- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: There is no plan for the Hurricanes to trade either Jordan or Eric Staal at the moment. A source said that GM Ron Francis called Jordan on Sunday to let him know that a potential trade with Pittsburgh was unfounded. Francis may not want to trade Eric, but in the offseason, nobody knows how owner Peter Karmanos will react to the teams finances.
- Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer: Hurricanes GM Ron Francis has come out and said: “We’re not moving Jordan Staal.” He will likely trade his pending UFAs that he can’t re-sign. He didn’t name any names, but their UFAs include: Andrej Sekera, Tim Gleason, Jiri Tlusty, Jay McClement and Pat Dwyer.
“You never say never on re-signing them but at this point we’re headed down the road of moving as many pieces as we can and getting back pieces when we can,” Francis said. “I think at this point we will be moving UFAs, but you always get a lot of calls on players at this time of year.”
The Penguins have been scouting the Hurricanes. The Kings and Blackhawks could be among the teams interested in Sekera. Could the Hurricanes get a first round pick and a prospect for Sekera?
- Aaron Vickers of Flames.NHL: Flames GM Brad Treliving on whether they are buyers or sellers at the deadline.
“We’re making up new terminology,” Treliving told NHL.com. “We’re in a stage here where the play of our team has put us in a position that you’d like to help. You’d like to be able to help for our stretch drive. Having said that, you also want to be careful and cautious of the type of … whether it be young players, young prospects, draft picks … that you expose in a situation like this. We’re like everybody else. We’re listening.”
If the asking prices don’t drop, the Flames may stand pat.
“We do want to help our team, but it won’t be at the expense of a long-term vision here,” he said. “When we look at A-type assets — first-round picks, top young prospects — we just don’t have that appetite. Our base isn’t such right now that we can start moving those out the door for what amounts to a potential solution in terms of players on expiring contracts or pending UFAs.
“I talk about A-assets, that’s just a non-starter for us. If there’s a market that we can do things outside of that group of players or picks or prospects, we’ll be happily ready to see if there’s a fit for us. Those to me are just things as an organization we don’t have an appetite for.”