- Helene Elliott of the LA Times: The LA Kings have refined some of the concepts in their offer to RFA Drew Doughty, and added some choices for length of contract, likely 6 to 8 years.
“Everything’s been amicable. We’re waiting to hear back from them. They said they’d get back to us in a day or two,” Lombardi said. “So in terms of distance, I’ll probably have a better handle on that when we hear back.”
The Kings also filed their grievance over the Colin Fraser trade with the Oilers, with the Oilers having a few days to respond. Bettman will late decide if they need to hold a hearing or not.
- Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: GM’s of other teams may not be too thrilled with the 6 year $25.5 million contract the Flyers gave James van Riemsdyk yesterday. Teams will now have to deal with van Riemsdyk comparables when trying to sign some of their young guys. If Taylor Hall gets 55 points this year, do the Oilers have to give him $5 million in a 6 year deal? Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi could be in a similar situation.
- John Buccigross via twitter: James van Riemsdyk salary breakdown: 2012-13 $2.5 million, 2013-14 $3.75 million, 2014-15 $4.5 million, 2015-16 $4.75 million, 2016-17 $5 million, and 2017-18 $5 million.
- Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star: Maple Leafs forward Matthew Lombardi has been declared free of concussion symptoms but he still could miss the start of training camp according to GM Brian Burke.
“He is cleared for full activity on the bike,” Burke said in a phone interview. “The last report I got he was doing 20-plus minutes without symptoms. He has been declared symptom-free and now it’s about getting the workload back up.”
Burke also added that “Right now, I’ve got nothing going,” and “This is the group we’re likely to head in with.” Luke Schenn’s agent said that he expects to meet with the Leafs later this week and Burke said “We remain optimistic that we’ll sign him before camp.”
- Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post: 39 year old Mike Knuble signed a 1 year deal with the Capitals but wants to sign an extension.
“I’m out there playing for another deal,” he said. “I’m not riding off into the sunset. I want to make that point clear to everybody. This is no farewell song.”
- Tom Gulitti of the Bergon Record: After missing last season with a concussion, Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador is symptom free and has suffered no setbacks during/after “full tilt” workouts.
“I’m back in full training, full everything, so I’m excited for the season,” he said today.
“There’s really no concern about my long-term health, actually,” he said. “The doctors have already put me through a lot of those tests, so I’m pretty excited about that. If I get hurt, I get hurt. That’s just the game. I’m in a good situation where I don’t have to be concerned about a lot of things.”
- Katie Strang via twitter: Sources are saying that the Islanders re-signing Alexei Yashin are “unlikely.”
- Katie Strang via twitter: The Islanders have shown interest in winger Sergei Samsonov but it sounds like he’s looking for a deal and not a tryout.
- Damian Cristodero via twitter: Lightning GM Steve Yzerman is planning on having Ryan Malone play the final 2 preseason games and havgin him ready to go for the start of the regular season.
- Michael Ryder’s day with the Stanley Cup leaves it with a nice dent. (The guy with the white gloves should have been there to catch it)