Teams calling the Panthers about Barkov
TSN: There have been teams asking the Florida Panthers about forward Aleksander Barkov over the past few weeks to see if he’s available according to Frank Seravalli, but it doesn’t sound like he is.
“And when asked, Zito said on the record, he wanted to be clear that he has no intention of trading Barkov and that in fact he would like to re-sign him. But, the reason teams are calling is because they’re skeptical that the No. 24 player in the TSN Top 50 this year will re-sign with the Florida Panthers when his contract expires in 18 months.
So, the Barkov camp at this point says they want to win in Florida. They’re going to do everything they can to do that, but they’re also going to give Bill Zito every opportunity to put the right pieces in place in order for that to happen. Barkov is going to be a key name to watch over the next number of months.”
Yandle’s agent doesn’t think potential scratch is about performance
TSN: Pierre LeBrun said that he spoke with Florida Panthers GM Bill Zito about the Keith Yandle situation. Zito said that it’s up to head coach Joel Quenneville who is in their lineup for their season opener on Sunday and that there is a strong possibility that it doesn’t include Yandle. That would end his ironman steak.
“Why is this all happening? Well step back. Zito has made a number of changes to this organization, both in the front office and with the roster, since he was named GM in September. This is part and parcel with that. He mentioned ‘meritocracy, accountability and the vision of having a team that when I put 20 guys on the ice, they are at their best.’
So Keith Yandle, falling out of favour. His agent Jerry Buckley, saying this isn’t about performance, that it’s the GM’s attempt to put heat on his client to waive his no-move. Bill Zito saying, “I have not asked Keith Yandle to waive his no-move clause.” We’ll see where this goes.”
