- Allen Panzeri of the Ottawa Citizen: The Ottawa Senators have fired coaches Cory Clouston and assistants Greg Carvel and Brad Lauer. GM Murray said he’s been evaluating the staff for months.
“Based on the performance over the course of the year, we felt a change was necessary,” he said.
“It’s always difficult. Coaches get the finger pointed at them maybe more than they should.
“But we felt in this case – all of us, coaching staff and management – that at training camp we had a competitive hockey team and for whatever reason we didn’t play to the level we thought and expected, and as a result changes had to be made.”
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Garrioch mentions potential coaches for the Senators. Lindy Ruff, John Tortorella, Dave Cameron, Kurt Kleindorst, Alain Vigneault, Kevin Dineen, Randy Cunneyworth, and Bob Hartley.
- Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun: Sportak wonders if the Flames should trade their stars, Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff, and rebuild. They don’t have many top-6 forwards/top-4 D on entry level contracts, building blocks for the future. Iginla will be 34 this summer, Kiprusoff will be 35 in October. If going for a complete rebuild, Robyn Regehr could be traded.
- Eric Francis in the Ottawa Sun: Francis doesn’t think the Flames should consider trading Jarome Iginla, “anyone who thinks an organization should do anything in a player’s best interest obviously doesn’t have the slightest clue how to run a business, let alone a hockey team.”
- Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province: Canucks backup Cory Schneider posted a 16-4-2 record this season. He’ll make $900,000 and he could be on the move this summer. Columubus has shown some interest. “I’ve proved that I can play in this league and that I belong,” he said. “It’s not an adventure every single night. I can be consistent and win games and know what’s going to happen if I have to handle a bigger work load.”
- Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer: The Hurricanes missed the playoffs again, and DeCock thinks coach Paul Maurice could be fired, it might be time for a change. They’ve missed the playoffs for the 2nd consecutive season.
- Barbara Matson of the Boston Globe: Bruins forward Tyler Seguin played in 72 games this season, but has found himself a healthy scratch of late, and that could continue in to the playoffs.
“That’s a lot of speculation that he’s fighting for , whether he’s in, he’s out,’’ Julien said. “Understandably. I’m just saying, for me, those are tough questions to answer because you guys are all looking for what is my possible scenario. I’m going back to the same thing — we don’t know what’s going to happen until Monday. We’ll find out Monday where he stands and where the rest of the team stands. Lots of things can happen from here until then.’’
- Craig Custance of the Sporting News: The Blue Jackets need to make the playoffs next year, and could trade their 1st round pick this year for immediate help. GM Scott Howson, “Yeah, we would look at trading the pick if it was something that could make an immediate impact on the team,”
- Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets defenseman Jan Hejda will be a UFA and he hopes to sign a 3-4 year deal with Columbus. He’s unsure if the Blue Jackets want him back as there haven’t been any talks. Defenseman Craig Rivet could retire.
- Damian Cox via twitter: The Maple Leafs could sign 2006 7th round pick Leo Komarov (KHL) soon.