- James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail: Rumors are spreading throughout Joe Louis Arena that All-World defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom could retire after season. I wonder who’s whispering this though? “It’s going to come sooner or later,” Lidstrom said, chuckling at all the attention his milestone birthday is getting of late. “I’m getting up there in age, people are watching me closely and think something’s going to happen, but … nothing’s really changed. I know what I have to do. I feel the same out there.”
- Elliotte Friedman of CBC.ca: Word around the league is that Jarome Iginla may be wanting to get out of Calgary. I can’t really blame him if he does. The face of the organization for so many years, has needed a #1 center to play with him, and what does the organization do for him lately? Trade for, and re-sign for 4 years, Matt Stajan …. ughhhh! Friedman thinks the Oilers could get a decent return for Ales Hemsky, who has 2 years left at a $4.1 million cap hit ($4.5 million next year, $5 million in 11-12).
- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: Talk about some tough injuries to overcome. The Flyers will be without Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne for awhile, both will have surgery on their fractured right foot. Gagne will be gone for at least 3 weeks, while Carter will out for at least 6 weeks.
- Sport-Express.ru: The 38-year old Jaromir Jagr has had contract negotiations with his former KHL team, Omsk. Jagr is looking for a 2 year deal. It is not know as of yet if NHL teams, including the often rumored Edmonton Oilers are not interested in signing Jagr. I wonder if this is just a way Jagr can put some pressure on NHL teams to hurry up and make an offer.
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Senators defenseman Anton Volchenkov has already turned down a 5-year contract extension from the Ottawa Senators, could get a contract in the range of $5 million on the open market this off-season. One team who might be interested is the Washington Capitals. I’m not sure how that contract would fit in to their salary cap situation.
- Mark Whicker of the OC Register: Potential free agent targets for the Anaheim Ducks given their salary cap space: Raffi Torres, Tomas Plekanek, Marek Svatos, Alex Tanguay, Eric Nystrom, Matt Lombardi, Brad Winchester, and Ilya Kovalchuk.
- Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: Despite have 10 defenseman prospects in the system that are 22 years old or younger, the Blue Jackets may still look to drafting a Dman with the 4th overal pick. One reason would be that only John Moore may be a legit NHL defenseman. The other, could be that currently the 3rd to 6th rated draft eligible prospects are defenseman; Eric Gudbranson, Cam Fowler, and Brandon Gormley. MyNHLdraft.com has the Blue Jackets selecting Cam Fowler.