A collection of quotes from radio interviews done by Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and David Poile transcribed by Nichols on Hockey.
Bob McKenzie on Mike Green.
“But, I mean, if they’re outside of the playoff picture and he’s a $6 million a year player and he’s unrestricted at the end of the year – unless they negotiate a more cap-friendly number for a player of that stature – then he would definitely be an interesting rental for a team that thinks, if they have the cap room to add that much money for the balance of the season, he could really make a huge difference on a power play. And especially on a team where their defense is engrained enough that he has to elevate his play to that level, as opposed to being asked to carry the load.
“A lot of it will really depend on Washington. What their plans are vis-à-vis contracts. What Green expects to get money-wise.”
Bob McKenzie on Keith Yandle and the Arizona Coyotes.
“Well, it’s one of their options. They’re potentially looking at maybe moving one of their defensemen. But here’s the problem they run into. Their best defenseman – or the guy that everybody wants – is Keith Yandle. I don’t think Phoenix wants to do anything that big.”
“Oh, he gets mentioned like all the time. Thus far it has been pretty clear that Phoenix hasn’t wanted to go down that road. Or if they were exploring it, they never got anything they felt would be worth their while.
“So I think it’s more along the lines of some of their younger defensemen that aren’t fully formed yet. Guys like Michael Stone or Brandon Gormley, who just got called up from the minors and has been kind of slow. First round pick – they anticipated he was going to be a real good defensemen for them. Whether it’s his lack of development or the Phoenix Coyotes like to bring people along slowly, he still isn’t really an NHL regular and maybe this is an opportunity for him right now.”
Darren Dreger on Avs Ryan O’Reilly.
“That one is a head-scratcher for me. I still think he’s an excellent hockey player and there aren’t many teams in the National Hockey League who wouldn’t line up to acquire the services of Ryan O’Reilly. Maybe that sort of chatter will start to heat up as things progress here, if the Avalanche really take a turn for the worse and Sakic and Roy are looking for an upgrade in whatever position they might be looking for. O’Reilly’s name surfaces every now and again. But I know that they love him in Colorado, but he’s such a responsible player. Just such a good two-way forward that that minus stat, which I don’t always pay attention to – I often don’t as it pertains to forwards – but that one seems glaring beside his name, because as I said, he’s a very responsible guy.”
Predators GM David Poile on trading.
“Having said that, we often – it’s a lot easier knowing what you need than to be able to get what you need. Trading has become more difficult because of the cap and the longer-term contracts. For managers, the two times for player transactions right now are July 1 for free agency in the summer, when players are free, and also the trading deadline is a big day.
“But the trading deadline for me the last two years has been to maybe to trade away a player because we weren’t a playoff team. The previous seven years we were trading draft picks and younger players. So it’s a different dynamic all the time.”