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Late-Night Quick Hits: Arnott, Ryan, Luongo, Knuble, Huet |
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The "pause" button has once again been hit on the 2012 NHL offseason. Several teams looking for help on the wings are waiting on Shane Doan and the Bobby Ryan trade front before considering role-player options who are still on UFA market. Likewise, some other clubs are dealing with negotiations with their own restricted free agents and/or pursuing trade talks before they try to pluck someone off the shelf of remaining UFAs.
Some updates on several players on the UFA or trade market:
Jason Arnott took a salary reduction last season on the one-year deal he signed with St. Louis and he may need either to be willing to accept an increasingly reduced offensive role and/or another one-year contract in the same neighborhood as his 2011-12 deal. There are still several clubs with varying degrees of interest -- Edmonton, Chicago and Detroit have all been rumored-- but it is clear that the soon-to-be-38-year-old may need to remain patient for awhile longer.
Daymond Langkow is in a similar holding pattern to Arnott. It's a matter of finding the right fit and the right role. It looks like Langkow may ultimately head back east for the first time since his Flyers days. A pair of Atlantic Division clubs -- the Islanders and Devils -- have some interest.
I continue to hear that Anaheim's asking price in trade for Bobby Ryan is so high that it has, thus far at least, precluded serious talks that could lead to an imminent deal. For example, the Ducks have allegedly not backed off a demand from Philadelphia to include both Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn in the deal. But as much as the Flyers would love to bring the Cherry Hill native back home, this is a non-starter. Let's put it this way: If they weren't going to trade Couturier and Schenn to Nashville for Shea Weber or Phoenix for Keith Yandle, they're not going to trade their best two young forwards for winger Ryan.
The same thing was -- and is -- true for Roberto Luongo, except there are fewer teams legitimately involved. The Canucks are still going to have to downscale their trade demands in order to get the deal done.
Mike Knuble is one of my favorite people and players in hockey. Unfortunately, it's looking more and more that the only way Knuble is likely to get a chance to prolong his NHL career will be via a preseason tryout invite. If he does sign a one-year deal somewhere in August, it's going to have to be at a deeply discounted rate.
Cristobal Huet has officially announced his intention to return to the NHL after spending the last two seasons in Switzerland. It's odd that he'd jump into the market so late, but there are a couple of teams that could still have interest in him competing for a backup job. However, with the CBA situation, the timing of this seems especially strange.
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