Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

A Tour Around The Hockey World

01/15/2016 at 7:15am EST

from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal,

*If teams are lining up to trade for first-round draft pick Jonathan Drouin, it begs two questions: (1) why isn’t he playing in Tampa; and (b) why would GM Steve Yzerman even think of dealing him if so many other teams want the kid? Cautionary tale: Markus Naslund for Alek Stojanov in 1996. Both first-rounders. Naslund was 22 in Pittsburgh, with 151 games under his belt, and was dealt for Alek Stojanov. Naslund played 1,117 NHL games, Stojanov 107.

*As much as Don Meehan is a helluva agent, I’m not sure how his Tampa client Steve Stamkos can be in Oechkin’s league money-wise for his scoring exploits. Or Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews at top-dog $10.5 million. They’ve won three Stanley Cups each. Stamkos can score, too, but his comparable may be closer to Corey Perry (cap hit $8.6M, sixth-best in the NHL). And Perry has a Cup and a Hart trophy.

*NHL executive on winger Brandon Saad: “He’s only 23. Why didn’t he take, say, $4.5 million a year for two seasons in Chicago to stay on a helluva team and maybe win another Cup, then try for more money, rather than press the issue and get traded to Columbus for $6 million a year?”

*Dustin Byfuglien is the most unique NHL player — 260 pounds with soft hands and good wheels — but teams are leery of signing the Jets defenceman as a free agent. “It’s not the dollars, it’s the term that he wants, too,” said one NHL GM. Most hockey people figure five years would be plenty for Byfuglien at, say, $7 milion, but seven years? Not a chance, even if he’s only 30. I don’t see the Panthers taking a run at him, even if Dale Tallon was his GM in Chicago once upon a time.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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