- Hope Smoke: Bob McKenzie on the Oilers: “Maybe it’s not the coach & it’s the players. If it’s the players then that falls on the GM.” … “I think they would probably go the trade route first ” … “I think is in for a dime in for a dollar on coaching staff. He’s a loyal guy & had nothing but confidence in Eakins”
- Hope Smoke: Bob McKenzie on the Oilers: “I think ultimately they’ll need to make the bigger move where they deal a Yakupov or Eberle” … “Don’t know whether Draistaitl’s here for long-haul or not. If team starts spiralling, probably best to send him back to Junior”
- Hope Smoke: Bob McKenzie on the Red Wings and Sabres: “Det’s is kind of honing in and doing some scouting on Myers. Seeing where his game is at” … “Some wonder whether Buffalo isn’t a conducive environment for Myers or whether that rookie of the year season was a mirage” … “So far the price for Myers has scared people off. Asking for guys like Mantha or Nyquist from Det. Now they’re honing in Larkin” … “The Wings are in an interesting situation, what are they this year? Are they contending or are they going with a youth movement?” … “I’m sure Babcock would love to get a guy in his mid-20s who can come in & instantly make that that D better. He’d probably be all for moving a Larkin & whatever other prospect, but if you’re Holland you’re like you’re not even committed long-term” … “Can’t make moves to make the coach happy. That weighs into the Det equation as well”
- Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Elliotte Friedman on the Red Wings.
“Yeah, they need a right-hand shot. They’re all lefties and they do want a right-hand shot. The hot name has been Tyler Myers. It’s difficult for me to figure out exactly what Buffalo is doing there. Tyler Myers is 24 years old. He signed a big contract, but if you look at the way it’s structured – go on CapGeek – you’ll notice the salary starts to come down as the contract ends. It was really front-loaded, especially with a big signing bonus. So it’s a good number. You look at that contract and what you have take in actual salary the next few years, and you’d happily pay that for a 24-year-old.”
“And I saw today or yesterday it was reported the ask was maybe Gustav Nyquist. I’m not certain about that. I do think when they talked to Buffalo about Ehrhoff last year, the ask might have been Nyquist. So it wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case with Myers too.”
“The other guy I’ve heard Detroit linked with is Brian Campbell. He’s a leftie shot, but he can still move the puck. And he’s got a big ticket. His cap is $7.1 million. One more year. So I’m thinking that Florida, unless it’s a big contract back, they would probably have to keep some of the money to make that work with Detroit.”
- Hope Smoke: Ray Ferraro on the Maple Leafs: “If you don’t think mgmt has a say in how the roster is constructed, Orr and McLaren are in the AHL”