April 12th:
- Mark Spector of Sportsnet.ca: From the mouth of Sheldon Souray … “I want a trade” … Ah Sheldon, if it was only that easy. “It’s not a players thing. It’s not a fans thing or a city thing. It’s a management thing,” Souray said. “They’ve given up on me, and it’s a two-way street.” Souray has 2 years left on a 5 year, $27 million deal. That’s a $5.4 million cap hit for a player who only played in 37 games this year (4 goals, 9 assists), and was a -19. Last season he appeared in 81 games (53 points), but in 2007, he only appeared in 26 games. So the Oilers are trying to trade a player with a large contract, who has an injury history, and who’ll only go to certain cities because of family reasons. Souray’s hand injury didn’t allow GM Staeve Tambellini the opportunity to try and move him at the deadline, but he’ll be actively trying to move as soon as he can.
- Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal mentions the Souray for Ribeiro trade rumor, but rebuts with, why would the Oilers want another center if they are thinking of drafting Tyler Seguin. My question is, why would the Stars want to trade Ribeiro for Souray, not the other way around? Matheson does think that Ribeiro in Nashville could be a match, though I don’t know if Nashville could give them the NHL ready, puck moving defenseman they’d like.