Posts Tagged Ryan Johnson

Leiweke talks Doughty … Homophobic slur towards Avery, who could be sent to the AHL … Yashin signs with CSKA … Sabres get cap space

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News, NHL Rumors on September 27th, 2011

  • Helene Elliott of the LA Times: The president of the Kings’ parent company AEG, Tim Leiweke, supports Kings GM Dean Lombardi’s stance with Drew Doughty. Leiweke said the Kings plan to spend to the cap but paying Doughty $7+ million would change the allocation of their budget and would have long-term implications.

    “The difference of opinion here is that Drew may see this as disrespect, and it’s not at all. We have offered to make him the fourth-highest-paid defenseman in the NHL and equal the highest-paid King in our history. When I look at that, I think there either has to be a miscommunication or Drew’s a 21-year-old and probably hasn’t done what he may need to do here, which is stand up and take charge of the decision.”

    “More importantly, tell me which player we’re now starting to carve this $300,000 or $400,000 out of. We’re carving it out of someone’s salary next year and it’s no secret we’ve got some restricted and unrestricted free agents that we have to deal with in the next two years. So who is it on this team we go look at and say, ‘We just gave Drew your extra money, because $6.8 [million] wasn’t good enough’? That’s not good for team chemistry.

    “I support Dean on what he’s trying to do here. He’s not trying to be cheap. He’s not trying to be disrespectful. We love Drew. It’s an allocation issue here and everyone, including most of the players I’ve run into in the last week, they get that we are desperate to try to keep enough resources to keep this team together long term.”

    Leiweke added,

    “Let’s not destroy this relationship or his reputation or our reputation over something like this. We need to get this done. He needs to get back in here.

  • CP in the Globe and Mail: NY Rangers forward Sean Avery told ESPN that Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds made a homophobic slur at him during Monday night’s game. Simmonds didn’t deny making the remark:

    “We were going back-and-forth for the rest of the game and emotions ran high,” he said. “I don’t recall every single thing that I did say to him. He said some things to me that I didn’t like, and I guess I said some things that he didn’t like.”

  • Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News: Sabres forward Ales Kotalik and defenseman Shaone Morrisonn cleared waivers yesterday and were assigned to Rochester of the AHL. It will save the team a $5.075 million cap space this season. The Sabres were unsuccessful in their attempt to trade the two. They are currently about $930,000 below the cap. 14 other players were sent to Rochester: forwards Zack Kassian, Marcus Foligno, Corey Tropp Jonathan Parker, Michael Ryan, Colin Stuart, Phil Varone and Derek Whitmore; defensemen T.J. Brennan, Brayden McNabb Dennis Persson, Joe Finley and Drew Schiestel. and goaltender Drew MacIntyre.
  • Chris Botta of the NY Times: If Sean Avery doesn’t impress Rangers management, he could find himself on waivers and sent to the AHL.
  • Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun: The Maple Leafs still have 9 defenseman in camp, battling for the 6 starting positions. In camp remain: Dion Phaneuf, Keith Aulie (on a two-way), Luke Schenn, John-Michael Liles, Cody Franson, Mike Komisarek, Carl Gunnarsson (could be on the bubble), Jake Gardiner (can also be sent to minors without going on waivers), and Matt Lashoff (long shot).
  • Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune: Yesterday at practice the the Blackhawks tried Patrick Kane at center between Marian Hossa and Andrew Brunette. “I don’t know, (we’ll) try it for a couple of games and see how it goes. It’s preseason, so why not? I’m willing to try it out, I guess. I’m going to try to do my best there and see what happens.” Kane said.
  • Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Red Wings GM Ken Holland said that forward Jan Mursak has a broken left ankle and will be out around 3 months. There are several non-displaced fractures and some stretched ligaments. Fabian Brunnstrom or Ryan Johnson could benefit from the injury.
  • Allen Panzeri of the Ottawa Citizen: The Senators will trim their camp roster to 25-27 players. Likely to be sent to the AHL are “goalies Mike McKenna, Brian Stewart, and Robin Lehner; defencemen Tim Conboy, Bob Raymond, Josh Godfrey, Craig Schira, Patrick Wiercioch, Mark Borowiecki, and Eric Gryba; and forwards Mike Hoffman, David Dziurzynski, Derek Grant, Corey Cowick, Corey Locke, Mark Parrish, Darren Kramer, Jim O’Brien, Patrick Cannone, Francis Lessard, Wacey Hamilton, Jack Downing, Maxime Gratchev, Louie Caporusso, and possibly Andre Petersson.”

