Friday the 13th. Kings and Rangers getting ready for Game 5. Parents and kids getting ready for a sudden early end to the school year as the teachers prepare for a full-scale strike next week.
UPDATE 1:20 pm: Today's original blog post is below—this is the new stuff: Jim Benning just finished his segment with Sekeres and Price on TEAM1040. Here's a quick summary of the pertinent points:
• Ryan Kesler. Benning says he talks with Kesler's agent DAILY, that they're trying to figure out Ryan's situation. Sekeres speculates that this means they're trying to be proactive in making a deal—perhaps ahead of Jason Spezza and Joe Thornton getting much traction as alternative choices in the marketplace.
Makes sense. I wonder if those discussions would also include the idea of Kesler loosening up his list of potential trade destinations?
I also wonder if this is where the problem lies with Chicago? That the Canucks want to move Kesler before Stan Bowman gets his Toews and Kane contracted locked down?
• Coaching search. Benning was asked about the photo of him with Marc Crawford. Admitted that he talked to him. Said the complete list of coaching candidates will probably end up being about 6-8 people, with more interviews scheduled for next week—after the final, I presume...
Was much more effusive when talking about Mike Johnston than he was about Crawford. Said Johnston has been interviewed, and talked about what a great job he's done in Portland for the last five years, and how he used to be part of the Canucks organization. Obviously, Crawford also has that trait, but it didn't get a mention when his name was being discussed.
On Johnston: "He coaches an uptempo, skilled style. It went really well. He coaches the style we want our team to play. He's gonna be a candidate, probably."
Took what sounded like a final few shots at Torts when he talked about how the "yeller and screamer" coach who embarrasses players doesn't work anymore in today's NHL. I'd assume that also means Mike Keenan's not getting a look?
Said they're looking for a teaching coach who works with players. Talked again about junior hockey and AHL experience. Also talked about understanding what a coach brings to the table long before the interview process begins.
• The draft. Says he thinks the top six players are all high quality, so they'll be happy with whoever they get at No. 6. Says he is in discussions with all the teams that are picking higher, but doesn't expect any movement on that front until closer to the draft.
Also says they have their eye on a few solid potentials for the 36th pick, and "guys from different parts of the world" who are being considered in the mid-rounds.
• Canucks free agents: pretty non-commital. Said they'd had preliminary discussions with the agents for Zack Kassian and Chris Tanev. Didn't offer up much about Mike Santorelli: sounded rather uncertain but said he's "feeling better" after his injury and they'll address that going forward.
Beyond those key issues, we've learned that it's been a hectic few weeks, that Jim has been traveling a lot, and that he's living in the Olympic Village but hasn't had much of a chance to explore the rest of the city.
I guess we have to start including Mike Johnston in the list of serious coaching candidates and continue to keep our eyes peeled for Ryan Kesler news. Anything else tickle your spidey-senses?
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EARLY BLOG:
• Bob Nicholson has now been announced as the vice-chairman of the new Oilers Entertainment Group, so that story played out as expected.
• NHL.com has a story in their draft section that covers the intel that we've gathered so far about the Canucks' possible intentions in the draft. Not much new here, although I didn't know that Jake Virtanen was such a strong skater.
• Lots of talk yesterday about how the 'Hawks are out of the Kesler sweepstakes because the price is too high. I don't think Chicago's actually ready to make that decision yet. Stan Bowman has been pretty vocal about the fact that his first priority is signing Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to their new deals, by July 1. In this story from the Chicago Sun-Times from Wednesday, Bowman says nothing has been ruled out. The new deals won't kick in for one more season, but the 'Hawks will need to know where they're at in terms of cap space before they try to go after a quality second-line center.
• Tony Gallagher is advocating that the Canucks offer the New York Rangers' Brian Boyle more than his current $1.7 million salary to try to lure him into a fourth-line role when he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Boyle's huge, and he's been second on the Rangers in hits in both the regular season and the playoffs, but this prospect doesn't excite me. A player coming out of the Stanley Cup Final is going to have an even more inflated value than the rest of the free agent class, which means you'd be overpaying significantly for a fourth-line player. Brad Richardson is making $1.15 million—I'd guess Boyle will get at least double that number on the open market. I also think that when he gets to pick his destination, Boston-boy Boyle is going to try to stay on the east coast. A non-starter for me.