Don Sweeney is keeping up with his reading, it seems.
The Boston Bruins general manager was asked about Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who reportedly would accept a trade to the Bruins, during a post NHL Entry Draft press conference Tuesday night.
Sweeney, of course, deflected a bit as he can’t talk about other players who are under contract by another NHL team. He did, however, admit that he’s heard about the requests from the 29-year-old Arizona captain.
“I’m reading a lot about it. I certainly can’t comment on any other player, on any other team,” Sweeney told reporters. “The conversations were had, and I made it pretty clear I’m not going to talk about any players that may be discussed on our own team. It’s our jobs as general managers to make sure that we’re aware who’s available and try and have those types of conversations that might help benefit your own clubs and that’s what the other clubs are doing.”
Ekman-Larsson reportedly set a Friday deadline for the Coyotes to trade him to either the Bruins or Vancouver Canucks. If not, the veteran blue liner, who has a no-trade protection in his contract, said he is staying in Arizona.
Ekman-Larsson is entering his age-29 season. He has seven years left on a contract that carries an $8.25 million annual cap hit.
As for the Bruins, they’ll shift their attention to the second round of the NHL Entry Draft on Wednesday with the league’s free agency beginning Friday.