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R.I.P. Belak … Savard’s career could be over … List of players who’ve retired due to head injuries … Fedoruk’s demons

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News, NHL Rumors, NHL Videos on September 1st, 2011

No one will get credit for breaking the death of Wade Belak. I’m still in shock over this one. I did not know Belak, but he always seemed be smiling and cracking jokes in on/off-air interviews. I woke up this morning hoping that there was a big mix up and it wasn’t him. My condolences go out to his family and friends.

  • Matthew Barnaby via twitter: I’m glad Matthew Barnaby, who has dealt with concussions and the fighting role, wrote the below and I hope the NHLPA reads it.

    “Prepared for life after. Very very tough. Nhlpa should do better job of preparing to enter league- and departing it! FACT.”

    “This isn’t on the league. We all know we r a piece of meat and cast aside when we r done but nhlpa should prepare guys more!!”

  • Fluto Shinzawa of hte Boston Globe: Bruins forward Marc Savard is still experiencing from post-concussion syndrome.

    “Marc Savard won’t play this year,” said GM Peter Chiarelli. “Nothing has changed in our monitoring. He’ll be examined and he’ll be declared unfit to play.”

    There is also the possibility that his playing career is over.

    “Based on what I see, what I hear, what I read, and what I’m told, it’s very unlikely Marc will play again,” Chiarelli said. “Now, knowing the uncertainty of this injury, there’s always a chance [he could play]. But based on what I’m told, it’s very unlikely he’ll play. As an employer, I support him and hope he gets back to living a healthy life.”

  • James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail: Mirtle put together a list of players who have been forced to retire due to head injuries over the past 10-15 years:

    Pat LaFontaine, Jim Johnson, Eric Lindros, Scott Stevens, Paul Kariya, Mike Richter, Keith Primeau, Geoff Courtnall, Adam Deadmarsh, Jeff Beukeboom, Petr Svoboda, Nick Kypreos, Brett Lindros, Jason Botterill, Steven Rice, Jay More, Dean Chynoweth, Dennis Vaske, Cam Stewart, Steve Rucchin, Steve Moore, Jesse Wallin, Steve Dubinsky, Richard Scott, Stu Grimson, Gino Odjick, Rob DiMaio, David Tanabe, Kim Johnsson, Matthew Barnaby, Kurt Sauer and Dave Scatchard.

  • Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province: Todd Fedoruk is trying to make the Canucks this training camp, admitted that he’s battled drug and alcohol addictions in the past but has been clean for almost 18 months. Fedoruuk didn’t play last year, taking the time to fix himself and his relationship with his wife and kids. (I wanted to post some quotes but there were too many worthy one’s, instead I’ll direct you to read the entire piece.)
  • Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star: Maple Leafs RFA defenseman Luke Schenn isn’t worried that he doesn’t have a contract yet. “It’s going to happen sooner or later,” Schenn said of his contract. “There’s not much to say about it.”
  • Rich Hammond of LA Kings Insider: Kings GM Dean Lombardi had talks with Drew Doughty’s side yesterday but no deal seems imminent. Lombardi added,

    “It’s safe to say we’ve talked the last couple days, and we’ll just continue to try to work through it. … I still feel confident that this is going to get done (before the start of training camp).”

