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CHEVELDAYOFF EYES JETS’ FUTURE
The Winnipeg Free Press elaborates on how Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said he understands the angst of fans who would have counselled him to make a move before Wednesday’s NHL trading deadline but he stood firm again on trying to build for the future.
“The hard part, and I feel for them (the fans) is that you’re always looking for that quick answer, that quick fix and man, oh man, you wish you could find it sometimes,” Cheveldayoff told reporters on a conference call. “Everything comes at a price. At some point in time we hopefully we will be the people that hopefully are going to be the ones that will be able to pay the prices and pay whatever is necessary to get that piece to win the Cup.
“There’s no guarantees. You’ve seen a lot of teams today, over the course of three or four days, make moves and you talk about the balance of power … at the end of the day one team is going to win.
“For us, the opportunity to sign Jacob Trouba and know he’s going to be on the pro side of the mix next year, knowing that Mark Scheifele is someone that will be turning pro next year … these are all things where we need to build assets within our organization.
“We’re going to work hard to try to build long-term assets.”
JACKETS SECURE “EXPLOSIVE” GABORIK
The Columbus Dispatch notes Marian Gaborik gives the Blue Jackets an elite offensive scorer, something they can use after a languishing toward the bottom of the league in scoring all season. He has five 30-goal seasons on his resume. Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said his team now has “an explosive player.”
“Very exciting for us, I think,” Kekalainen said. “One area we needed to address was getting more offense, somebody who could play the power play, run the power play, score some goals for us. When a player of Marian’s caliber became available we were extremely excited about the opportunity and we worked on it for quite a while.”
Gaborik had to waive a no-trade clause to get the deal completed, which he did with little time to spare.
“We finally got it done,” Kekalainen said. “I think we were kind of pushing the limit there at the end with the no-trade clause and the papers that had get sent down.”
TORTORELLA WILL MISS GABORIK. NO, REALLY
The New York Daily News offered this quote from Rangers head coach John Tortorella following Marian Gaborik’s trade: “I’ll miss him. He has grown as he’s been with us. Quite honestly when he first came here I don’t think he really had enough skin on him. He has skin on him, and I respect him, and I believe he’ll get his game back. You can see his game coming … I think he’s going to play really well, and in the situation we get a number of assets and some depth onto our team and with trying to sign (pending restricted free-agent center Derek Stepan) and players like that, it gives us a little flexibility there also.”
ISLES HANG ON TO STREIT
Newsday reports Isles GM Garth Snow and Mark Streit’s representatives are believed to be less than $1 million per year apart on a proposed three-year extension. But even if Streit leaves when free agency opens on July 5, Snow had no interest in moving Streit for draft picks with the team on the cusp of their first playoff berth since 2006-07.
“For me, today is not a deadline in that regard,” Snow said. “We’re in a playoff position right now and I feel the guys we have will be able to fortify it and take the next step.”
HOLMGREN ON MASON, MASON’S CONTRACT
CSNPhilly.com writes Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren feels Steve Mason can spell the over-worked Ilya Bryzgalov.
“I think he’s bounced back a little bit better this year,” Holmgren said.
“Sergei [Bobrovsky] has taken over the spot there. Steve is still a young goalie and has a lot of upside. Jeff Reese, our goalie coach, studies a lot of goalies and likes Steve, thinks something is there. Moving forward, he’s a guy we had an interest in.”
Mason is a restricted free agent earning $2.9 million. Given his poor numbers, the Flyers will look to re-sign him for less money.
“There’s a way you can work with Steve and his agent, to get his salary down a little bit,” Holmgren replied, all but saying Mason will have to take a pay cut.
“I don’t think that will be an issue.”
RUTHERFORD FRUSTRATED AT CANES’ SEASON
The Raleigh News & Observer notes the Canes will attempt to end a 1-8-1 skid Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Injuries to such key players as goaltender Cam Ward, defenseman Justin Faulk and now Joni Pitkanen leave the Canes in jeopardy of missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.
“It couldn’t have come at a worse time,” general manager Jim Rutherford said of the team’s recent slide. “We spent more money on our team this year. I believe we had a team in place that was a very good team.
“But when I talk about it coming at a worse time, this is a year we have decided to raise ticket prices and do different things. That doesn’t sit right with the paying customer, when they watch a team that was so good in the first half (of the season) and a team that wasn’t good in the second half.”
Rutherford’s said he is “about as frustrated as you can get” about the way the Canes’ season has unraveled.
