Sunday Notes: NHL trades unlikely until after expansion draft, Wild in on Eichel, trouble in Chicago

Good Sunday to you all. Hope everyone is able to get out and get some sunshine. Let’s do some hockey notes, starting with a Jack Eichel-to-Minnesota piece of possibility:

• My good friend Mike Russo (yes, we are good friends) reports that the Minnesota Wild have had talks with Buffalo about Eichel (Athletic)
• Eichel’s neck injury would worry me too much to make some massive outlay of treasure to get him.
• As Wild GM Bill Guerin pointed out in the piece, which jibes with what I’ve heard from industry people, it’s unlikely any big trades will happen until after the expansion draft, July 21. Teams don’t know which player they are going to lose to Seattle, so it’s harder for them to budget in trade scenarios until that’s all settled.
• Former Blackhawks associate coach John Torchetti confirmed to TSN’s Rick Westhead that a meeting took place during the 2010 postseason where management discussed alleged sexual abuse of two players. (TSN)
• Throughout the playoffs, there’s been a lot of chatter surrounding the quality of the referees. Matt Porter examines the officiating throughout the postseason (The Boston Globe)
• Brooks Laich has decided to retire (Washington Hockey Now)
• The Detroit Red Wings could have a LOT of money to spend on free agents – even after they sign their own existing restricted free agents (Detroit Hockey Now)
• Interesting story by Hockey Now colleague Bob Duff about how Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman’s career paths are almost exactly alike (Detroit Hockey Now)
• The NHL Awards Show is Tuesday night, and three Avs are finalists for trophies (Coloradoavalanche.com)
• I actually think the player with the best chance of winning a trophy is Philipp Grubauer (Vezina).
• Former Avs defenseman Ian Cole has sold his Denver house (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)
• Now is the time to trade Marc-Andre Fleury, at least according to one Vegas writer (Vegas Hockey Now)
• Could the Golden Knights get Jack Eichel? That same writer thinks it’s possible and lays out how it could happen (Vegas Hockey Now)
• My pick to win the Stanley Cup (Bookies.com)