- Erik Erlendsson via twitter: Erlendsson thinks there is a 50/50 chance the Lightning re-sign Dwayne Roloson before July 1st, and a 30/70 chance they re-sign Mike Smith. He also doesn’t see the Lightning spending big money on a goaltender instead of re-signing Roloson.
- Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Sheldon Souray’s agent hasn’t heard from the Oilers if they will be buying Souray out or not, but it’s likely to happen. Next Wednesday is the first day teams can buyout players, the buyout window lasts 2 weeks. Souray has a $4.5 million salary and $5.4 million cap hit.
- Ed Tait of the Winnipeg Free Press: Winnipeg coach Craig Ramsey still doesn’t know if he’ll be heading north to coach the team. “They asked for the weekend and then said they’d call,” Ramsay said Friday afternoon in a telephone interview. “We’re just waiting on them now. It’s very difficult. It’s not a great thing to be sitting around wondering what’s going on. But that’s where we are and there’s not much I can do about that.”
- Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette: The Canadiens have re-signed Mathieu Darche to a one year, $700,000 contract. Darche scored 12 goals last year, and added 14 assists. The Canadiens now have 12 players under contract for year at about $41 million. They still need to re-sign Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges. Markov will get a deal in the $5-6 million range. Gorges will be looking for a longterm deal.
- Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: The Blue Jackets have re-signed defenseman Grant Clitsome to a 2 year, $2.5 million contract. He’ll make $1.1 million next year, $1.4 million in 2012-13.
- Josh Cooper of the Tennessean: RFA Shea Weber had big impact in and out of the lockerroom in Nashville this season.
It’s clear that the Predators want to re-sign Weber and he wants to return to Nashville. The question is for how much money and how many years. At age 25, and already a Norris candidate, Weber could command a hefty payday, possibly in between $6.5 and $7 million per season. Indications are that he and Nashville would like a long-term deal. While a one-year bridge contract to UFA status is a possibility, a contract with more security is likely.
- Kevin Allen of the USA Today: So with the Flyers needing to clear out salary if/when they sign Ilya Bryzgalov, Allen thinks the easiest player for the Flyers to move would be Kris Versteeg. Versteeg has 1 year left at just over $3 million. Allen thinks the Panthers would be a good fit for Versteeg, who played for GM Dale Tallon in Chicago. Florida could use a forward and are about $30 below the salary cap floor. Matt Carle could also be moved. If Bryzgalov is re-signed, it’s likely that Michael Leighton and his $1.5 million contract would be buried in the minors as he’d be hard to move.