One of the interesting nuggets from Elliotte Friedman’s latest “30 Thoughts” column for Sportsnet was that the Anaheim Ducks may have some interest in Calgary Flames’ underperforming Sam Bennett. While he didn’t go into detail on it in the column, he was asked about it today on Sportsnet 960 in Calgary.
I’ve heard that the Ducks like Sam Bennett. I’ve heard there’s people in that organization who like him. So I could see the possibility of something being there. But if you look at [Ducks GM] Bob Murray’s history, he’s done two deals with Vancouver. [Ryan] Kesler and [Kevin] Bieksa. He did one with Edmonton. Patrick Maroon. The rest of his deals are all East: Bobby Ryan to Ottawa. Frederik Andersen to Toronto. James Wisniewski to Carolina. Kyle Palmieri to New Jersey. He prefers to send guys out East.
Friedman does admit again that the Ducks would be interested in Bennett, but throws cold water on the whole idea saying that Murray wouldn’t want his defenseman “torturing him” for the next few seasons. It is interesting though that the Ducks would have interest in Bennett, who has had trouble at the center ice position and struggled to contribute offensively this year. Perhaps they would convert him to a winger, something that Calgary will need to consider once again going into next season.
- As we wrote about earlier today, Ottawa Senators forward Bobby Ryan may have pushed himself back into the discussion about expansion protection with his standout playoffs. Jared Clinton of The Hockey News doesn’t think so though as he lists Ryan among his players that have built-in protection due to their cap hits. Ryan himself thinks he’s “pretty safe”, telling the media that he doesn’t think Vegas would want his $7.25MM cap-hit. Ryan currently has a no-movement clause of sorts, but it is not the same as say, Dion Phaneuf’s clause that will force him to be protected should he not waive it. Ryan is not on the list of automatic protection, as his clause only stops movement to the minors. He doesn’t need to waive it to be exposed.
- Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinal reported yesterday that the Florida Panthers are indeed waiting for Phil Housley to finish his current run with the Nashville Predators before interviewing him for the vacant head coaching job. Panthers’ GM Dale Tallon would need to get permission from the Predators to talk to their assistant head coach, but most organizations don’t stand in the way as long as it is a promotion. Housley has been with the Predators for four years, and is considered a lock for a future head coaching job. The Hall of Fame defenseman put up 1232 points in 1495 games and is one of the greatest American-born players of all-time.