- Tom Gulitti via twitter: New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello says “everything is status quo” on Kovalchuk talks. Then asked if still trying to sign him “Yes. I said I’m not going to comment until everything has come to a conclusion.”
- Dmitry Chesnokov via twitter: Kovalchuk’s agent told SovSport that he’s hasn’t received any indication that Kovalchuk is considering the KHL. (This is great news for my fantasy hockey keeper team. The Aki Bergala’s are hoping the Kings steal him away from the Devils)
- Dmitry Chesnokov via twitter: Alexander Semin was in a car accident. A police spokesman said that he wasn’t hurt when his mercedes collided with a Lada.
- Peter Adler of the Edmonton Journal: The Washington Capitals have been talking to the Edmonton Oilers about Sheldon Souray, and the Vancouver Canucks about Kevin Bieksa. Tomas Fleischmann has been rumored to be heading the other way in both potential deals.
- Chris Botta via twitter: Islanders 2008 3rd round pick, Kirill Petrov will be staying in the KHL next sesason according to his coach at Kazan. He has 2 years left on KHL contract.
- Dave Fuller of the Toronto Sun: Brian Burke would like the “World Cup of Hockey” to be brought back and played every 2 years as an alternate to the IIHF World Championship. The NHL and the players are barely compensated for World Championship and the Olympics.
“Each NHL team shuts down their business for close to three weeks while the Olympic Games are played. In return, fans, management and owners are often rewarded with tired or broken players on their return from Olympic competition.
“And it’s not fair that the athletes themselves are not compensated for their participation. They run the risk of injury in international tournaments, which can threaten their NHL livelihood.”
- Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun: The Calgary Flames currently have 22 players under contract at $61 million. There’s still plenty of time for the team to get under the $59.4 million salary cap. The team chose not to buyout Ales Kotalik, which would have put them under the salary cap. They have 8 defenseman on 1-way contracts. The Flames could move one of their defenseman, or bury one in the minors.
- Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch: The Blue Jackets are still talking to the Canucks about defenseman Kevin Bieksa.
