On signing D Daniel Walcott to a two-year contract extension earlier this week and what makes him a fit within the Tampa Bay organization and with its AHL affiliate in Syracuse:
"Well, a few things, the one thing to be completely candid is his veteran status with the AHL was something that's going to come into play based on how many games he ends up playing this season, so we had a conversation with him. We didn't want to put him in a situation where we would be somewhat handcuffing his ability to maximize his income next year because he had become a veteran player, especially in a season this year where there really are no standings, there's no playoffs, there's no Cup that we're chasing, there are no fans in the building. And in the course of those conversations, and again, those conversations were actually between (assistant GM) Stacy Roest and Wally, I wasn't privy to them directly, it came up that we'd love to keep him. He's a good player. He's a hard player to play against. He works hard. But he's also a phenomenal human being, a great leader, in the mold of others we've had over the years, Mike Angelidis. They're different, but Mike Angelidis was a phenomenal leader and helped us establish that culture of winning in Syracuse when we came in in 2012. And then Luke Witkowski's been a contributor to continuing that culture of winning and doing things the right way. And Daniel Walcott is another player that believes in our program and is an amplifier for our coaches' message. That's worth a lot to us. And that's why ultimately we decided to approach him about locking him up now and making sure that our interests are all aligned going forward."
Kevin Fiala isn't happy about the system the Kings played...
Value of: Mitch Marner this offseason (2.5 mil retained)
