NHL News: Bob Boughner, Dustin Byfuglien, and Player Pay
Dustin Byfuglien's situation with the Winnipeg Jets could be resolved soon.
© Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Boughner could be back next season coaching the Sharks

Kevin Kurz of The Athletic: San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson implied that interim head coach Bob Boughner could return behind the bench next season for the Sharks.

“Does Bob know our group and have the upper hand in this process? Absolutely,” Wilson said. “But I think you have to be thorough in this process.”

Boughner’s 14-20-3 recond isn’t great, but they dealt with a lot key injuries and their game structure was better. There were cohesion issues within the team both on and off the ice, so there will need to be some roster changes.

Byfuglien’s situation could be resolved soon

TSN: The NHL will be meeting with the Winnipeg Jets soon to discuss the Dustin Byfuglien situation.

“Now, the Players’ Association, the league, the player and the Winnipeg Jets are all aligned in the termination agreement, but it hasn’t been executed yet and because of that the Winnipeg Jets aren’t in a position to announce. The detail work between the league and Winnipeg Jets is expected to ironed out in the near future.”

Players have a decision to make regarding their pay

TSN: One option that the players are considering is not taking their final paycheck and putting it towards the escrow fund – some or all of it. Player representatives have taken this to teams.

“What we’re taking about is $140 million in gross pay in this last paycheque and essentially what that would do is to take the escrow withholding for this season from 14 per cent and bump it up to 16.5 or 17 per cent as the total take for the season and if the NHL doesn’t come back and we were looking at a 35 per cent escrow, anymore you can pile on would certainly help in terms of paying that back to the NHL’s owners.”

They need to make a decision by April 7th as their final paycheck is coming up.