Posts Tagged Brian Pothier

Afternoon rumors involving Gagne, Savard, Sharp, and a list of UFA’s

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Rumors on July 14th, 2010

Pierre LeBrun via Twitter: The Flyers have given Simon Gagne’s agent permission to speak directly with teams, nothing yet.

Jimmy Murphy via Twitter: One GM said this morning, “As far as I know, Bruins aren’t actively shopping Savard at this moment. That has been quiet.”

JT Bourne (Puck Daddy, USA Today) via Twitter: The Islanders should be offering “mad prospects/picks” for Patrick Sharp. Isles need the talent, gives the Blackhawks the cap space, and they are in a different conference.

Dennis Bernstein via twitter: The longer the Kovalchuk saga drags on in Los Angeles, the better a Patrick Sharp trade looks.

Puck Daddy Greg Wyshynski: Titled: “Some clarity on Kovalchuk, Kings and contract demands.” Your afternoon Kovalchuk fix.

Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Free Agent rumor round up from yesterday. Brendan Morrison: Has turned down one offer, and waiting on own ‘priority list’, cap issues and trade possibilities are slowing the process down. Eric Belanger: Could be top center on the market, has been told by some teams to wait, Washington and Tampa could be interested. John Madden: “evaluating the possible situations”, once Kovalchuk and Kaberle situations finished, the free agent market will open up (My guess is that he’s referring to NJ or LA as possible destinations, with NJ as the preferred destination). Darcy Tucker: Nothing would happen before the end of the month, location and chance to win are key factors. Raffi Torres: A handful of interested teams, no firm offers. Arron Asham: Getting lots of interest, and has offers, but would like a raise. Ruslan Fedotenko/Miroslav Satan: Both have interest, but teams waiting for other things to happen first. Pavol Demitra: Getting interest from KHL and NHL, and hopes to get something done soon. Mike Mottau: New Jersey is still interested. Marek Svatos: Could get a one-year deal at good value, a fit for Pittsburgh? Brian Pothier: talking with team, but hasn’t moved on anything.rci

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Kovalchuk and the Devils … Modano, Wings or retirement … Family concerns for Nabokov

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL Rumors on July 7th, 2010

  • Mark Everson of the NY Post: Nothing much has changed with Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils the past couple days. They are still considered the leading NHL candidate (maybe the only NHL candidate) to sign the Russian super-star. One thing that might be holding this up is that the Devils need to shed some salary before they can sign him, possibly as much as $6 million. The Devils have 8 players that have no-trade/no-movement clauses. Bryce Salvador ($2.9 million) and Dainius Zubrus ($3.4 million) are the most likely candidates. The Devils could sign now, and would have all summer to shed the excess salary (teams are allowed to 10% over the salary cap during the summer, but have to be under by day 1 of the regular season).
  • Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Bill Guerin is still hoping to play next season. He’s had ‘minimal discussions’ with the Penguins and a few other teams. The Penguins are considering moving Malkin or Staal to the wing, and using a young winger or bringing back Guerin for the 3rd line. Everything still status quo on Kovalchuk according to Lou Lamoriello. The Anaheim Ducks are going to sit back on the Bobby Ryan front after he turned down a 5 year $25 million deal, and a 4 year $18.4 million deal. The Ducks are ready to wait and see if a team sends him an offer sheet, then decide to match it or take the compensation. See – Compensation for signing a RFA. Maxim Afinogenov is the 2nd highest UFA scorer, but still remains unsigned. John Madden is still available and not going to rush things, wants to make sure it’s a good fit.
  • Jeremy Rutherford via Twitter: If New Jersey is looking to make some trades to sign Kovalchuk, he’s sure the Blues are looking into it. However, neither team is looking to take on salary.
  • Dmitry Chesnokov via Twitter: Next set of negotiations for Evgeni Nabokov and SKA St. Petersburg is set for today. His concerns aren’t about money but over his family.
  • Michael Russo of the Star-Tribune: Former Wild Kim Johnsson is contemplating retirement due to concussions. Johnsson received a concussion with the Blackhawk that ended his season in March,  is still suffering symptoms, and has no “immediate plans to play” according to his agent. Pierre-Marc Bouchard is exercising at a slow, easy pace in hope of being ready for training camp. Russo thinks the Wild will add another defenseman, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the Wild make a big trade.
  • Chip Alexander via Twitter: Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford has said they are considering 2 options: 1. Signing a Top 4 defenseman and allowing Jamie McBain to “ease into things” or option #2 having McBain as a Top 4 defenseman and re-signing Brett Carson or Alexander Picard. Re-signing Brian Pothier is an “outside possibility” but isn’t being ruled out.

