- Luke Fox of SporstNet: The Stars don’t see Jason Spezza a rental player and GM Jim Nill is “pretty confident” that they can sign him to a contract extension before the 2014-15 trade deadline.
“We wanted Jason to get to Dallas, get settled in, get him playing with the team, and then we’re going to open up negotiations,” Nill says. “As long as Jason’s comfortable in Dallas, we’ve got a good young team that he’s a big part of. We’re going to build this team around him. Along with Seguin and Benn, he’s a big part of our future over the next four or five years. I think he’s going to love this city. I think his family’s going to love it. And I think it’s going to be a good fresh start for him.”
- Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen: Senators assistant GM Pierre Dorion was “flabbergasted” at the reports that the Senators and Marc Methot are only $300,000 apart according to Methot’s agent Larry Kelly.
“First of all, it’s disappointing,” Dorion said, during a break at the club’s charity golf tournament. “I’ve been with the team for eight years and I don’t know if I’ve ever been more disappointed about anything that has been written.”
Dorion went on to say that “the information within that article is totally false and there’s no other way to put it.”
Kelly said yesterday that he “absolutely” stands by the numbers that were quoted.
- Jason Gregor: Writer Josh Yohe on James Neal: “Neal had become a problem for people to deal with and some in the organziation thought he’d become a bad influence.”
- Hope Smoke: Dan Byslma: “I had some opportunities to get back into coaching but they weren’t the right situation for me and my family”
- Hope Smoke: Bob McKenzie: “Bruins have two unsigned guys in Smith & Krug. Two very important members” … “Bos is talking trade to move a D to make room on the cap.”
- Hope Smoke: Darren Dreger: “The relationship between Franson & the Leafs, from a pure business perspective, has obviously had it’s speed bumps along the way” … “The one thing that remains consistent is that the brass of the Leafs still see Franson as a key component of the blueline” … “What I know is that the Leafs are open to keeping Franson long-term because of type of player he is & what he brings to the team”
- Hope Smoke: Bob McKenzie: “Joe Thornton’s situation in SJ is uneasy at best. Where will he line up. I don’t think he’ll be on the 4th line”