On Edler talks-
Dialogue with agent and Alex, talking to them about his intentions, he's made it clear he'd like to stay, was real good for us last year and this year, continue to talk to them and figure something out, made it clear to him we want to keep him, with where we're at he's our best D, leader in our room, mentor to Petey, sets the culture, important guy for development of young guys, doesn't think a trade and re-sign is possible,
On Quinn Hughes-
Will try to sign Quinn once he and his family decides to turn pro ie likely end of this season, big step from college to NHL, skating and puck handling is elite, getting accustomed to nhl size and strength, defensively battling guys 1 on 1 we won't know until he gets in here and plays games, such a good skater and puck handler we think he can make the adjustments
On Seattle Expansion-
We don't have a worry on defense for expansion protection, not worried about him playing too many games
On what area of roster needs most improvement-
We could use another scorer, another difference maker, that can shoot the puck, a top 6 forward, with quinn coming on the back end and I still really like Olli Juolevi we could add 1 more defenceman. We need another top 6 player and offensive defender
On UFA and going hard after a big name-
Pro scout meetings next week, put a list together of all UFA's positionally etc
On young D being hard to get -
Yeah that's why we need to draft and develop our own. Drafts gonna be deep enough this year where we're gonna get a real good player, top 6 you can get a guy that steps in next year, 7 through 16-17 we'll get a player we really like be it forward or top 4 D.
Some guys you want to see in the lineup sooner than later-
Ashton Sautner, steady, good skater, physical, ready to play NHL games
Chatfield - competitive, in the mold of Tanev, gets back, transitions puck up ice
Brisebois- we've had injuries, he's played 22-24 mins a night down there, can really skate and is mobile and we like his 2 way game
we got guys we feel good about
Woo is having a real good year, 41 points in 42 games, he plays hard, excited about him
On MacEwan getting a look-
Drives their team, physical, takes puck to net, we really like him, we talked about if we had another injury about getting him up and getting a look at him
Do you have too many C's now with Petey's breakout, is it fair to speculate a trade is coming -
You guys can speculate, Gaudette has been good with us, we wanted to get him down to get him more ice time, 16-18 mins a night on first PP, wanted to develop offensive side of game, wasn't comfortable yet up in NHL with time and space, when he's ready we'll make room for him, no consideration on flipping him over to the wing, he's always played C
On Goldobin falling through cracks -
This is development, when he has the puck on his stick hes one of our most skilled players, when he doesn't he has a lot to work on, im not ready to give up on him yet, has a chance to be a real good player, part of development, should be in lineup tomorrow night, 31 games left so it's up to Goldy, if he rounds out the rest of his game ie winning puck battles and hunting pucks down then he's got a future with us. Continue to work with him and hope he gets better, high ceiling.
On EP's personality with media being an issue-
No. he's a really intense young man, he wants to be the best, to do the things hes' done is fantastic, still things he needs to learn hes a young kid still, he's learning the language, he works with our PR people to not do the death stare lol, part of his intensity
Most impressive part of EP-
Given the whole team confidence, for one player to make such a difference gives everyone in the room confidence, when he has the puck on his stick he can make one play or one shot that can make a difference, makes everyone better.
On surrounding EP with the right players -
That's my job, we're gonna draft well, we're gonna develop well, we've tried to surround them with high character guys who hold them accountable, teach them, mentor them, the Beagles the Roussels, when things are going well we need veteran leadership to keep them in check and give em a kick in the ass when it's not, teaching em how to be pros and how to win etc
On how most trades come about -
Over the course of last couple weeks I talk to every GM in the league and see what's going no, with where we're at we have the draft in Vancouver I'm not trading any of our picks, if we can make hockey trades I'll look at those, wanna hold onto our bluechip prospects, if we feel somethings there depending on the return we might look at it, usually you can talk about 40 different trades/scenarios and maybe at end of day maybe you do 1 trade, it's hard with where teams are cap wise to make hockey trades, first question we get is all our young players and I'm not doing that
On what market will be like -
We're seeing trades getting done earlier than in past years ie Muzzin, Brassard. every year is a different year in regards to deadline
Fin
