- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: The Canucks are holding their pro scouting meetings this week and it’s expected they will decide on whether Eddie Lack or Jacob Markstrom will be put on the trade block. The Canucks don’t have a second- or third-round pick this year and will be looking to replenish.The available goalie market is getting crowded with Robin Lehner and Cam Talbot, to go along with free agents Karri Ramo, Antti Niemi, possibly Devan Dubnyk, among others.
- Craig Custance of ESPN: Coyotes GM Don Maloney said that three teams have called about the No. 3 pick and that they have to consider it.
“I would say we are in the … not the dating stage yet. It’s more the, ‘Do you like me, do I like you or do we want to go out?’ stage. The dating stage will come in the next couple weeks,” Maloney said. “The serious will come on the draft floor.”
If they keep it, who might they be interested in.
“We have to be open-minded about it. We have a lot of holes,” he said. “We’re not locked in.”
If they were to trade the pick, they wouldn’t want to move too far down.
“Would we trade down from three to 25? Probably not,” he said. “Would we be willing to look at some sort of level, absolutely.”
The Panthers are the draft hosts and they hold pick No. 11. GM Dale Tallon said they won’t be trading the pick for a player who could help them immediately.
“We like drafting, we like developing,” Tallon said. “We might move back, but we’re not going to move it.” Sometimes, there’s a perception that the host team needs to make a splash at the draft, but Tallon said hosting the draft in Florida won’t impact how he uses the pick. “I’m not there to put on a show, I’m there to make our team better,” he said.
The Panthers could use another offensive winger, but retaining Jaromir Jagr relieves some of the pressure. If they were aggressive on the winger front, Patrick Sharp or Phil Kessel would be good targets.
- Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun: Brendan Shanahan on trade talk without a GM in place and going with himself, Mark Hunter and Kyle Dubas for the time being.
“People are talking to us and ‘heating up’ is probably a good way to describe it,” Shanahan said of clubs approaching the Leafs. “(Other teams) will reach out to whomever among us they’re most comfortable with.”
The Leafs won’t have a GM in place by the draft. The Leafs likely favor Dylan Strome, but the Coyotes could draft him at No. 3. Shanahan will take the best player available at No. 4.
- Damien Cox of the Toronto Star: The Leafs own the Predators No. 24 pick in the draft. Options for them there could include Daniel Sprong (have already shown special interest in him), Colin White and Travis Konecny.
