things went horribly wrong and we weren’t, that’d be a different story. But ya know what, we’re a good position right now and I think everybody just kind of knew where we were, so nobody was really calling to pry guys away from us.”
On Devils Murray and Holtz
Amanda Stein: New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald on not trading defenseman Ryan Murray: “We still want to be competitive, we will be competitive. Ryan still helps us there, we weren’t just giving players away.”
Fitzgerald added that teams were calling but they didn’t get the offers he felt would benefit the team.
Amanda Stein: Devils GM Fitzgerald said that he’s working on a contract and immigration for 2020 first-round pick Alexander Holtz. There is no timeline on getting him over, but they are working to get something done.
Neal McHale: GM Fitzgerald said that he didn’t want to use their last remaining salary retainer spot at the deadline. He added that they could be used later on, prior to the expansion draft.