Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot: Pierre LeBrun on TSN 1040 radio on the possibility of Steven Stamkos to Calgary trade.
“Well, listen. Certainly Treliving, I think, has been on the phone to a lot of teams, from what I can gather. But I have no evidence to suggest that Brad Treliving and Steve Yzerman have spoken, sadly. I know we wish that was true.
“But who knows? Maybe – All I can tell you is that people in both organizations flatly denied any of that speculation to me last week. So if it’s happening, it’s happening awfully quietly. But I don’t get the sense that’s the case.
“And the reason for that, I think guys, is that we have to remind ourselves of this – Steve Stamkos has a no-movement clause, and I don’t think he’s in the mood to go anywhere now. Yes, he’s going to have to make a decision at some point after the season. But why does it have to be before then? He’s running the ship.
“And I do think that Steve Yzerman, from what I was told, he’s still not giving up the idea of trying to sign him. So that’s where his focus is.”
Frank Seravalli of TSN: Interview with Stars GM Jim Nill (last week)
TSN: At the same time, you’re spending much more money ($10.4 million) on goaltending than any other team in the league. That’s nearly 15 per cent of the total cap. That can’t be ideal.
Nill: “It’s not. But we can do it. We’re fortunate. We’ve got a lot of younger players on (less expensive) contracts. It’d be no different than you say we’re spending a lot on forwards right now. What’s the most important position in hockey? We think one of them is goaltending. We’ve got a three-to-five year window where we can do it. We’re lucky.”
TSN: Let’s say we get to March and the Stars are right in the thick of the West. Do you have the cap flexibility to spend and add pieces at the trade deadline?
Nill: “We have cap room. Our ownership has been very good. We’re in the top half of the league right now (spending). I think our additions might come from within. Our scouting staff has done a good job. We’ve got a good team in Texas (AHL). We might not have to (trade). We’re in that phase where we’ve got young kids coming, we’ve got a group financially where we can do some things. We’re not capped out. We’re in a good spot.”