BOSTON – Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli confirmed he’s had discussions with teams about trading Tyler Seguin.
He hopes Seguin got the message.
Chiarelli said he received a “deluge” of calls when news about talks involving Seguin leaked out. Those stopped once Nathan Horton decided to enter free agency and Chiarelli’s desire to move him waned as well.
“If I were to trade Tyler, it would be for an elite young prospect or player,” Chiarelli said during Sunday’s NHL draft. “He’s an elite young player who had an average year. He’s 21 and I expect big things from him. I wasn’t satisfied with his year and neither was he. We’ll move on, but he’s a hell of a player and will be a hell of a player.”
Asked what Seguin had to do to take the next step, Chiarelli spoke to Seguin’s maturity.
“He’s got to commit his mind and focus to the one task at hand. He’s got to become more of a professional,” Chiarelli said. “I can say that about a lot of 21-year-olds. I know he got criticized a lot for playing on the periphery, and he did. He did. But he’s got to commit to being a professional and his focus on the game. We don’t expect him to crash and bang, just focus on his game.”
TIM THOMAS is open to resuming his career after taking a season off, his agent says.
Thomas, 39, spent last season on the Islanders in name only. The Islanders acquired Thomas in a trade with Boston after the Bruins suspended him for failing to report to training camp.
The Islanders traded for Thomas to have the final year of his contract count for $5 million against their salary cap to meet league’s mandated $44 million minimum.
OLYMPICS: While a deal hasn’t been reached yet between the NHL, the union and the International Ice Hockey Federation, to send the league’s players to Sochi, a long meeting pushed the sides much closer to an agreement.
This would be the fifth Olympics for the NHL.
Not everything has been agreed to and the various sides need to meet internally to sign off on any pact.
COYOTES: Phoenix’s four-year bid for stability will finally come to a close soon.
With Tuesday night’s Glendale City Council meeting, the Coyotes will find out if the city will approve an arena lease agreement with Renaissance Sports & Entertainment, which has an agreement in place to buy the franchise from the NHL.
Should the council approve the 15-year, $225 million deal for Jobing.com Arena, the path will be cleared for the Coyotes to stay in Arizona.
A vote against the lease agreement means the Coyotes are almost certainly headed out of town for good.
BLUE JACKETS: Columbus signed goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to a two-year contract extension, locking up the Vezina Award winner before he could become a restricted free agent.
RANGERS-FLYERS: New York acquired defenseman Danny Syvret from Philadelphia for forward Kris Newbury.
Syvret had six goals and 34 assists in 76 games last season with Adirondack of the AHL.
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