Puck Daddy’s 2013 NHL Trade Deadline Live Blog, Hour 4
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11:55 a.m. (HM) - Jack Johnson has left Blue Jackets' practice. Has he been dealt? Or perhaps he just had a cramp. But probably a trade! Oh man. This is it, friends. This is finally it!
Oh wait, nevermind. Cramp. The team says he's just visiting with the trainers. As you were.
11:40 a.m. (HM) - Scratch Miikka Kiprusoff off the list, and not because he's been traded, but because he really doesn't want to be. According to Darren Dreger of TSN, Kiprusoff really meant it when he said he didn't want to go.
The Leafs did their best to convince him, says Damien Cox of the Toronto Star:
GM Dave Nonis pitched Kiprusoff on the idea of coming to Toronto on Tuesday, and then began discussions with agent Larry Kelly Wednesday night on the possible parameters of an extension.
That would have to be a gentleman's agreement, as an actual extension to Kiprusoff's deal can't formally be done until the summer. It's likely the Leafs would be willing to pay Kiprusoff in the neighborhood of $5.5 million for one more season after his current contract expires after next season.
But it looks like Kiprusoff is staying put. Chances are he plays out the rest of the year in Calgary then retires with one year left on his contract.
11:15 a.m. (HM) -- Still no trades to report, but we did get an update on a trade that happened yesterday. (Hey, remember yesterday, with all its activity, at least compared to this morning so far? Sigh.) New Ranger Ryane Clowe had a few words to say on his way out the door in San Jose:
Wow! Crazy couple of days! Want to say thank you to the Sharks organization and all the wonderful fans in SJ for treating me so great the last 8 years. It was a blast and I will miss it. Extremely excited to be joining the NY Rangers. Getting an opportunity to play in New York and at MSG is special."
Here's hoping we get a few more tweets like this today, because it means more player movement.
11:00 a.m. (HM) - It's been an uneventful morning thus far, but fret not, because the bottom of the last hour yielded a couple of explosive, big-time quotes from two GMs that project to be active today.
First, Dave Nonis of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who told TSN the following: "Right now it's very quiet."
And then, we got this huge update from Phoenix Coyotes' GM Don Maloney: "We are doing a lot of listening right now."
So don't fret, you guys. Putting two and two together here, we can surmise that it's quiet because everybody's listening so hard. The future is bright.
