SHORT SHIFTS
❚ Picking up winger Carl Hagelin from the New York Rangers was a major coup for the Anaheim Ducks because the player they gave up, Emerson Etem, hasn’t found any consistency as a former first-round draft pick. Hagelin can be a third-liner with burning speed. The Ducks may have the two fastest NHL players — Hagelin and Andrew Cogliano — now. They’ll both kill penalties. “The speed element in the game is getting bigger and bigger and we have to move with the times,” said Anaheim general manager Bob Murray.
❚ Chris Pronger is getting into the Hall of Fame on Monday as is one of the three or four best defenceman of all-time. Detroit Red Wings defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom, along with former teammate Sergei Fedorov, are strong possibilities. Let’s hope that longtime University of Alberta hockey coach Clare Drake gets in as a builder, too.
❚ Unless there’s a hiccup, Rocky Thompson will probably be rehired to work on Todd McLellan’s Edmonton Oilers coaching staff as the third assistant. Thompson, who was the Oilers’ eye-in-the-sky coach last season, did an excellent presentation at the coaches’ conference at the NHL entry draft. McLellan coached Thompson in junior hockey at Swift Current. “We traded for him,” McLellan said.
❚ The Florida Panthers offered two third-round draft picks and a fifth-rounder for New York Rangers goalie Cam Talbot, but finished runner-up in that chase to the Oilers. The Panthers may have been offering restricted free-agent forward Jimmy Hayes, whose brother Kevin plays in New York, too. “I guess they wanted Cam to play out west,” said Florida GM Dale Tallon.
❚ The Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks were looking to change their netminding at the draft, but didn’t get a deal done. The Sharks could still trade for the Dallas Stars’ Kari Lehtonen, but he’s overpriced at $5.9 million. The Flames still have Jonas Hiller and will let free agent Karri Ramo walk because they have to play farmhand Joni Ortio, who can’t go to the minors anymore without going through waivers.
❚ Former Oilers centre Shawn Horcoff, who turns 37 in the fall, will be a free agent on July 1 after two years in Dallas. The Stars liked his work and professionalism, but couldn’t guarantee him any more than fourthline duty, 10-11 minutes a night. Horcoff wants more than that. A contender may give him a shot.
❚ One NHL GM scoffed at reports that Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Sharp might wind up in Montreal, even if the Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin used to work in Chicago. “They don’t have (salary-) cap room,” said the disbelieving GM. Florida seems another possible destination because Tallon used to be the Blackhawks general manager.
❚ So Devan Dubnyk parlayed a fantastic four months and a Vezina Trophy runner-up into a six-year, $26-million deal in Minnesota. Good for him. There’s not a nicer guy in the NHL. His average salary of $4.3 million is what the Wild wanted. Lest we forget, Dubnyk was making $800,000 with the Oilers last year.
❚ Defenceman Kevin Bieksa didn’t get moved to San Jose, as expected, but there’s a lineup of teams willing to give him $4 million a year. The trouble is, the Vancouver Canucks wanted a second-round pick at this draft, not next year.
❚ Nobody will be surprised if the Arizona Coyotes trade for Toronto Maple Leafs’ Tyler Bozak. They need centres and Bozak could be a second-line guy. However, he’s not good defensively and Arizona coach Dave Tippett likes guys who are.
❚ The Tampa Bay Lightning are trying to move defenceman Matt Carle and his $5.5-million salary for three more years. It’s way too much for a third-pairing blue-liner. Nikita Nesterov can easily take Carle’s spot and is way cheaper at $792,000. The Lightning will have to eat some of Carle’s salary to trade him, though. You can bet Jonathan Drouin will be on the third line next year, too, maybe with Vlad Namestnikov.
❚ The Ottawa Senators liked Eric Gryba as an abrasive third-pairing guy, but general manager Bryan Murray said: “We have to open the door for Jared Cowen.” So Gryba was off-loaded to the Oilers, where he’ll give Edmonton a defender who gets in the face of opponents. Cowen is Ottawa’s former six-foot-five first-round draft pick who’s had trouble gaining a foothold in the NHL. “He had an injury last season, but we feel he’s going to be a really good defenceman in this league. Plus, I am trying to sign Chris Wideman, a small defenceman, who will look good on the three-onthree in overtime,” Murray said.
❚ It was a clever move by the Rangers to trade for Blackhawks former No. 2 goalie Antti Raanta, who makes only $800,000, which is about half of what Talbot was making before he was traded to the Oilers. The Rangers thought of Detroit’s unrestricted free agent Jonas Gustavsson as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup, but he would be more expensive than Raanta, who lost his Chicago job to Scott Darling. Viktor Fasth’s name had come up, too, in New York.