“We’re not sitting here saying it’s over,” he said. “But the most frustrating thing is that in the first part of the season we showed what kind of team we had … and we played very well. A whole lot of things happened that put this team in the position that we’ve gone on a long losing streak and it came at the worse time possible.”
BOUCHER GRATEFUL FOR NHL COACHING GIG
The Tampa Tribune describes how in the first public appearance since his dismissal 10 days ago, former Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher lavished praise on the organization and denied any friction with general manager Steve Yzerman on the direction of the struggling franchise.
“I wanted to let my emotions settle down and I didn’t want to be a distraction,’’ Boucher said Wednesday. “My story is very simple – I’m very grateful to have had an opportunity to coach in the NHL and in such a great organization. It’s truly been an incredible ride, one we’re going to cherish for the rest of our lives.’’
On the firing: “It was a shock,’’ he said of the short conversation with Yzerman, informing Boucher he had coached his final game with the Lightning. “But that’s the business and you have to deal with it. The last three Stanley Cup champion coaches have all gone through it. It’s something you have to deal with and it puts a lot of things in perspective. This is difficult. It’s a tough one, but adversity makes you grow.’’
KINGS HOPE TO KEEP REGEHR
The Los Angeles Times passes along that the Kings are looking at newly acquired defenseman Robyn Regehr as more than a short-term solution.
The Kings traded for the 32-year-old Regehr from Buffalo for two second-round draft choices Monday night. He had his first practice with the Kings on Wednesday and General Manager Dean Lombardi talked about his impact, especially if Willie Mitchell does not return next season.
“I think there’s a good chance we can retain him,” Lombardi said of Regehr, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. “This wasn’t looked at as just a player for a rental. We’re looking at this as a guy that can fit with us for a number of years.”
BOWMAN BELIEVES IN HAWKS’ ROSTER
CSNChicago.com recalls Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman had said several times leading up to the trade deadline it would take something that fit to alter things.
Obviously, he meant it.
“We did a lot of listening, there was a lot of talking leading up to today and even today. As you saw there was sort of a flurry at the end (with other teams trading), but there was nothing we were close on,” Bowman said. We’ve got a lot of depth at every position… which has been the strength of our team all year long. We have young players we have confidence in, others who are rounding into form that hadn’t played at the beginning but have shown well in Rockford recently.
“It’s our job to look around at what’s available but we have to ask: ‘Does it make us better?’” Bowman said. “To make a move just to make a move, we don’t believe in that.”
The outlook now?
“We look at it as a very strong team,” Bowman said. “You can never get ahead of yourself. There’s still a lot of work to do. We’re staying focused, and goal all along was to win the division. You do that, you get home ice; that’s our objective. Regardless of positioning and the points you have, you always want to play a high level of hockey. Coaches have done a good job of preparing guys to give top performances. We want to keep going.”
HOLLAND HAPPY WITH DETROIT’S DEPTH
Ken Holland tells Michigan Live he’s not concerned about what competing clubs did to improve themselves before the trade deadline expired.
“We’re trying to compete, we’re trying to rebuild, reload,” Holland said. “You look at the moment in time. I can’t look at the moment in time. I have to look at what we’ve got and where I think we can go over the next few years, the age of the roster, who’s going to be here for a while.”
They are pleased with the progress of their young roster players and some of their prospects.
“You need your players,” Holland said. “We’re happy with Jakub Kindl, we’re happy with Brian Lashoff, we’re happy with Brendan Smith. We’re happy with the way the kids have played. We don’t want to trade them away.”
“If we need forwards, Riley Sheahan deserves a chance, Landon Ferraro, we’ve got Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist, Joakim Andersson, Damien Brunner, certainly on defense with the signing of Danny DeKeyser and the play of Lashoff and Kindl we think the young kids could be real good depth players for us.”
DEVILS LIKE SULLIVAN’S VERSATILITY
The Star-Ledger notes the Devils acquired forward Steve Sullivan from the Phoenix Coyotes today in exchange for the club’s seventh-round selection in the 2014 NHL entry draft.
“He’s going to be a utility player that will give the coach options. We’ll have to see him in practice before we make any judgements,” general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “He’s a player that can play in versatile situations. He’s played in big-time playoff games. He knows the pressures of the league and will be a steadying influence in different areas.”
He added: “I think he’s capable of giving some quality minutes when called upon. I think he can go in any role on any line. He still knows how to score goals. That’s been his forte. There aren’t a lot of people scoring many goals anywhere this season.”