From twitter unless otherwise noted
- Renaud Lavoie: Capitals Mike Ribeiro doesn’t expect to sign a contract extension before the end of the season. He does expect talks to start up again after the playoffs.
- Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger: Lou Lamoriello and the Devils are following the same path as they did with Zach Parise last season, by not talking to key free agents and risking losing them like they did with Parise. The Devils haven’t talked with Patrick Elias, David Clarkson and Dainius Zubrus. Lamoriello has an unwritten policy to not talk to players or agents about a contract extension while the season is in progress. He did make an exception for Martin Brodeur.
“Who wouldn’t want to talk about it during the season?” Elias asked. “Then you would see they have interest. And, if you like the offer, why wouldn’t you sign? But that never came up here.
“If it had happened it would’ve been great, but it didn’t happen. It’s getting kind of late now.”
Elias hinted that he could test the open market.
“It comes pretty quickly right after the season,” Elias said about the start of free agency.
Clarkson may see what the market offers. The Maple Leafs may be interested.
- Jonas Siegel of TSN: Tyler Bozak holds value for the Maple Leafs, but at what price will cost them to retain the UFA.
“I’m not really looking into that stuff right now,” said Bozak, in conversation with TSN.ca on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s more just focusing on the year at hand and trying to do our best to get as far as we can . When the season ends and that time comes, I’ll deal with it then. I’ve just got to try and set myself up good, keep playing well, and then the rest should work out fine.”
The Leafs won’t overpay him, but realize what he can and can’t bring. It won’t be at your typical No. 1 center price, but maybe something in the David Desharnais range, $3.5 million per season. The Leafs have about $20 million in cap space for next season, but have to sign RFAs Nazem Kadri, Cody Franson and Carl Gunnarsson and UFAs Bozak and Clarke MacArthur. If Bozak is looking to cash in, he may end up playing elsewhere next season.
“They show confidence in me I’d love to play as big a role as I can. I want to be out there as much as I can be out there, play big minutes, power play, penalty kill and all that stuff. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that still.”
Other center UFA options that could be available this summers include: Derek Roy, Stephen Weiss, Mike Ribeiro and Andy McDonald.