  • Aaron Portzline via twitter: Fedor Tyutin’s salary breakdown: 2012-13 $4 million, 2013-14 $4.5 million, 2014-15 $4.75 million, 2015-16 $5 million, 2016-17 $4.75 million and in 2017-18 $4 million. There is also a no-trade clause for the first 3 years and a modified no-trade for the final 3 years.
  • James Murphy of ESPN: The Bruins have talked to Jay Pandolfo about attending training camp on a tryout. They have also invited someone else but they haven’t heard back from him yet. GM Chiarelli has talked to  some others as well, but hasn’t issued a tryout invites yet.
  • Chris Botta talks with Darren Dreger about the NY Islanders adding another piece, Evgeni Nabokov and the team in general.

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Salo in for Canucks … Off-season Blackhawks questions … Arnott and Sturm likely not back for Capitals … Thrasher sale update

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News on May 5th, 2011

  • Damien Cox via twitter: Predators forward Colin Wilson will be in the lineup for injured Steve Sullivan. Sami Salo is in for the Canucks, Andrew Alberts is likely out. Keith Ballard a scratch. Dan Murphy via twitter: Salo in, Alberts out. No other changes for the Canucks, lines the same.
  • Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald: Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman has some easy decision in the re-signing of Corey Crawford and Michael Frolik, but tougher one’s involving Viktor Stalberg and Troy Brower (both are RFA’s). Tomas Kopecky is a UFA. Jake Dowell could be out because of money or team need to be bigger. Chris Campoli made $1.4 million last year and his return will likely depend on money. Marty Turco may not be back unless he takes less than the $1.3 million he made this past season. Fernando Pisani is likely done. Another team may offer Ryan Johnson more money and a bigger role. Niklas Hjalmarsson could be trade bait, he has 3 years at $3.5 million per season, but Bowman may not be eager to deal him, “I look back at his season and he was rock solid for us,” Bowman said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who can contribute offensively. Not everybody has to put up points. There’s value in the style he plays.”
  • John Vogl of the Buffalo News: Sabres forward Mike Grier will either return or retire, “If I play again, it’ll be here,” Grier said last week after cleaning out his locker. “If not, that’ll probably be it.”
  • Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: There has been limited progress on finding a new owner/investors for the Thrashers.

    “We continue to have discussions with different prospective investors or buyers of the franchise,” Gearon told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week. “The comments I made in February generated some preliminary interest. I wish there was more. There are some people we are talking to, but nothing that is far enough along at this stage that it deserves further comment.”

    The Winnipeg group could target the Thrashers for relocation if Coyotes remain in Glendale. There is no indication if any local deal is close to keep the team in Atlanta.

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Semin staying … Spezza happy … Columbus interested in Bieksa/Kaberle … Kings shopping Williams/Stoll

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News on July 21st, 2010

  • Pierre LeBrun via twitter: An NHL GM told LeBrun that he heard that in the next CBA they’ll look to have the average of the five highest salaried years count against the cap. That’s one of several ideas that’s being tossed around.
  • Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: If Anton Stralman gets a ‘hefty’ salary from arbitration next Monday, the Blue Jackets may walk away from it. GM Scott Howson may start investigating other options, possibly Kevin Bieksa and Tomas Kaberle. There is a chance that the Blue Jackets could dangle Nikita Filatov as bait. For Bieksa they probably wouldn’t have to offer Filatov, a lesser prospect could work, unless the Canucks added more than Bieksa for Filatov. It’s not known if Filatov is the kind of player Burke is interested in. The Blue Jackets are reluctant to break up their top-6 forwards, which is what Burke covets for Kaberle.
  • NHLSourcesSay via twitter: Ryan Johnson and the Columbus Blue Jackets are closing in on a deal, 1 year between $850,000 and $900,000.
  • Michael Russo via twitter: Rumors that Nick Leddy could be heading back to the Blackhawks are untrue. Wild and Leddy are talking. In 2-3 weeks, it could be different though.

