NHL Rumors: Philadelphia Flyers, and the Columbus Blue Jackets

Philadelphia Flyers goaltending prospect may not want to return next season

Tony Androckitis: Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Alexei Kolosov had told the team after his time with Lehigh Valley at the end of the season that he didn’t want to return according to an AHL source.

“They put him in the hotel by himself & he felt isolated, especially since his English isn’t great.”

Tony Androckitis: “Put yourself in Kolosov’s shoes for a minute. You’re ~5,000 miles from home in a different country where you can’t speak the native language or communicate with anyone. You’re the 3rd goalie getting minimal practice reps in AHL. What do you do the other 22 hours of the day? Not to mention you watch Ivan Fedotov go straight to the NHL with #Flyers & get a big contract extension shortly after the season ends.”

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A Patrik Laine “hockey trade” won’t be easy for the Columbus Blue Jackets

Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch: Patrik Laine has been cleared to return and Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell didn’t comment on Friday.

Back on Tuesday Waddell said that he’s confident they’ll be able to find a trade for Laine this offseason. The holdup had been that teams wanted to, and weren’t able to talk to Laine while he was in the NHL/NHLPA players assistance program.

“I’ve had enough calls, so there’s at least some interest,” Waddell said. “Obviously, some teams have gone in a different direction with the salary cap and all that, but I’m pretty confident that we’ll be able to make a deal with him before the season.”

Aaron Portzline of The Athletic: Teams will now be able to speak to Patrik Laine and find out more about mental heal and his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery.

Laine entered the player assistance program on January 28th and broke his clavicle on December 14th. He had six goals and three assists in 18 games last season.

Waddell is looking to make a “hockey trade” for Laine and would prefer not to retain a big portion of Laine’s salary. With so many teams already having filled out their rosters after free agency, it won’t be an easy trade for the Blue Jackets to make.

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Laine has two years left at $7.8 million and a 10-team no-trade clause. It’s not known if Laine would expand his list given that he’s asked for a change of scenery.