Neil Abbott Quotations

What he does come July 1 is wide open at this point.

Sergei is a young player with a future ahead of him and this is a fresh start. Edmonton is a good hockey town. He'll work very hard and I'm sure the fans will appreciate him.

The 2003-2004 Bruins team has pretty much been dismantled, and he understood that. Leaving Boston is pretty difficult for Sergei, because he has been here pretty much his whole pro career. It's a fresh start, and Sergei will go to Edmonton and do his best.

At this point I really don't know. I haven't gotten any indication that they don't (want to sign him) or that they do. It's just been quiet. Sergei has said it and I'll say it: Our door will always be open to discuss things. I won't close that.

No doors are closed. It's very early in the process, obviously but I'll just say in a general sense no doors are closed whatsoever in that regard. I know Kevin and I know the organization. We're not coming in with any kind of constraints.

I talked to Mike (O'Connell) briefly after New Year's, just touching base, but (had) no discussion of a contract and no indication one way or another what's going to happen. Our doors are open. If they want to talk, we'll talk. But we're not asking. I think there are other things on his mind right now besides doing deals. The indications were that he's going to get back to me. We'll talk at some point, I think. But there's been no request or proposals back and forth.