Around the NHL
— In about 5 minutes (12:00 p.m.), it will become known if any teams put in a claim for wingers Nikolay Zherdev and Marek Svatos.
The sense is someone might take a chance on Zherdev who has 15 goals on the season.
Pittsburgh will not put a claim on Zherdev and they are not expected to put a claim on Svatos. There appears to be no chance the Penguins would ever consider bringing Zherdev into their locker room.
As for Svatos, he has never been a player that has interested the Penguins. As I mentioned several times over the summer, Svatos agent Rich Evans aggressively tried to get Pittsburgh interested in bringing Svatos on board but Pittsburgh never showed an interest. It would be a surprise if they did now.
— GM’s around the league are keeping a close eye on Clark MacArthur in Toronto. Negotiations between agent Don Meehan and GM Brian Burke are on-going and some reports have surfaced that the Leafs intend to deal MacArthur if the two sides can’t find common ground on an extension.
There has also been reports that a deadline has been put in place by GM Brian Burke.
I spoke with agent Don Meehan late last night on whether a deadline has been put in place by the two sides. He denied that assumption, saying ” No, not at all, ” Meehan said.
The sense is MacArthur wants to stay in Toronto but is seeking a multi-year deal worth at least $3 million per season. He is scheduled to be a restricted free agent at seasons end.
Updated 12:15 p.m. – : According to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com, Zherdev has cleared waivers, while Svatos has been claimed by the Ottawa Senators.
The Penguins as expected did not put a claim on either player.
