My next blog will be answering your "What the Ek questions..." But first some new rumors...
On Kovalchuk...
The Rangers, Islanders and Habs look to be battling for Kovalchuk...Lou's very close with Ilya so I wasn't surprised at all to see the Islanders coming up in rumors today when I talked to sources around the league...I was also told former Canadien Alexei Kovalev was singing the praises of Montreal to Kovalchuk..
On Erik Karlsson...
The Rangers are now appearing to be the front runner here....one very well connected source said he would put it at 85% that Karlsson ends up in NY with the Rangers. Chicago and Toronto are also in this, but both teams appear to have switched to their contingency plans behind closed doors...perhaps feeling that NY's offer could be tough to top.
On Trouba...
Jacob has come out and said he would love to stay in Winnipeg long term...and while I am sure he is sincere, Winnipeg has a ton of work to do to get all these players under contract...and there are plenty of teams who would love to get in on Trouba including Buffalo, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal and Detroit...