Last night’s first round of the draft was a typical one for Carolina. They traded their first round pick, 31st overall, to Nashville for two picks in round two, numbers 42 and 57 overall. If nothing else changes, that would give them a total of five picks for Saturday, with a possibility to add more.
After the trade was announced, Eric Tulsky held a press conference and much was revealed.
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The biggest news was that Seth Jarvis had shoulder surgery and would be out for four to six months, which of course includes the start of next season. Jarvis had shoulder issues for the past couple of years but had put off surgery for various reasons. This would apparently leave an opening for Bradly Nadeau to take his spot.
Tulsky was quick to slow that talk down. “Nothing is guaranteed”, the general manager said. Others from Chicago will be fighting to make the team as well as Nadeau and the GM could always add someone via trade or free agency. He reiterated that he is always trying to improve the team.
He was asked how he could improve a Stanley Cup winning team and he said there is always room for improvement. “When we are playing our best and no one is injured, we are incredibly tough to beat, but if we are not playing our best or someone is injured, we could be better. This year we were fortunate that we were playing our best and no one was injured.”
Some other highlights-
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He would not validate any trade rumors out there and claimed that they had not yet had contract negotiations with Alexander Nikishin, the only roster player still needing a contract. There was no rush on it.
He has had conversations with Andersen but will not divulge the content of those discussions. He could be back.
Eric Robinson had knee surgery and will be out 6 to 8 weeks. Those two players are the only ones who had surgeries.
Mike Reilly might be back and/or Valimaki, Legault, and Nystrom are all possibilities for the 7th spot.
Tulsky would be comfortable with Kochetkov and Bussi in net next season.
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He is not aware of anything regarding television broadcasts next season.
Ryan recorded it:
Saturday will be interesting. I will attend Lenovo again and will comment in a new open thread with some info about any draft selections or other Carolina related news.
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