- Michael Russo of the Star Tribune: The Wild will carry three goalies on their 23-man roster. GM Chuck Fletcher has been trying to make a move for weeks and will continue to look for pieces to improve his team. He said again that Mike Yeo’s job is safe.
“We need to find out what our team really is. I’ve been waiting for the answers to come from the inside. I’ve been calling around for weeks. It’s not easy to get teams to sell players early. Most teams are still in and we’ve been waiting and hoping that the answers would come from within, but we’re at a very critical time right now. We’ve got to stabilize here. We’ve got to find a way to win a game and start to play the right way. You’re not just going to snap your fingers and everything’s going to get back to normal, but we’ve shown at points of this year we’re a good hockey team, we have good players, we have good coaches and we need to find a way to become a good team again. Right now we’re not a good team and this is a small step. Everybody’s lost confidence and that happens when you go through these stretches.
“I thought it was time for me to give this team a shot in the arm and we’ll keep trying. We’ll see if we can add more pieces. If we can do it great, but it has to come from the inside too and maybe this is a spark they need to get going.
“I think Mike’s a good coach, and I think we have a good team. But right now we’re in a perilous position for our season and we have to win some games. We’re capable of doing it. But we have to stabilize here. We’ll see where it takes us. We’ve got to get going. We’re better than this. It’s time. It’s more than time.”
- Michael Russo: Wild head coach Mike Yeo: “To say that I’m not worried, of course I am. I’m a realist. I know what’s going on. I’m not going to sit around & mope, feel sorry for myself. I’ve got a job to do & now is when I have to do it better than ever.”
- Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic: Coyotes GM Don Maloney.
“I think that’s fair,” General Manager Don Maloney said. “We’re not waiting around to the trade deadline to make the changes that we feel we need to make. So my attitude is if the deal comes our way sooner rather than later, that’s fine. We have to reset and restructure where we’re at, how we’re going to ultimately be successful here long-term, and that’s our goal.”
- Hope Smoke: Bob McKenzie was saying that Coyotes GM Don Maloney has received instructions to cut payroll and to go into full rebuild mode. Mentioned that Antoine Vermette will be traded. McKenzie added that Vermette will get a good return as he’s a second line center that is good at faceoffs, something that is highly wanted.