- Kevin Allen of the USA Today: Allen thinks the Predators have to handle Shea Weber like the Penguins did with Jordan Staal. Offer him the best contract extension you can afford, if he doesn’t accept it, trade him. Allen thinks they should offer him Sidney Crosby’s contract, 12 years and $104.4 million. That offer shows the Predators fans they are doing everything they can to re-sign him, and it puts all the cards on the table. Preds GM David Poile doesn’t want to trade him, but if turns down a $100 million deal, he doesn’t have much of a choice. They can’t have a situation with Weber like they did with Suter. If they were to move Weber they should be able to get an exceptional prospect, a 1st round pick, and a couple players to help them now.
- Josh Cooper of the Tennessean: Predators GM David Poile is still a little upset:
“Playing with (captain) Shea Weber, that one point, whether this franchise is in Timbuktu, the one point of not choosing to stay and play with Shea Weber, I will never, ever understand that,” Poile said.
Added Poile, “It doesn’t go down easy. Why should it go down easy?”
Poile has spoken with Weber and his reps:
“He believes in us, sees himself as the leader of our hockey club, and I think he, a lot like us, is disappointed with the outcome with Ryan,” Poile said. “So having said that, we have to both get back up on the horse and find a way to fill the hole and move forward. Hopefully that will be together. Right now, if you ask me, I think Shea feels that way.”
“Shea is the player we want to build our franchise around,” Poile said. “He’s our captain, he’s our leader and at some point we would like to enter into a longer term contract with him. That’s what our goal is and we’ll see over the next little while if we can make that happen.”
- Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: The Penguins were fielding offers for Paul Martin, but they are no longer actively shopping him. Martin has 3 years left at $5 million per.
- Andy Strickland via twitter: As of yesterday morning, things were quiet on the Carlo Colaiacovo front.
- Andy Strickland via twitter: The offer the Blues had on the table for Jamie Langenbrunner prior to July 1st is no longer there. It doesn’t mean the doors are closed on his return though. Langenbrunner has talked with a couple teams.
- Harvey Fialkov of the Sun-Sentinel: Panthers GM Dale Tallon said he expects Kris Versteeg to be a Panther for a long time, he filed for salary arbitration. Nick Bjugstad denied the Panthers offered him deal and that he turned them down.
- Eric Stephens of the OC Register: (from last week) Ducks GM Bob Murray said extending both Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry is a priority:
“I think it’s imperative for the hockey team,” he said. ”We’ve reached out to the agents and that will be an ongoing process. I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight. But we’ve reached out to both sides.
“It’s something that will be ongoing and we’ll work at it. I don’t think it’s something that you need to read in the paper every day. We’re going to work at it and when we get it done, we’ll tell you.”