- Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer: Jeff Skinner realizes anything could happen this offseason for the Hurricanes, including the possibility of being traded.
“It’s tough to say,” Skinner said. “Obviously that’s the way the business works. Teams that don’t make the playoffs rarely stay together.
“That’s something for management to figure out. It’s not something I think too much about because there’s no control. It’s something you have to be aware of because it’s part of the business, and it could happen. But sometimes it’s tough enough worrying about what you can control in this business and it’s a little too much to worry about what you can’t.
“It is what it is. If it happens … we’ll see what happens.”
- Mike Chambers of the Denver Post: The Avalanche could use some better puck moving defensemen. They have six defensemen under contract for next season already.
“We’d like to get our defense better,” coach Patrick Roy said Saturday before the Avs defeated Chicago 3-2 at the Pepsi Center in their final game of the season. “But we’ll see how it goes. … We have a good idea about what we need to do.”
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“I believe the Avalanche will be built by the amateur draft,” Roy said. “Obviously, if we feel we need to have a free agent to give time to our young guys to develop, we will do that. But saying this, we truly believe the draft will be the key to our success.”
Chris Brigas and Duncan Siemens may be the only prospect defensemen that could be capable of playing in the NHL next season. 24-year old Stefan Elliott appears to have fallen out of the Avs plans and could be on the trade block. When free agency opens on July 1st, the Avs could look to sign at least one of Cody Franson, Mike Green and Matt Irwin. Next year’s salary cap could be between $69 and $73 million.
“I’ve seen different things that have been said, different things that have been written, about where our player payroll has been over the years,” Josh Kroenke, president and governor of the Avalanche and NBA Nuggets, told The Denver Post. “But it was part of the building process. We’re going to be careful about who we hand out contracts going forward as well.
“You can compete for a Cup in a lot of different ways. We’re going to be a cap team when we feel we need to be a cap team, but we’re also going to be cautious with the hard-cap system. You can get yourself into a position where you could be hamstrung going forward. But we have a great young corps and we’re excited to keep building.”
- Sarah McLellan: Coyotes Shane Doan said he’ll talk with his family over the offseason and see where things go. On if he could see himself asking for a trade, Doan said: “I don’t know. I don’t even really want to think too much about that.” Doan: “To have it be 4 or 5 years, it has to be a lot quicker than that for me. It’s totally up to them. That’s their decision.”
- Sarah McLellan: Don Maloney said he “absolutely” expects head coach Dave Tippett back next season. Tippett: “I have put some things in my contract that protect me.” … “There’s things in there that protect me for relocation and a whole bunch of things.”
- Sarah McLellan: Tippett said that the two biggest areas they will address this offseason will be center and the blueline.