Barkov’s injury isn’t forcing the Panthers to the trade market
TSN: Pierre LeBrun said that despite the Florida Panthers losing Aleksander Barkov, they aren’t looking at what forwards are available on the trade market.
“We all saw the hit, knee-on-knee, a couple nights ago. But they believe they have the depth to get through this while Barkov is out. Now, part of the reason they don’t need to go out and get help is the injury isn’t as bad as when you might have looked at that hit. I’m told he’s going to be out three-to-four weeks with a mild sprain. So again, probably avoiding what could have been a catastrophe for Sasha Barkov.”
Benning on the Canucks start to the season
Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet: Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning spoke to the media yesterday about their awful start to the season.
“Of course, I feel responsible; I’m the leader of this group. The moves we made this summer, I would have never envisioned we got off to this start. But we have. Now we have to deal with it and we’ve got to figure it out. You know, it’s hard. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s not hard. It’s really hard. But you know, with what’s going on in B.C. right now with the people out in Abbotsford and the floods that they’re dealing with, that’s not easy, either. This is what we call life.”
Benning met with ownership on Tuesday and has their support for now. Benning wouldn’t promise security for head coach Travis Green.
As for looking to make a trade, the Canucks are dealing from a position of weakness and teams are circling. For now, they may ride it out but they are talking to teams.
“We’re looking at everything right now,” Benning said. “I’ve been working with the coaches, the coaches work with the players. We’ve been talking to agents about their players to just see where they’re at and what they’re thinking and how we can help. I’ve looked to the outside, talking to other general managers from other teams to see what’s available.”
