"We want to get a few more (draft) picks," Murray said. "This team is at a certain point and time right now and the opportunities are here to have some success, but you have to start stockpiling again, building up your assets.
"I've got to convince our boys to make some moves and get some draft picks, so when that time comes to turn over this team, let's not go down ... you can go down and have five years when you're drafting in the top five or six, but I don't want to do it and I don't think this market wants us to do it."
In other words, Murray is well aware his club can reasonably contend for a Stanley Cup while built around the likes Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry for only so long, so he's trying to get ahead of the game in terms of building a consistent winner.
Ahead of the 2016 NHL Draft, the Ducks hold only five picks, according to General Fanager.
More in the present, Murray is also intent on adding a top-six, left-shooting winger to the mix.
"It's something we've been missing," he said. "Even bringing in David Perron to play left wing, he was still a right-hand shot. We could use a really good left-hand shot. That's very high on our priority list."
The Ducks, of course, already made a big change in swapping Bruce Boudreau for Randy Carlyle behind the bench.
"We are very proud to name our AHL affiliate the Tucson Roadrunners," said LeBlanc. "The Tucson Roadrunners will build on the great traditions of hockey in Arizona dating back to 1967.
"Roadrunners was the overwhelming fan favorite during our 'Name the Team' contest, and we thank the thousands of fans who helped us select a great name that creates a strong connection to the City of Tucson, reflects our state pride, and extends the reach of the Coyotes brand."
The Roadrunners name dates back to 1967, when the Phoenix Roadrunners of the Western Hockey League (WHL) became Arizona's first professional sports team. The WHL disbanded in 1974, and the Roadrunners became a part of the World Hockey Association (WHA), and subsequently the Pacific Hockey League (PHL), until 1979.
A decade later, the Roadrunners were back as part of the International Hockey League (IHL) and remained until 1997. The Roadrunners then returned to Phoenix in 2005 as a member of the ECHL until 2009.
The Tucson Roadrunners will begin the 2016-17 AHL season in October.
"We'd like to have David back and hopefully as we push in we can get it done, but it has to work for both sides not just one."
Backes posted 21 goals and 45 points last season, but those were his lowest totals through an 82-game season in the last six years. He notched seven goals and 14 points in 20 playoff contests.
Armstrong said Saturday he wants to reward the veteran for his work over the years, but also knows the 32-year-old forward's production could continue to decline.
"We're willing to invest a little bit of 'thank you' money, but it has to make sense," the GM said. "He's earned the right ... but only to a level."
Armstrong added, "It's got to work for David and it's got to work for us. We haven't been able to find that common ground right now."
The Blues have about $13 million in projected cap space, according to General Fanager, and Armstrong will also need to negotiate new deals for pending restricted free agents Jaden Schwartz and Magnus Paajarvi.
Datsyuk announced earlier in the day he is leaving the Red Wings and will return to Russia to play in the KHL. He has one year remaining on his NHL contract at a cap hit of $7.5 million, and it will stay on Detroit's cap because it was signed after he turned 35.
Holland told reporters a small group of teams expressed "some interest" in taking on the remaining year, but the Red Wings know they'd have to package a prospect and don't want to give up too many assets just to clear cap space for one season.
The GM said top prospect Anthony Mantha, nor any of the organization's other "top kids," will be traded to clear room.
Holland believes the veteran didn't fully grasp the rules pertaining to contracts signed by players who are 35 and older at the time, but the GM called the 37-year-old an "honorable person," according to MLive.com's Ansar Khan.
The Anaheim Ducks re-signed defenseman Sami Vatanen to a four-year, $19.5 million contract extension. SPECTOR’S NOTE: Vatanen, 25, will earn $5 million per season in 2016-17 and 2017-18, followed by $4.5 million annually for 2018-19 and 2019-20. His average salary-cap hit is $4.875 million. It was over $1.262 million in 2015-16.. It’s a reasonable raise for […]
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Defenceman Sami Vatanen has re-signed with the Anaheim Ducks, agreeing to a four-year, $19.5 million deal.
