On the Chicago Blackhawks …
Mark Divver: Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman was in Foxboro again last night and was watching Jimmy Vesey.
On the New York Rangers …
Steve Zipay: The Rangers and Chris Kreider have an arbitration hearing scheduled for today. They are still talking term. Would a four year deal with a cap hit of $4.75 million work or will they do a one-year deal?
Larry Brooks of the NY Post: The Rangers and Kreider were scheduled for an arbitration hearing two years ago, but settled an hour before on a two-year deal.
This time around it’s a little tougher. Kreider is two-years away from being an unrestricted free agent, so if they go to arbitration today, the Rangers will be selecting a one-year deal.
Kreider is looking for $4.75 million and the Rangers are offering $3.2 million, so a $4 million ruling could be expected.
Negotiations continue on a four- or five-year deal. On a long-term deal, it’s believed Kreider is looking for $5.25 million and the Rangers are looking for something around $4.75 million.
On the Calgary Flames …
Alex Prewitt of SI: Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan remain unsigned. Even though they’ve both talked about their situations, they don’t talk numbers.
“We don’t talk numbers and stuff like that,” Monahan says. “We let our agents do that. They’ll talk to us, and if we had the same agent, it would be different. But we have different agents, and we’re both letting them do their job. We want to play in Calgary together. We think we have a good chance to win there and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Gaudreau could get a deal around $7 million a season, but he’s not paying close attention to how talks are progressing.
“Honestly, I don’t really know what’s going on half the time,” he says between photo and autograph sessions at Hartley’s camp. “I let my agent do all the work. I’m not a big guy with contract stuff. Whatever he thinks is the best contract, that’s what I’m going to sign. I don’t really enjoy going through this stuff, but it’s part of the job. Hopefully it gets done here soon so I can get back to hockey.”
