A year after shaking up his team with trades at the draft that altered the landscape of the NHL
Ty Montgomery Jersey Youth , Stan Bowman isn’t letting on that he’ll make the same kinds of moves now.
”I learned to never try to predict the future,” the Chicago Blackhawks general manager said. ”It’s difficult to predict the magnitude of changes as we go forward.”
With teams like the Blackhawks eager to get back to the playoffs, the New York Rangers always in position to make a splash and plenty of big-name players in trade discussions, it’s hard to predict but easy to expect an eventful weekend of movement. Ottawa captain and No. 1 defenseman Erik Karlsson, Montreal winger Max Pacioretty, Buffalo center Ryan O’Reilly and Pittsburgh winger Phil Kessel are among the stars being bandied about in trade talk that could come to a head at or before the first round of the draft Friday night.
”There’s been a lot of chatter this week,” Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli said Thursday. ”We’re involved in a lot of the chatter. I’ve said publicly we’d put our (10th overall) pick in play particularly for a defenseman. That, of course, has led to teams asking what we would put in play for. There’s been discussions on that.”
A lot of discussions are ongoing on the trade front apart from the draft itself
Davante Adams Packers Jersey , which is expected to feature smooth-skating Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin going first to Buffalo, Russian winger Andrei Svechnikov second to Carolina and a whole lot of uncertainty after that.
GMs finally got some certainty on the 2018-19 salary cap when the NHL and NHLPA announced it would be $79.5 million with a floor of $58.8 million. As Bowman said, the $4.5 million increase is ”better than it staying flat,” and it gives teams more room to maneuver on re-signing players or exchanging them.
Aside from the deadline, there’s no better time of the year for trades than the draft, right ahead of the free agent negotiating period next week and with free agency opening July 1. Karlsson is the most attractive target by far because he can be a free agent a year from now, but the Senators aren’t showing their hand.
”We have a good game plan,” Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion said. ”We aren’t going to talk (publicly) about specific players, i.e.
http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/tremaine-edmunds-jersey , Mark Stone, Cody Ceci, Chris Wideman, Erik Karlsson.”
Florida’s Dale Tallon said he had spoken to about a dozen fellow GMs and is hearing mostly talk about so-called ”hockey trades” that are neither buying nor selling moves. Because players like O’Reilly and Kessel have many years left on their contracts, they’re more complicated moves.
”Most of those big names are tied up for a long time,” Tallon said. ”I haven’t heard a lot about big names. It’s mostly deals that fill needs for teams, either a stay-at-home defenseman or a third-line or a fourth-line guy or a specialty player of some sort. Somebody’s trying to shake things up.”
Shake things up? Sounds like the Rangers in most years, though they’ve gone into rebuilding mode after a fire sale at the trade deadline. They’re usually involved in rumors on big players, but GM Jeff Gorton wants to quell the speculation that he’s going all-in on trying to win now.
”We’re going to investigate everything
Tarik Cohen Jersey ,” Gorton said. ”That’s what the job is. That’s what we want to do. If there is an opportunity to get a player and the price wasn’t too high then we’re going to look at it, but for anybody that would be skeptical of a rebuild all you have to do is look at the last several months and over the trade deadline some of the things we’ve done. I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re trying to accumulate young players and assets and trying to get better and going to give these players an opportunity.”
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The Phoenix Suns have hired Utah Jazz assistant Igor Kokoskov as their new head coach.
The 46-year-old Serbian becomes the first NBA head coach born and raised outside North America. He served as a Suns assistant from 2008 to 2013, a stretch that included Phoenix’s 2010 run to the Western Conference finals.
Kokoskov agreed to terms with the Suns after the team conducted a long series of initial interviews followed by second interviews with what general manager Ryan McDonough termed ”a handful” of finalists.
Kokoskov inherits an exceedingly young team that compiled a 21-61 record, worst in the NBA and second-worst in franchise history.
He succeeds interim coach Jay Triano, who took over after Earl Watson was fired three games into the season.
In a statement announcing the hiring, McDonough said Kokoskov ”has been a pioneer throughout his basketball career and he brings a wealth of high-level coaching experience to our club.”
”He was one of the first non-American born assistant coaches at both the NCAA and NBA levels and his most recent coaching stint includes leading the Slovenian national team to the 2017 EuroBasket title, which was the first European title in the history of the country,” McDonough said. ”Igor’s teams have always had a player development focus, a creative style of play and a track record of success.”
Kokoskov was with the Jazz on Wednesday night in Houston
Joe Namath Jersey Youth , where they met the Rockets in the second game of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series. He will take over the Suns as soon as his duties with the Jazz are completed.
”I think Phoenix is getting a guy who’s a terrific teacher and tactician,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said after the Utah win. ”I’ve known Igor since I was an assistant at Duke and he was a young coach touring the U.S. We have a special relationship that goes back 20 years. I’m excited for him. He’s been a terrific assistant for a long time and can’t thank him enough. We’ll try to keep him here as long as we can.”
Kokoskov is in his 18th season as an NBA assistant coach. In addition to the Jazz and Suns, he was an assistant at Orlando (2015), Cleveland (2013-14), Detroit (2003-08) and Los Angeles Clippers (2000-03).
He became a U.S. citizen on June 18, 2010, in a ceremony on the court at Phoenix’s Talking Stick Resort Arena. He and his family have kept a home in the Phoenix area since his time with the Suns.
Kokoskov also was head coach of the Georgia national team from 2008 to 2015, qualifying for the EuroBasket tournament three times.
He became the first European to hold a full-time assistant job at an NCAA Division I basketball program after he was hired by then-coach Snyder in 1999. Snyder hired Kokoskov as an assistant there three seasons ago.
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AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report.
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