The Ducks retained the restricted free agent Saturday.
Vatanen had nine goals and a career-high 29 assists last se...
Vatanen posted career bests in assists (29), points (38), and shots on goal last season, while averaging over 21 minutes of ice time. The blue-liner would've become a restricted free agent July 1, with many teams expected to be interested in his services.
Named to Finland's World Cup roster last month, Vatanen won a bronze medal with his national team at the 2014 Olympics.
The NHL draft will begin Friday night, with plenty of options on the table for all 30 teams.
With countless mock drafts floating around the internet, there are certain scenarios that, appealing as they may be, just don't quite make sense.
Here, then, are three unlikely landing spots for big-name players prior to the NHL draft, based primarily on the needs of the teams in question.
Patrick Laine, Toronto Maple Leafs
Patrick Laine believes he should be taken first overall at the 2016 NHL Draft, and that he can become the next Alex Ovechkin within five years. While he could very well become the most prolific goal-scorer to emerge from this year’s selection process, Laine is not a fit for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Brendan Shanahan and Co. worked long and hard to “win” the draft lottery, and before them stands the opportunity to select center Auston Matthews, the expected cornerstone for whatever future success is to come in the so-called center of the hockey universe.
Laine will probably be the next Finnish sensation to hit the NHL, but like a legendary countryman before him (Teemu Selanne), he should get his start in Winnipeg, not Toronto.
Matthew Tkachuk, Edmonton Oilers
Matthew Thachuk enters the draft as the second-ranked North American skater, fresh off scoring the overtime winner for the OHL’s London Knights in the 2016 Memorial Cup final.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound left winger is the son of Keith Tkachuk, who scored 538 goals in 1,201 career NHL games, and the belief is the younger Tkachuk has the potential to be even better than his old man.
His stock entering the draft is sky high, as recently reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet:
Matthew Tkachuk is “gaining momentum,” as one executive put it, days after the London Knight bulled his way through the Memorial Cup. You know the NHL’s preoccupation with skilled power forwards, and he certainly qualifies.
Conventional wisdom is Auston Matthews goes first to Toronto, with Patrik Laine following to Winnipeg. I think we all expected Jesse Puljujarvi to go third, but it sure sounds like Tkachuk is pushing his way into the picture.
Tkachuk, however, is not what the Edmonton Oilers need at this point in their perpetual rebuild. For one, they have a franchise left winger in Taylor Hall, as well as glaring and immediate needs on the blue line. On top of that, the rest of their top six is littered with talented young forwards
As such, Edmonton would be better off trading the pick or using it on a defenseman like Mikhail Sergachev, Olli Juolevi, or Jakob Chychrun.
Jesse Puljujarvi, Columbus Blue Jackets
As Friedman mentions above, Finnish forward Jesse Puljujarvi is expected to go as high as third in this year's draft, a spot that currently belongs to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Puljujarvi's upside is high, and some believe he could turn out to be a better all-around player than Laine.
The problem for Columbus is they're loaded with prospects at the wing, many of whom were significant contributors to the Blue Jackets' AHL squad's recent championship run. What the Jackets lack following last season's Ryan Johansen-for-Seth Jones trade is a true No. 1 center, a piece that could be landed by way of a trade involving the third overall pick.
Columbus is believed to be receiving "aggressive offers" for the selection, and if the price is right, they might be well served by taking a serious look.
John Tortorella was not hired to coach a rebuilding team, and the Blue Jackets need a star down the middle. Trading this pick, and thereby passing on Puljujarvi, could do the trick.
Pavel Datsyuk's agent says the veteran forward passed on cashing in a signing bonus that would have made him $2 million richer.
Dan Milstein told reporters Saturday that Datsyuk made $15 million over the first two years of his most recent contract, and didn't take the bonus he was due in February, according to NHL.com's Nick Cotsonika.
Datsyuk signed a three-year extension with the Red Wings in June 2013, at an annual cap hit of $7.5 million.
He has one year remaining on that deal, and because he inked the extension after turning 35, the final year will count against the cap for whichever team takes on the contract.