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Changes to Senators Defense for Next Year … Short List for Lightning GM … Coyotes and Avalanche Off-Season

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Rumors on April 29th, 2010

  • Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun: Some big changes to the Senators defense could be coming this off-season. The Sens may not be willing to give Anton Volchenkov the $5 million a year he might get on the open market. Trade deadline acquisition, Andy Sutton, is 35-years-old and made $3.5 million last season, and will be looking for one more good contract before retirement. GM Bryan Murray thinks that prospects Patrick Wiercioch and Jared Cowen could be ready for the jump to the NHL next season. Other potential defenseman free agents that might be interested in playing for the Senators at a reasonable price are; Brian Pothier (former Sen), Sean O’Donnell (hometown), Shane Hnidy (former Sen), Zbynek Michalek (Milan’s brother), Kurtis Foster (lived close to Ottawa). On the forward side of things, they might look to re-sign Matt Cullen. They might have to turn to a trade to bring in some scoring if they are able to get some scoring from the free agent market.
  • Matt Paulson (AP) in the USA Today: The main off-season issue for the Phoenix Coyotes will be to find an owner once again. On the free agent side of things, which involves half their defensive corps, as well as forwards Matthew Lombardi and Lee Stempniak. Zbynek Michalek could be costly to keep around.
  • Darren Dreger of TSN: Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeffrey Vinik has a short list of potential GMs he likes, Dave Nonis, Doug Risebrough, and Steve Yzerman. It is rumored that the Red Wings have given the Lightning permission to speak with Yzerman. Vinik said before that he wanted to have a CEO in place before a GM was hired. Seattle Seahawks CEO, Tod Leiweke, has said previously he’s not a candidate, though some believe the details are being finalized for him to be named CEO.
  • Adrian Dater of the Denver Post: The Colorado Avalanche need to be bigger and faster along the blueline next season. Anyone of Kevin Shattenkirk, Colby Cohen, and Cameron Gaunce have a shot at making the team next fall. Chris Stewart and Peter Mueller will be looking for raises, both are coming off their entry level deals. The Avalanche do have the cap room to investigate adding a big name, but have shown lately that they may stick to rebuilding from in-house.
  • Helene Elliot of the LA Times: LA Kings coach Terry Murray would ‘absolutely’ like to Alexander Frolov back next year. It will probably come down to money, as Frolov is looking for a big deal, reportedly in the $5 million range.

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Puck-Moving Defenseman are Wanted by Many

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on February 28th, 2010

  • Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger: The Devils will welcome back defenseman Paul Martin on March 10th after a 52 game absense due to a fractured left forearm. That may not stop GM Lou Lamoriello from looking to acquire another Dman. One target may be Scott Niedermayer, but the he might not going anywhere. Others the Lou could look at are; Pavel Kubina, Dan Hamhuis, Jan Hejda, and Joe Corvo.
  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: The Ottawa Senators are a little thin on the blueline, and GM Bryan Murray will be looking for a puck moving defenseman. Brian Lee might be made available to acquire a Dman. They have talked to Wild about Marek Zidlicky, but they are trying to resign him (7 0r 8 other teams have also inquired about him). Other possibilities are Ladslav Smid, Pavel Kubina, Jan Hedja, Brian Pothier (Caps want a 2nd round pick), John-Michael Liles, Aaron Ward, Andy Sutton, and Dennis Seidenberg.
  • Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe: The Bruins could be looking to bring in a puck moving defenseman and a goal scoring winger. Kubina, Corvo and Hamhuis are possibilities. They are kicking tires on Teemu Selanne. Teams will probably ask for Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart in return, both are RFA’s at season end. The Bruins will most likely want to use some of their acquired draft picks as trade bait.
  • Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune: Lightning GM Brian Lawton might be looking to bring in some scoring depth, a puck-moving dman, or a winger for Vinny. Lawton plans on being aggressive to get something done.
  • Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Penguins could use another scoring winger, and a physical Dman. Blueline rentals could be; Andrew Alberts, Garnet Exelby, Milan Jurcina, Steve Staios, Jason Strudwick, Andy Sutton, and Aaron Ward.
  • Steve Gorten of the Sun Sentinel: Panthers GM Randy Sexton has “a whole host of deals” that are being discussed. Sexton says there will be no fire. The trade deadline is Phase one of 4 of his plans to changing the makeup of the team. Sexton wouldn’t say if he’ll ask Tomas Vokoun to waive his no trade clause.
  • Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch: The Blue Jackets will sellers again. They will look to move Raffi Torres and Milan Jurcina for draft picks and/or prospects.
  • Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch: The Blue Jackets could be without Rostislav Klesla for the rest of the season. Klesla has been out since Nov. 30th with tears to his groin and abdomen.

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