Honka asks Stars for a trade
Mike Heika: Dallas Stars defenseman Julius Honka has asked for a trade.
Sean Shapiro: Honka had formally requested the trade on Thursday night.
Matthew DeFranks; Stars GM Jim Nill on Honka: “Did we handle him right at times? Yes or no, we don’t know. And it’s on the player, too. You get an opportunity, you’ve got to grab it. Sometimes, things don’t work out. There’s different personalities, but that’s sports and that’s life.”
Matthew DeFranks: Nill on potential teams interested in Honka: “Teams that I’ve talked to might have interest but until they know what they can do with their RFAs, they can’t make any moves. They’re capped out. We’ll play this out, see where it goes.”
Matthew DeFranks: Honka’s agent Todd Diamond has permission to talk to other teams about a potential trade.
The option sign with a team in Europe is not on the table right now.
Sean Shapiro: Diamond: “we’ve known for a little while and Jim more recently have all come to the conclusion it wasn’t going to happen in Dallas for Julius.”
Scott Billeck: A Honka trade may be something the Winnipeg Jets should explore. There is the uncertainty with Dustin Byfuglien now. Honka has some good underlying numbers. He may not have been deployed properly in Dallas.
A bridge for Laine … In the month someone showed interest in offer sheeting Connor
James (Account4hockey): Elliotte Friedman said that he thinks Patrik Laine and the Winnipeg Jets will do a bridge deal, possibly for two-years.
Sean Reynolds of Sportsnet: There are teams earlier this offseason that checked in on Jets RFA forward Kyle Connor about a potential offer sheet. Sometime after the August long weekend, a new team showed some interest in an offer sheet. At least three teams have considered it.
Connor is looking for a long-term deal.
The Arizona Coyotes extended Clayton Keller to an eight-year deal with a cap hit of $7.15 million. Connor has scored 28 more goals than Keller in the past two seasons and recorded 11 more points.