NHL Trade Rumors – 10 Dec 13

Buffalo Sabres GM search may take a while

According to NHL Insider Trading Bob McKenzie, the search by Buffalo Sabres President of Hockey Operations Pat Lafontaine will not be rushed and they will likely not name soeone until the new year or even up to the Olympic break in February. Lafontaine has a list of six to ten candidates so far and half to three quarters have been interviewed so far. McKenzie stated that Lafontaine wants to make the right choice. One of the new names added to the list is: Director of Amateur Scouting  from the LA Kings, Michael Futa. Futa is seen as an up and coming in the new trend of general manager and knows the talent that’s out there. This is a criteria Buffalo will need to master with all the draft choices coming up in the next NHL Entry Draft. The permission has been asked by the Sabres in Futa’s case to the Kings but no words on when the interview will take place.

Lafontaine will take his time

The effect of the cap rising

Also on NHL Insider Trading, the salary cap was also discussed which will inadvertently affect how some of the star players and future star players will negotiate and how they will structure their contract. Darren Dreger stated that a player like Habs defenseman P.K. Subban who knows the cap will go up next year to 71.1 million and further with the new TV deal between the NHL and Rogers Sportsnet. Subban may for example ask for a shorter length deal now in order to cash in when the cap will be in the 80 million range in 2015-16 instead of a new 8 year deal now as an example for example. Other players such as Jonathan Toews and Patrick kane will become unrestricted free agent in 2015 and will be in a position to ask for major dollars too. The rise will affect the movement of elite players in the years to come.

Jack Capuano is safe for now…

According to Darren Dreger from TSN.ca on NHL Trade Insiders, he mentioned that that Jack Capuano’s job is still safe as the head coach of the New York Islanders. Garth Snow, the Islanders general manager is not looking to replace Capuano at this time and intend on being patient with his coach. He actually feels his top line must be producing more offensively and Snow has taken the responsibility to get Capuano a puck moving defenseman to fill in in the top two of his roster.