- Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer: Hurricanes GM Ron Francis has lot of decisions to go over and make this offseason.
“I don’t foresee a major makeover,” he said. “We’ve got some pretty good pieces in place. I know it’s frustrating we haven’t made the playoffs in five years. We finished just outside (the playoffs) by 10 points, which is one win a month (more) over the course of (the past) season.
“We may do some things but we feel we have a pretty good group here that can compete and win, so there’s no real need at this point to make a major overhaul, in my eyes.”
It’s unlikely the Hurricanes will use their compliance buyout.
“Historically we haven’t done that,” Francis said of a buyout. “We’ll discuss everything with our payroll and where our negotiations are and what we can and can’t do. But we don’t plan to do that at this point, no.”
The Hurricanes could look to trade Cam Ward. They could move up or down from their No. 7 draft slot if the offer is right.
- Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: St. James has been running a series of potential targets for the Red Wings. If the Wings were to go after Coyotes Keith Yandle, they would be looking for at least one of Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Tomas Jurco, Anthony Mantha and a high draft pick. The Coyotes could also ask for another player, such as Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm or Jakub Kindl.
- Matt Larkin of The Hockey News: Top five unrestricted free agents who will get more money than they should: 1. Paul Stastny 2. Thomas Vanek 3. Ryan Miller 4. Matt Niskanen 5. Ryan Callahan
- Tim Panaccio: Rick Tocchet said that he’s spoke with Penguins GM Jim Rutherford about a variety of roles with the team and that he’s interested.
