- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: LeBrun thinks that if Daniel Alfredsson became available, the Bruins could be interested. GM Bryan Murray likely doesn’t have any desire to move Alfredsson given what he has meant to the organization, but he would likely let Alfredsson know if teams come calling. The Sharks got off to a hot start, but have struggled lately.
“It’s getting back to doing the things that allowed us to be successful early in the year,” Wilson told ESPN.com on Tuesday. “It’s been addressed. Our talent level hasn’t changed. But as you know, we’re always looking for ways to improve our hockey team.”
LeBrun doesn’t think Panthers GM Dale Tallon will wait much longer before he starts making moves, maybe 5 or 6 games. They’ll have to decide if they want to re-sign Stephen Weiss or not.
- Steve Simmons via twitter: Simmons notes that the Avalanche haven’t told other GMs what the price for Ryan O’Reilly is. They are telling them to make an offer. Most GMs are puzzled by this.
- Adrian Dater of the Denver Post: Ryan O’Reilly’s dad, Brian, sent Dater an email about his sons situation, and gave him permission to post it. Here is the first paragraph of it. Click on the above link to finish reading it:
“Thank you for your kind words. This is not about money and never has been. As you know you don’t build team based on dollars. If you did then the people with the most expensive players would be our champion . You build a team on its character. Ryan is not a superstar based on skill but character. I know this for a fact the players he was yesterday will not be the player he was tomorrow he will continue to grow learn and thrive .The world values it less and less, yet everyone is looking for those players that eat sleep and drink the game and are unselfish plus compete because they are intrinsically motivated for excellence. This is another trait humankind is slowly losing! It used to be a bigger part of our game because we used to let kids develop character and test themselves without all the importance put on systems methods and criteria of adults. My children were raised in an environment of sport where Athletics was held up as something you do to develop your sense of personhood, qualities of-collaboration,team play and most important the development of your character, mental toughness as an individual and it was FUN from which you Learn. How many goals you got or how many points you got was not how you measured yourself. What was important was giving your best day in day out. Leadership was shown on a daily bases, by treating people well even those they miss treat you. In the world today we are losing our sense of meaning and purpose my by devaluing people worth in ways that are ridiculous And Absurd.
- Elliotte Friedman of CBC.ca: Friedman had originally thought that the Rangers and Avalanche were discussing a Michael Del Zotto and Derek Stepan for O’Reilly and another defenseman, but was later told that Stepan was never discussed. Friedman wouldn’t be surprised if the Avalanche called the Panthers. It doesn’t look like the Red Wings would be interested in Oilers defenseman Ryan Whitney. The Oilers may be wondering what to do with Ryan Smyth. It could be just a blip, but he has one year left on his deal and it’s 35+ contract. Penguins GM Ray Shero was scouting the Wild-Avs game last week, and Friedman notes that Matt Cullen has “Penguin written all over him.” The CBA was expected to be complete last Saturday, but they are still working on it.