Sportsnet Headlines
- Damien Cox: Some teams were surprised that the Penguins were willing to take Carl Hagelin because he has three years left on his deal. Some are wondering if the Ducks are setting themselves up to get Jonathan Drouin.
- Elliotte Friedman: Simon Despres and Cam Fowler are getting close to returning for the Ducks. They will start to get calls on their blueline and what they want to do with some of them once they are all healthy.
- Elliotte Friedman: Teams are calling the Flames about pending UFA defenseman Kris Russell. One GM was told that the Flames still want to try and re-sign him.
- Damien Cox: Sense is that Eric Staal is getting frustrated with the limbo he’s been in. Staal’s agent is likely to meet with Hurricanes GM Ron Francis next week to find out what they are going to do with him.
- Elliotte Friedman: After signing Anze Kopitar to an extension, the Kings will see if they sign Milan Lucic to an extension.
On the Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs …
- Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe: Shinzawa wonders if the Blue Jackets would be interested in Canucks Chris Higgins. Higgins was with Tortorella in New York. The Canucks would have to pick up some of his salary.
- The Maple Leafs could be looking for future assets with their pending unrestricted free agents – Michael Grabner, Brad Boyes and Roman Polak. They’d like to move Joffrey Lupul, but he has a $5.25 million cap hit through 2018.
On the Edmonton Oilers …
- Darren Dreger: The Oilers may be close to signing goalie Cam Talbot to a contract extension.
On the Tampa Bay Lightning …
- Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune: Everyone knows that Lightning wouldn’t mind trading defenseman Matt Carle and his $5.5 million salary cap hit. Carle has two years left on his deal, so it’s not an easy move for the Lightning. He has a modified no-trade clause, and hasn’t been approached by the Lightning about it since he submitted his list.