Just got off the phone with David Franke so here are some updates:
Kevin Reiter: The Komets are continuing to talk to him and are asking him to make a decision soon so they can go in another direction if need be.
Mario Larocque: Just got back from vacation and Franke plans on talking to him today. He has concerns whether Larocque is willing to take the money being offered under the hard cap.
Jim Duhart: ``I don't think we're going to sign Jimmy,'' Franke said. ``No. 1 I don't think he
can play for the money that we've offered and No. 2 we're not sure if he's the best
fit for what we're trying to do. I've called a few teams I our league to see if
they would be interested but haven't received any responses from them.''
Matt Elich: Still in the mix.
Kelly Miller: ``We're learning toward signing him. I told him to give us another
week to 10 days.''
Troy Neumeier: Signed to play in Lubbock of the CHL with Andrew Luciuk.
Franke said the Komets probably have around 25 contract offers out to players. A lot will depend on where the player fits under the cap. Every position is slotted meaning players will either take what the slot says they should be offered or they won't sign. He thinks that's one reason why so many teams have only signed a handful of players so far.
As for toughness and aggressiveness: ``I think everybody we're talking to, everybody plays with an edge and are some physical type players. We have calls in with a lot of players and a lot of
them have that element of playing hard and paying tough. We're just waiting to see who jumps on
board first.''
