In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there are updates on the Bill Peters situation and how this all might affect Seattle GM Ron Francis. There are rumors out of Montreal that the team might be thinking rebuild and what do the new contracts given out in Boston mean for Bruins defenseman Torey Krug?
Bill Peters Apologizes
As more information comes to light about the Bill Peters allegations, Peters sent out a statement on Wednesday, apologizing for his choice of words. He started with, “Please accept this as a sincere apology to you, and the entire Calgary Flames organization, for offensive language I used in a professional setting a decade ago.” He had addressed the statement to GM Brad Treliving.
As it stands right now, the Flames are still conducting their investigation but, as Elliotte Friedman reports, Peters has “left the Flames organization.” Peters is not with the team.
Friedman said in his Sportsnet segment on Wednesday:
“…he has left the organization and is one his way back to Calgary. Now the Flames are in a situation where they are going to be going back to the city tonight after the game and we’re wondering if that means there could be an announcement made (of Peters’ firing) once they’re back home. And that’s kind of where we’re sitting at this particular time.”
Akim Aliu Releases Statement
Aliu has released his only statement in response to the statement and in it, he writes, “I have read the statement of Bill Peters, which I found to be misleading, insincere and concerning.”
He writes that he has accepted a meeting with the NHL and will reserve additional comments until after that meeting.
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Ron Francis Now in Hot Water?
When Rod Brind’Amour said, “It definitely happened.” of the allegations against Peters, things potentially got tricky for current GM of the Seattle expansion franchise Ron Francis.
Francis was GM in Carolina at the time of some of these allegations of physical abuse — allegations that Peters kicked Michal Jordan and punched another Canes player in the head on the bench — and then-Hurricanes general manager Francis aware of what was happening. Nothing changed.
Former Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos said Wednesday night he’d have fired coach Peters “in a nanosecond” which of course might not reflect well on Francis who did not take the same action knowing what was going on.
It may not get to a point where Francis needs to explain his decision not to fire Peters and he has yet to comment. It’s worth keeping an eye on that situation.
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Canadiens to Make Big Move?
Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette believes the Montreal Canadiens could soon start to dump big contracts in an attempt to rebuild. With multiple losses and a feeling this is not their season, names like Carey Price and Shea Weber have been brought up in trade.
Cowan writes:
With the possibility of the Canadiens missing the playoffs for a third straight season and the fourth time in five years, does GM Marc Bergevin try to make a big trade, giving up prospects, to give his team — and Julien — a better chance? Or will it soon be time to start thinking about shopping Price and captain Shea Weber for more young players and start a rebuild — a word Bergevin has refused to use — for the future?
source – ‘Stu Cowan: ‘It’s on us’ not the coaching, Canadiens say of meltdowns’ – Stu Cowan – Montreal Gazette – 11/27/2019
Chances are the Canadiens will be given time to try and work their out of this current slump but if things get better before they get worse, speculation is that this season Bergevin might actually do something, unlike last year when he chose to sit on his cap space.
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What About Torey Krug?
Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston writes with the Boston Bruins re-signing Charlie Coyle and Chris Wagner yesterday, where does this leave defenseman Torey Krug?
There were already some concerns the Bruins would have trouble fitting Krug’s potential new salary into their cap structure next season and these two deals make things that much trickier. The belief is that Krug could get as much as $8 million on the open market this summer.
Don’t expect the Bruins to trade Krug becase he’s vital to the team’s playoff run but there are certainly questions about what will happen to him if he goes un-signed.
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