Per ESPN.com live blog...
LeBrun (3:23 p.m. ET): Just got off the phone with Panthers GM Jacques Martin, who made the gutsy decision to keep Bouwmeester despite the fact he may walk away July 1 as a UFA.
"It was a tough decision, but we like our team and we felt in the end it was the best decision for where we are at right now," Martin told ESPN.com. "We feel we're solid on defense."
I asked him if he almost dealt him.
"It came close. It came very close," he told us in an interview we conducted in French. "But, in the end, this is the scenario that made the most sense for us."
Martin would not tell us, but sources confirm Philadelphia and Vancouver made the strongest pitches for Bouwmeester, but they were obviously not good enough.
Burnside (3:18 p.m. ET): Got to give Florida GM Jacques Martin credit for sticking to his guns. We had heard Vancouver and Philadelphia were interested in defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, but, in the end, the Panthers decided to keep their best player knowing full well he will likely bolt as a free agent July 1.
The Panthers haven't made the playoffs since 2000 and Martin decided that going to the postseason was more important than trying to squeeze assets out of a departing star. The problem for the Panthers will be if they stumble and miss the playoffs altogether, the strategy will be seen in an entirely different light. Get in and win a round, and Martin will have been vindicated. The other thing that gets lost in this sometimes is that Martin will have the cap room he would have committed to Bouwmeester, let's say $7 million a year, to spend elsewhere this summer.
LeBrun (2:51 p.m. ET): We just confirmed the Coyotes traded Daniel Carcillo to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Scottie Upshall and a second-round draft pick. Great deal for Phoenix in my mind. Philly has cleared up some cap space with this deal. So will they get Derek Morris or Jay Bouwmeester? Just got a note from Panthers' war room on Bouwmeester and they're still debating their options.
A really bad roll of the dice from Paul, as far as I can tell.
Any body know more about Carcillo other then he doesn't score much and has a huge minus (as in plus/minus)?
LeBrun (3:23 p.m. ET): Just got off the phone with Panthers GM Jacques Martin, who made the gutsy decision to keep Bouwmeester despite the fact he may walk away July 1 as a UFA.
"It was a tough decision, but we like our team and we felt in the end it was the best decision for where we are at right now," Martin told ESPN.com. "We feel we're solid on defense."
I asked him if he almost dealt him.
"It came close. It came very close," he told us in an interview we conducted in French. "But, in the end, this is the scenario that made the most sense for us."
Martin would not tell us, but sources confirm Philadelphia and Vancouver made the strongest pitches for Bouwmeester, but they were obviously not good enough.
Burnside (3:18 p.m. ET): Got to give Florida GM Jacques Martin credit for sticking to his guns. We had heard Vancouver and Philadelphia were interested in defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, but, in the end, the Panthers decided to keep their best player knowing full well he will likely bolt as a free agent July 1.
The Panthers haven't made the playoffs since 2000 and Martin decided that going to the postseason was more important than trying to squeeze assets out of a departing star. The problem for the Panthers will be if they stumble and miss the playoffs altogether, the strategy will be seen in an entirely different light. Get in and win a round, and Martin will have been vindicated. The other thing that gets lost in this sometimes is that Martin will have the cap room he would have committed to Bouwmeester, let's say $7 million a year, to spend elsewhere this summer.
LeBrun (2:51 p.m. ET): We just confirmed the Coyotes traded Daniel Carcillo to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Scottie Upshall and a second-round draft pick. Great deal for Phoenix in my mind. Philly has cleared up some cap space with this deal. So will they get Derek Morris or Jay Bouwmeester? Just got a note from Panthers' war room on Bouwmeester and they're still debating their options.
A really bad roll of the dice from Paul, as far as I can tell.
Any body know more about Carcillo other then he doesn't score much and has a huge minus (as in plus/minus)?
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