On the Carolina Hurricanes …
Adam Kimelman of NHL.com: The Hurricanes have missed the playoffs the past nine seasons and new GM Don Waddell said he could be looking to shake things up.
Waddell said that there are some players that have been with the team for a long-time and they need to change the culture a bit. He added that they would be okay if everyone returned, but added that some may need a fresh start and they could use the assets.
The Hurricanes are still talking to pending UFA goaltender Cam Ward, but haven’t made a final decision to bring him back or not.
When asked if teams are calling him about the No. 2 pick, Waddell said:
“I’ve gotten a lot of calls and what I’ve told teams is, we’re keeping the pick. If you want to present something to me, it’s my role as general manager to listen to what you have to say. If someone wants to put a package together that we can’t say no to, assets for the organization and where we’re headed, we would look at it, but it’s going to be very difficult for somebody to get that pick from us.”
Waddell continued that they’ll be picking a forward at No. 2.
On the Edmonton Oilers …
Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com: Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli said that they are not looking to make a big splash this offseason.
The Oilers hold the No. 10 pick in the draft and Chiarelli said that you normally look at the best player, but at this point, they may pick by “positional need.” Chiarelli continued that you “can’t ignore the best-skilled player” though, which is generally their principle.
When asked if they are looking to trade up or down or hold on the No. 10 pick, Chiarelli said.
“Well we actually dropped down one in the Lottery. We’d been planning at No. 9 for a while but we knew we could drop down. I know there are teams ahead of us who have positional needs different from ours so that usually means there is an ability to move up. We would look at that.”
