Nichols' Notes
/Related: Nichols' Notes (June 27) Related: Nichols' Notes (Draft Night)
Related: Trade Watch: Jason Spezza Edition
Scroll down for the latest tweets. Fresh notes will be posted here.
The New York Post's Larry Brooks takes Islanders GM Garth Snow to task for the aftermath of the Josh Ho-Sang pick in a piece titled: Incredulous Isles GM needs some wins to back up his attitude.
Included in that edition of Slap Shots was that the Rangers are said to have 'legitimate interest' in New Jersey Devils UFA Mark Fayne, and are also believed to have interest in Ryan Carter.
Good blurb too on what point Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray was trying to make, negotiating a deal with the Nashville Predators when they were on Jason Spezza's no-trade list.
In fairness to Murray though, and this note seems to be widely under-reported, he did indicate relatively recently that Spezza's agent had told the GM that if he got any good offers from a team that was on the 10-team list, that Murray could come to them and they'd evaluate the option at that point. So from THAT perspective, it was entirely reasonable for Murray to have at least tried that route.
Apparently Nashville is on the underlined, in-bold, emphasized, neon-lighted portion of the no-trade list though. Pierre LeBrun had a note Saturday that he was told Spezza wouldn't be changing his mind on the Predators at any point. Like... evah.
LA Kings Insider Jon Rosen chatted with Vice President of Hockey Operations and Director of Player Personnel Michael Futa Saturday at the draft and he's always a good interview, particularly discussing prospects.
“This is the next wave of Kings, and these are the next waves of all your opponents, and you find yourself watching the teams that you’ve been battling with and seeing what they’re doing, and you’ve got to read and react. The first thing we see Kesler get added to Anaheim, and it’s like, ‘OK. They’re addressing needs, and we’ve got to address needs.’ So you just keep challenging yourself to be the best.”
Tribune-Review writer Rob Rossi's latest offering suggests that the Pittsburgh Penguins believe defenseman Paul Martin's preference will be to test free agency next summer. An extension for Marc-Andre Fleury may not happen this summer either, although the team is apparently optimistic it'll get done at some point.
Also from Rossi: Jim Rutherford says Kris Letang has not been offered in trade talks.
Interesting note on the positive qualities of new winger Patric Hornqvist too, which apparently include his 'calming influence on teammates.'
The Trib's Josh Yohe also writes the Penguins are targeting Nikolai Kulemin once free agency opens, specifically to play with Evgeni Malkin, as one of four primary targets on their shopping list.
Toronto Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis was addressing his trade with the St. Louis Blues Saturday when he made this observation of defenceman Jake Gardiner, via The Star's Kevin McGran.
“Jake is going to have times where you guys hear me smacking on the wall,” said Nonis. “The fact is, he’s got God-given ability you can’t teach. He’s getting the other part of the game under control. The last half of the season, the turnovers and the mistakes he was making earlier were decreasing. With the puck and creating offence, or carrying the puck out of the zone, he does it as well as anyone we have. He did come a long way.”
Most of us have likely had enough Ryan Kesler trade talk to last a lifetime, but this column from The Province's Jason Botchford is worth your time. This intro... superb.
"When Trader Jim Benning was advised to hold on to Ryan Kesler, with hope he’d either expand his list or Anaheim would sweeten their offer, he essentially said:
Forget that noise.
Instead, Benning aggressively pulled the trigger, dumping Kesler for 60 cents on the dollar, taking the best package offered before the draft, and launching the Canucks, for better or worse, into a new era.
Maybe a little of his reluctance to keep ol’ No. 17 was his twice-daily phone calls with Kesler’s agent, Kurt Overhardt, which were hostile, and included both threats and screaming. Or more accurately, screaming threats.
Maybe some of it was because Kesler had already cut his list from six to two, and there was talk he was about to cut it to one.
Mostly, though, it’s because Benning didn’t want a player who didn’t want Vancouver, believing that trading a malcontent was addition by subtraction all by itself.
The Kesler trade to the Anaheim Ducks may not be a great move. But it sure was a bold one. And this was all Benning, who slammed his boot print into the middle of the Orca this weekend."
Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz, via Alex Prewitt of The Post, plans to start Alex Ovechkin on the right wing and the bench boss explains his positional thoughts on it. Trotz also wants to see more hustle from his superstar.
“Space is not getting up ice, but sometimes it’s coming back so you can get the puck in a good position so you have some speed, then you have some options,” Trotz said. “Sometimes when you’re standing still, you think hey I’m in a position where if I get the puck I’ll score, but you’re easier to cover. We talked about that. That’s a process. But I think he gets a little less glide in his game, he’ll be as dynamic and hard to handle as he ever was.”
Via Pierre LeBrun's Rumblings:
Sources suggest Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill has spoken with the San Jose Sharks about Joe Thornton and to the Ottawa Senators about Jason Spezza. The former won't waive his NTC; the latter has the Stars on his list of 10 teams to which he won't accept a deal.
Also, the Tampa Bay Lightning may have come closest to landing that No. 1 pick from the Florida Panthers.
CSN's Joe Haggerty wraps up Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli's media availability following the draft Saturday.
Concerning RFA Jordan Caron: He may still be qualified by the team, but a trade is apparently at the ready if Chiarelli wants to pull the trigger.
“We’ve got one prepared, but we’re not sure yet,” said Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli. “He’s still young, he’s been in and out of our lineup, and in fairness to him we’ve looked for another [NHL] spot for him. It wasn’t out of the request of Jordan.
“He wants to stay in Boston, but at his age [24 in November], he also wants a chance to play on the regular basis.”
(Update) After re-reading the article a few times, it seems just as likely Chiarelli was referring to having the qualifying offer for Caron prepared - rather than a trade itself. Either way, the gist of the article and comments is that the Bruins are deciding between keeping or trading him.
The Winnipeg Sun's Ken Wiebe has a few notes on the Jets. UFA Tanner Glass has been contacted by the team about a potential return. Kevin Cheveldayoff also indicates he did make a play to get that No. 1 pick from the Florida Panthers.
Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice offered up a stanch defense of goaltender Ondrej Pavelec on Friday, as noted by Free Press writer Gary Lawless, but Maurice also had some good things to say about Dustin Byfuglien.
Maurice moved Byfuglien to the wing this past season, with Byfuglien's preference being to stay on D, and Byfuglien's name continues to circulate in trade rumours.
"He did everything I asked of him. In games and in practice. He's a leader in our room and the one thing I believe about him more than anything else, is he loves to play hockey," said Maurice. "We need players that love to play for the Winnipeg Jets. We have to find a way for that to be part of playing here. Dustin can be a big part of that for us."
Perhaps lost in the activity of the draft Friday was another strong feature from Dave Stubbs at The Montreal Gazette, this time on Canadiens stud P.K. Subban. Quite a bit of contract talk in the lengthy offering, along with some stellar quotes from the defenceman on his relationship with veteran Andrei Markov.
“One of the things I’ve respected about Andrei is that he’s been doing this for a long time, not for just a few years, in one of the toughest cities to play,” Subban said. “He’s seen the way I’ve performed in big games and at crucial times for the team. I think more importantly, he saw me kind of being misunderstood when I first came into the league.
“The one thing that people should understand is that I come to win. Not to score goals or pad my stats. I come to win hockey games and to help my team win. Andrei is one of the guys I’ve played with who desperately wants to win.
“The more we’ve played together and with each other, he understands this guy wants to win. And you know what? He’s going to help me win. I’ve been here for a long time and I want to win a Cup and I think he understands that I can help him do that, too.
“All that matters to me is that nobody can ever downplay what I’ve accomplished,” Subban said. “People can say whatever they want about me — about my character, about me being selfish, so on and so forth. But what I’ve accomplished in the league speaks for itself.
“I don’t know how many players with four years experience under their belts have accomplished what I have. There’s not too many. I don’t need to sit in front of anybody and define who I am or what I stand for or what I’ve done in the league and prove something to anybody. It’s there. Whether people choose to see it and accept it and embrace it, that’s a whole different ball game.”