Countdown to 11am CDT…

July 1st is always fun… digging for info, who is your team going after? Joy over the signings, pain over the misses… reading the tea leaves, trying to figure out how the dominos will fall. As we approach the 11am CDT UFA starting time, here’s the situation in Pred Nation according to various sources…

- Yesterday’s controversy over the Steve Sullivan negotiations seems to be resolved. David Poile’s comments yesterday on the Thom Abraham Show drove a mini-Twitter controversy that seems to have been clarified later in the day. According to John Glennon’s piece in today’s Tennessean, Sullivan’s agent Steve Bartlett clarified his position about a two year deal… if the money is right…

- Joel Ward has not backed off his $1.5 million per year demand. He is poised to be a free agent when the gun sounds at 11am. Ward’s camp is not burning any bridges, his agent has been very open to the fact that if he goes free today, they are not ruling out a return to the Preds.

- Glennon also reports that Vernon Fiddler and Greg Zanon will not be back in Pred colors. This certainly agrees with a lot of “off the record” comments I have heard from multiple sources. Both are just demanding too much money for the roles that they play on the Predators. One source commented that they know what they would get with Fiddler… why pay more for the same performance that has been consistent over the past three seasons?

Comments have been very limited on the other UFA’s that come open today for the Preds… My take is that Ville Koistinen, Jed Ortmeyer and Greg deVries are all gone. Scott Nichol and Radek Bonk may still return, but I do believe their return as a “fallback,” hinging on potential upgrades to the team in the next few weeks.

---------------------------------

Tonight is the season finale of HockeyBuzz Radio… 6pm CDTon SportsRadio 560… listen on air, on line at www.wnsr.com, or via podcast at www.hockeybuzzradio.com.

Tonight’s show features a roundtable discussion on the season that was and the one to be with HockeyBuzzRadio.com’s Mark McGee, and Preds play-by-play man Pete Weber. We’ll talk to either David Poile, Mike Santos or Paul Fenton at the top of the show to to discuss the day’s events... Eklund will give us a rumor update and we’re working on a special guest to give us some insight into Preds first round draft pick Ryan Ellis.

---------------------------------

I’ll be updating throughout the day as things happen… both on here and on Twitter.

---------------------------------

You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates… I’ll also be updating during Pred home games in season with information and explanations from the PA box.

---------------------------------

Join Brandon Felder and me for the fastest hour in radio… HockeyBuzz Radio... Start time is 6pm on SportsRadio 560 WNSR, you can listen online at www.wnsr.com or you can download the podcast of the show at www.hockeybuzzradio.com

After tonight’s show we’ll be taking a break until the first week of October, but we still may put out a podcast or two as a hockey fix during the long summer…

Don't forget to check out www.hockeybuzzradio.com for schedules, updates, links to more hockey and Predators information along with our new weekly feature called “On the Mark” featuring opinions on all things hockey from hockey writer Mark McGee.

Join the Discussion: » Comments » Post New Comment

» The time has come

» Whining through Game 3

» Playoff Picks

» Waiting for he playoffs

» A special night in Smashville