- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: One league executive on Connor McDavid.
“He’s not physically dominant but he’s skilled and fast as hell,” said a league executive Saturday. “You never know how somebody is going to hold up physically when you have the puck as much as he’s going to have it. In terms of skill and ability, he’s a franchise No. 1 centre and I’m not going to pretend he’s going to automatically be better than Sidney Crosby.
“It’s not like you’re going to get this guy and everything is just going to change. It begins to change drastically (when you get McDavid).”
One idea to improve the All-Star game was to a have 3-on-3 tournament, but that likely won’t get a lot of traction.
Won’t be much of a surprise if Martin St. Louis re-signs with the Rangers. The Rangers may want to create a deal that gives him bonuses for games played.
The Blackhawks, Avalanche, Maple Leafs, Flyers and Rangers have scouted college free agent Tyler Baun.
The belief last summer was that the Rangers may have been on the only team that Joe Thornton would have waived his no-clause for. If Thornton or Patrick Marleau won’t waive their no-trades, the only way for the Sharks to move them may be buying them out. Thornton has two years left at a $6.75 million cap hit and Marleau has two years left at $6.6 million, so a buyout may not really be an option. Head coach Todd McLellan will likely be let go. GM Doug Wilson’s job isn’t safe either.
Teams looking for goaltenders this offseason could include the Sharks, Sabres, Oilers, Maple Leafs, Flames and maybe the Blues. Cam Ward may be a good fit in St. Louis if Brian Elliott doesn’t take them far in the playoffs.
The Wild haven’t held contract talks with Devan Dubnyk.
- Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun: One Western Conference executive thinks there could be some big trades leading up to, or at the draft.
“I think because of the (salary) cap, there are going to be some significant moves involving prominent players,” the exec said. “Some teams are going to be up against the cap, especially since it only goes up marginally for next season. Because they’ll have little wriggle room, you could see them dealing significant names for draft picks to create space while getting some sort of return.”
Zeisberger mentions Dion Phaneuf and Patrick Sharp as possible trade candidates.
The free agent market is shrinking as teams are locking up their free agents before they hit the open market.
“Teams are signing their guys to more and more long term deals, so there are less impact players out there who test free agency,” the Western Conference exec said. “Look at what happened the other week with Johnny Boychuk.”
Some pending UFA goalies: Antti Niemi, Devan Dubnyk, Thomas Greiss, Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth.
Some pending UFA defenseman: Cody Franson, Andrej Sekera, Mike Green, Christian Ehrhoff, Paul Martin, Marek Zidlicky, Jeff Petry, Zbynek Michalek and Francois Beauchemin.
Some pending UFA forwards: Justin Williams, Martin St. Louis, Jaromir Jagr, Matt Beleskey, Curtis Glencross, Chris Stewart, Drew Stafford, Mike Fisher, Mike Fisher, Mike Ribeiro, Carl Soderberg, Antoine Vermette, Mike Santorelli, Joel Ward Daniel Winnik, Jiri Tlusty and Blake Comeau.
- Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: A GM on Maple Leafs Phil Kessel.
“I love Phil Kessel’s talent. I don’t care what’s happening in Toronto right now, he’s better than that. If I can find a way to make a deal for Kessel, I’m going to make it.”
The GM didn’t say what he would give up to get Kessel. Tyler Bozak is 41st in scoring for centerman, and with his contract at just over $4 million, he should be easy to move this offseason.