East Notes: Spooner, Ovechkin, Islanders Executive Search

The Hurricanes, Sharks, and Islanders are among the teams that have been in trade talks with Boston regarding forward Ryan Spooner, reports CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty.  The Bruins are believed to be shopping the 24 year old who is off to a slow start this season with nine points in 25 games.  Spooner, a natural center, has spent a lot of time on the left wing and has bounced anywhere between the first and fourth lines which hasn’t allowed him to settle into one specific role so far.

It’s believed that GM Don Sweeney is looking for a top six forward in return for Spooner, who carries a cap hit of just $950K this season.  While there aren’t many top six forwards with a cap charge under $1MM, the Bruins do have some cap space to work with (a little over $3.6MM per CapFriendly) which would make it easier to take a higher priced player back if they can find the right trade.

For his part, Spooner reiterated that his preference is to stay with Boston, the team that drafted him back in the second round (45th overall) back in 2010.  With Matt Beleskey set to miss the next six weeks due to a knee injury, Spooner should slide into his spot in the lineup and although that will mean he’ll need to continue to play the left wing, having a bit more certainty in his role may go a long way towards him re-establishing himself as an offensive threat after putting up 49 points last season.

More from the East:

• Capitals head coach Barry Trotz is not happy with captain Alex Ovechkin when it comes to his discipline, writes Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. Ovechkin has taken five minor penalties in Washington’s last three games and leads the team with 11 in total, something that Trotz calls “unacceptable”.
• As part of their search to bring in a high level executive, the Islanders are interested in speaking with former Vancouver GM Mike Gillis, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link). TSN’s Darren Dreger adds (Twitter links) that the team has spoken with former Isles Pat LaFontaine, Pat Flatley, and Glenn Healy and that they may have interest in Laurence Gilman, another former executive with the Canucks. He notes that Vancouver has not yet been asked for permission to speak with either Gillis or Gilman, something that is required as both still are under contract to the Canucks this season despite being let go.