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Will offer sheets start to come? Rumors surrounding Kovalchuk

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News on July 5th, 2010

  • Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe: With the lack of depth in the NHL Free Agent market, teams may send out an offer sheets to improve their club. Some possible restricted free agents are Bobby Ryan, Marc Staal, Steve Downie, Sam Gagne, and David Perron. The Boston Bruins are now able to negotiate contract extensions for Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron, both are entering the last year of their contract. Chara is making $7.5 million and would probably be looking for something similar. The Bruins could offer him a front loaded deal to bring down the cap number. Bergeron has a cap number of $4.7 million, and probably would get a deal with a similar number.
  • Helene Elliot of the LA Times: The LA Kings could still use a productive winger, and an experienced top 4 defenseman, but with not much remaining in the free agent group, the Kings could turn to trades or possibly an offer sheet.
  • Mark Everson of the NY Post: Devils GM Lou Lamoriello continues to pursue Ilya Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk would probably reject any offer below $8 million, and Kings may not have wanted to go over that number. The Devils may not want to go over $8 million as well. The Isles could be offering $10 million for 10 years.
  • Tom Gulitti of NorthJersey.com: A report out of Russia said that the Flyers offered Kovalchuk a deal, his Russian agent denied the report that he said that.
  • Larry Brooks via Twitter: “Kings rule out Kovalchuk. In other news, Yanks refuse to sign A-Rod after he opts out. Oh. Wait.”
  • Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Penguins are thinking about shifting Jordan Staal or Evgeni Malkin over to the wing. The Pens would then need to add a 3rd line center. Potential candidates could be: Rob Niedermayer, Dominic Moore, Jeff Halpern, John Madden, and Ryan Johnson.

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NHL Free Agency Rumors to heat up

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL Rumors on June 28th, 2010

  • Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Pittsburgh Penguins are hoping to sign both Dan Hamhuis and Sergei Gonchar, loading up on their blueline and sacrificing bringing in a winger or two. Along with Gonchar and Hamhuis, they would have Brooks Orpik, Kris Letand and Alex Goligoski in their top 5. This would give an opportunity to some of their young forward, giving them a chance at claiming spot with the big club. I think the Pens would have to get both at a reasonable number (or reasonable combined number) to make this a reality.
  • Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: It appears the Washington Capitals won’t be able to afford Anton Volchenkov, so they may turn their eyes to Willie Mitchell. Mitchell made about $3.5 million last season with the Canucks, and has had concussion problems. If the Penguins can’t sign Dan Hamhuis before July 1st, the Canucks are rumored to be interested in him. The St. Louis Blues and Jaroslav Halak could be talking about a deal in the $4 million range. Marty Turco could end up in San Jose for $3 million.
  • Myfoxphilly.com: While the Flyers hope to sign Evgeni Nabokov before he hits free agency, the San Jose Sharks are reportedly interested in former Flyers goalie, Michael Leighton.
  • Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: The Columbus Blue Jackets don’t expect to do much on July 1st when the free agency period opens. GM Scott Howson has a few things in mind, but won’t overpay and inturn, hurting the team in the long run. They will look to sign a 4th line center, and may look at a trade or 2 to rebuild their blueline. 5 players they could look at, at a $1 million or less are: Adam Burish, Dominic Moore, Ryan Johnson, Krys Barch and Ryan Hollweg. It might take a couple months for them to make a trade for a defenseman. The Jackets have $47.6 million tied up in 18 players, not including Nikita Filatov who is expected to be back.
  • John Vogl of the Buffalo News: With the salary cap increasing by $2.6 million to $59.4, teams have a little more room to sign their own free agents, or keep a player or 2 they may have had to trade due to cap restraints. The Sabres would like to bring back Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman, but both may believe there is more money for them in the open market. “They’d like to come back, we’d love to have them back, but you’ve got so much money to spend — it doesn’t matter what team you are, you make decisions.” The Sabres will also be looking at the trade route, and will be buyers instead of sellers.

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