Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – Here’s what didn’t happen episode – on Florida Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Friedman: “Another guy I heard there was some traction on was (Radko) Gudas.”
Marek: “oh ya, I can believe that.”
Friedman: “And I think there were multiple teams. One of the teams I kind of wondered about is Tampa Bay. And I would really be curious about the idea of Florida and Tampa Bay dealing with each other.”
NHL Rumors: Penguins, Senators, Devils, Flyers, Blues Jackets, Oilers, Kings, Predators, Hurricanes and Flames
Marek: “Especially with a player like that. Like I know there are just some teams that just can’t make moves with one another. Like I know they have, but like Edmonton – Calgary. The old Montreal – Quebec rivalry. I’d kind of throw Tampa and Florida in that mix.
Even one’s we hadn’t even considered for a long time and I’ve made this point before on this show with you, look how long it took Buffalo and Boston, and I know Peter McNabb was in the deal with Andre Savard, but that was a free agent situation. Look how long it took Boston and Buffalo who were in the same division for a long time to make a deal. It wasn’t until the Danny Paile trade.
There are just some teams just because of geography, rivalry, all of it, just don’t make deals with one another. I kind of put Florida and Tampa in that category, especially now more so than ever. Specifically how Gudas plays.
Friedman: “Yes.”
Marek: “Like do you want to face that guy again? Oooof”
Friedman: “I heard there were three or four teams that took a look at Gudas. A legit look at Gudas. Ultimately, if you heard Bill Zito talking to the Florida reporters after the deadline, he said (audio of the clip), “we started talking a little bit to Radko and will continue, We’d like to keep him if we can, and it’s a process now. We want to focus on these games. We want to make the playoffs and we’ll evaluate at the end of the year.”
And they got a big win on Saturday against Pittsburgh, which was on a winning streak. A game they absolutely had to have.
But I heard there were several teams talking to the Panthers about Gudas and it was suggested to me that one of them was the Lightning. Which would make sense.
The other to that is funny about that is, you remember when Tortorella was still coaching Tampa, there was one year were the Lightning weren’t very good and they had a huge win over Florida. Basically cost them a playoff spot and Tortorella came out with that speech like, ‘nothing made me happier than knocking those guys out of the playoffs. That’s very real. The Panthers and the Lightning don’t like each other.”
Marek: “I had always been under the impression, and who knows it might still happen, who knows what’s going to happen in the future? I had always wondered about Radko Gudas and Toronto.”
NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Vancouver Canucks
Friedman: “I suspect the Maple Leafs called on him. I absolutely do because basically, I think they called on just about every defenseman. But that wasn’t one of the teams I heard.
Like it wouldn’t surprise me, and again, I have no confirmation of it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if one of the other teams was Pittsburgh. It just makes sense.”
