Strange things happen when you’re attending the morning skate for an NHL exhibition game.
Everett, which is already over the overager limit of three, went and picked up another as the Tips acquired center Chris Langkow from the Saskatoon Blades this morning for a pair of bantam draft picks. Langkow had 15 goals and 34 assists in 70 games for the Blades last season
The Tips already had four overagers on the roster in forwards Shane Harper, Zack Dailey and Travis Dunstall, as well as defenseman Colin Scherger, so this just adds to the logjam. Clearly Everett isn’t satisfied picking three from the group currently available — especially giving up both third- and sixth-round picks for Langkow, which is a pretty steep price for an overager. How this ends up shaking out I don’t know, but I’m not sure it bodes well for the overagers Everett picked up off waivers (Dunstall, Scherger). Everett has until Oct. 15 to figure things out.
As for the morning skate, both of Phoenix’s former Silvertips, forward Peter Mueller and defenseman Shaun Heshka, skated with the group that would normally be scratches. I was told afterward that Mueller is considered doubtful because of a lower-body injury — if he has a lower-body injury it sure didn’t seem to bother him much during the skate — while Heshka was listed as probable.
Also, no sign of Wayne Gretzky, either. However, it was probably about as well-attended a morning skate as the Coyotes have ever had, as about 20 kids with their corresponding adults, as well as half the Silvertips, were in the stands. Not only did the kids swarm the players for autographs as they were coming off the ice, they even wandered over to Everett general manager Doug Soetaert and coach Craig Hartsburg for theirs, too.
—- UPDATE, 12:05 p.m.
All right, didn’t have to wait long for Everett’s overager situation to work itself out as the Tips have released both Travis Dunstall and Colin Scherger. Everett general manager Doug Soetaert has been trying to shore up the center position. Dunstall was playing center, but is really more of a winger. Chris Langkow is a true two-way center, so the Tips are moving forward with Langkow, Shane Harper and Zack Dailey as their overagers.
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