On Trades with the Vegas Golden Knights …
Pierre LeBrun: Bill Daly had a conference call with GMs on Monday to go over any last minute expansion questions and he let the GMs know that they don’t want any trades with Vegas being leaked to the media before the expansion draft on June 21st.
On the New York Rangers …
New York Rangers: The New York Rangers will buy out defenseman Dan Girardi‘s contract.
Chris Johnston: Cap hits for Dan Girardi when he’s bought out.
2017-18: $2.61M
18-19: $3.61M
19-20: $3.61M
20-21: $1.11M
21-22: $1.11M
22-23: $1.11M
Dan Rosen: “This was the only decision the NYR could make with Girardi. They couldn’t keep him on any longer. Have to get younger, quicker on back end.”
Tom Gulitti: “Six years is a lot of years to have him still counting against their cap, even at a reduced rate.”
Cap Friendly: Girardi has a no-movement clause so he doesn’t have to pass through waives before being bought out. He can be bought out immediately.
On the Ottawa Senators …
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen: Senators GM Pierre Dorion and assistant GM Randy Lee met with free agent Chris Neil Tuesday and they have agreed to go their separate ways.
“They had a meeting with him and told him, ‘We don’t think you’re going to be happy with this role’,” Neil’s agent Todd Reynolds told Postmedia.
“Neil said, ‘Yeah, I don’t think I would be either and it’s probably not what I’d like to endure for a year’. (They agreed) let’s just mutually go our separate ways here and see if something better is out there for you where they’re going to give you eight, nine or 10 minutes a night possibly.
“That’s what he wants to do. He wants to play and still believes he can play and he wants to try to play for another year.”
Neil wants to continue playing and the Senators didn’t want to stand in his way.
“It’s what he would like to do. He wants to return. Ottawa is home. He loves it and he wants to stay there. Ultimately, if there isn’t a good fit for you there then you’re forced to look elsewhere,” Reynolds said.