Friedman: Virtually all Coyotes available in trade

Elliotte Friedman was on Edmonton’s 630 CHED on Friday afternoon.

On what he’s hearing from Arizona, where there’s been some chatter about blowing it up, and who’s available:

“Well, Don Maloney does not like the ‘blowing things up’ term. He’s not a big fan of that.

“They were in Toronto and practiced here on Wednesday and I went and was one of a small group of reporters that talked to him after they practiced, before I went to St. Louis for Brodeur.

“And it’s interesting. He said the only two guys who were off-limits were Doan and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. And apparently, they’re in Ottawa today. They’re playing there tomorrow afternoon. And apparently he told media in Ottawa that only Doan was off the table and maybe Oliver Ekman-Larsson necessarily wasn’t. Which was interesting to me because I’m curious to know what changed in 48 hours that he would say that.

“But I think everybody out there is available. Now some guys I think are going to be harder than others. Vermette, you know that he’s unrestricted. Erat is unrestricted. Michalek is unrestricted. And I think those guys get traded, although I’m not sure what the market is for Erat.

“To me, the most interesting guy is Marty Hanzal. He’s not an unrestricted free agent. He’s still got term left on his deal. But this is a league that loves big centers. Maloney – I think there is interest in him. To me, he’s the hardest guy to get out of there with the possible exception of Ekman-Larsson. Because he’s a big center. They’re hard to find. He’s going to cost you a fortune to get him.

“Yandle is obviously the other one too... I mentioned on your show a couple of weeks ago Yandle for O’Reilly. I’m kind of wondering if those two teams are talking about that again at all.”

On how 29 other teams would be interested in Ekman-Larsson:

“That’s why I’m a little confused by this. Like I said, on Wednesday afternoon, he said that the two guys are Doan and Oliver, he said. And then I was just reading some tweets after a radio show – or I don’t know if it was a radio show, or he was talking to the media in Ottawa where they’re practicing today – and he said that Ekman-Larsson wasn’t an untouchable. I’m going to have to follow up because that’s not the same thing he said two days ago.”

Source: 630 CHED/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey

Elliotte Friedman was on Calgary’s Sportsnet 960 on Friday morning.

On Antoine Vermette:

“I remember, I heard yesterday – I was sitting in the Brodeur presser and I got a text from somebody saying they think Vermette could be gone today. Obviously it didn’t happen, but Don Maloney is sitting there and saying, ‘Okay, Vermette, Martin Erat if anybody is interested. Zbynek Michalek.’

“Those three guys will probably be gone for sure. He’s testing on Yandle. But he basically says aside from Ekman-Larsson and Doan, the roster is open for business.

“I think the toughest guy to get out of there though is going to be Hanzal. He’s got term left and you always need big centers in the West. I think there’s interest, but you’re really going to have to pay a big price to get that guy.”

Source: Sportsnet 960/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey

Nichols on Hockey

Nichols on Hockey

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Nichols on Hockey

Nichols on Hockey