Montreal Gazette: Quebec City and Quebecor Media Inc. have reached an agreement to build a $400 million, 18,000 seat multi-use sports complex. Construction is schedule to begin in September and be completed by September 2015. The cost will be split between the provincial government and the city.
Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: With 2 Russians expected to be top picks this year, teams may be thinking if they’ll pull a Radulov and head to the KHL during their entry-level deals to get more money.
“You do as much homework as you can on a player, what kind of character he has, what drives him. The general consensus is, say, if they’re here playing junior in North America (Yakupov in Sarnia, Grigorenko in Quebec City and fellow Russian Alex Galchenyuk, also in Sarnia), the player wants to be here. I think the Radulov situation might be a one-off. The top Russian players who’ve made the committment to come over (Malkin) are staying. They do have leverage of going back to Russia which can help with an NHL contract. Yeah, that has to come into consideration, but I look at the kids in this draft, I think if you like them you’ll take them and you’ll sign them.”
The Panthers had offered UFA defenseman Jason Garrison a $2.5 million per deal, but he quickly turned it down. He may be figuring he could get $4 million on the open market. One NHL executive said his a #5 defenseman. The Oilers may be interested come July 1st.
Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: The Leafs have 6 games left with no back-to-backs, so it’s possible that Jonas Gustavsson has played his last game in a Leafs uniform. Burke should know by now if he’ll re-sign the pending UFA or not. Free agent goalies that could be available to July 1st are Tomas Vokoun, Josh Harding and Martin Biron.
Michael Woods of the Toronto Star: Woods looks at 8 goalies the Maple Leafs could have acquired last year instead of going with James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson: Craig Anderson, Brian Elliott, Mike Smith, Jose Theodore, Tomas Vokoun, Ray Emery, Antero Niittymaki and Ben Bishop.
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: Simmons thinks that Leafs GM Brian Burke has one year left to turn things around. Burke does have 2 more years under contract, and next season will be his 5th year leading the Leafs. It’s unlikely that Patrick Roy takes any position with the Montreal Canadiens. Simmons thinks he’s waiting for a possible relocation of the Coyotes to Quebec City. If the Maple Leafs draft around #5, it might be high enough to draft Alex Galchenyuk, who some think is better than Nail Yakupov. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello appears convinced he’ll be able to re-sign Zach Parise.
Damien Cox via twitter: The Maple Leafs draft plan is to get one of Mikhail Grigorenko, Alex Galchenyuk or Radek Faksa up the middle. With their 2nd pick to draft Tom Wilson of Plymouth.