And so a conversation yesterday with Glen Sather yielded the following:
That the Rangers are in the hunt for unrestricted free-agent defenseman Vladimir Malakhov, late of the Stanley Cup champion Devils; that it is not at all out of the question that Stephane Quintal might remain on Broadway to skate on a pair with Malakhov, as he did in Montreal; that Mark Messier is not yet signed, sealed or delivered; that the head coach’s job presumed to be Ron Low’s is not actually filled.
And, oh yes, this little tidbit, too: that the GM had a conversation with Mike Keenan on Friday regarding the coaching position and intends to speak with him again in the next day or two. If Keenan truly is a serious candidate, however, one wonders what took so long for Sather to pick up the phone.
But no one really does know what Sather is up to.
All that, plus information confirmed by independent sources that the Blueshirts have significant interest in free-agent winger Claude Lemieux and that the Canucks would like to acquire Valeri Kamensky in order to reunite him with Marc Crawford, his coach for the glory days in Colorado.
Sather yesterday answered a question concerning his obvious lack of interest in re-signing Mathieu Schneider by volunteering the information that he was smitten with Malakhov, who played very well indeed for the Devils against the Flyers and Stars in the final two rounds of the playoffs.
“Malakhov’s a highly skilled guy who I’ve liked for a long time. I thought he was a pretty important player for the Devils at the end,” Sather said. “All I know is he went to the Island and had a hell of a year playing for Al Arbour, was traded for some reason to Montreal [with Pierre Turgeon for Kirk Muller and Schneider by Don Maloney] and played really well for Mario Tremblay with Quintal.”
It had been believed that Quintal’s exit was inevitable after his banishment by Dave Checketts for the final four games after telling a Montreal journalist that signing as a free agent with the Rangers might well have been a mistake. Sather himself two weeks ago said he would look to trade the defenseman. But the GM was singing a different tune yesterday.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do about that; he’s not the first player who has [soiled] his own bed,” Sather said during a phone conversation. “I’ve talked to his agents and they assure me that Stephane is very remorseful about what happened and would like the opportunity to rectify things.
“I’ll have to see how it works out but the way he played with Malakhov is something to consider.”
Paul Theofanous, one of the agents who represents Quintal, also represents Malakhov and Kamensky. Malakhov is being sought by the Panthers, who were interested in acquiring the defenseman before he was traded to the Devils by Montreal. Lemieux, by the way, is also being sought by the Panthers.
“We might know more about Vladimir [today],” Theofanous said. “There’s interest from different places, the Rangers definitely among them.”
When Sather talked about Malakhov’s experience playing for Arbour and Tremblay, the GM was asked how he would get along with Low, widely believed to have accepted an offer to become John Muckler’s successor.
“He’d do fine with Ronnie Low … if Ronnie Low is in New York,” Sather said. “Everyone thinks they know, but I’m telling you that no one has a deal to be the head coach. The coaching staff is not set.
“The fact is, I talked to Mike Keenan on Friday and will talk to him again. I talked to Tom Renney this morning. I talked to Wayne Cashman, as well. I’m still talking to quite a few guys.”
When reached at his Ontario cottage, Keenan confirmed having spoken with Sather.
“I’d rather not say anything other than the fact that we talked and planned to talk again this week,” Keenan said. “I would imagine there’s be no reason for him to call me if his mind already had been made up, but whatever the case, I welcome the opportunity to talk to him.
“I haven’t made any secret of the fact that I’d love to come back.”
Speaking of which, Sather did say yesterday that while he has spoken to Mark and Doug Messier, there is no agreement in place as of this time for The Captain’s return.
“These things don’t get done in 15 or 20 minutes,” he said. “It takes some time.”
*
While expressing interest in Malakhov and then refusing to rule out the signing of 39-year-old Paul Coffey should Malakhov get away, Sather at the same time talked about giving Hartford defensemen Dale Purinton and Tomas Kloucek a real opportunity to make the team. “At some point in time you have to move guys in from within the organization,” he said. “You have to move older guys out and younger guys in. If you keep replenishing with free agents, it’s hard to improve.”
Sather also said he had spoken over the weekend with Rich Pilon. “I told him if he wasn’t planning on coming into camp under 214 pounds that he might as well go straight to Hartford,” the GM said. “Rich told me he’d be in at 210, 212, which is fine, but then why was he at 228 last year?
“I’m not singling anybody out, but if these veterans don’t come in ready, we’ll be the first team to have $6 million players in the minors, and I’m not kidding. I don’t want anyone to waste my time.”
While Crawford is pushing Vancouver GM Brian Burke to deal for Kamensky, the Canucks are unwilling to pick up much more than $750,000 a year on the contract, which has a guaranteed three years at $11M remaining, plus a fourth year for another $4M that becomes guaranteed if the winger is traded.