- Tim Panaccio: A GM: “Vinny will make up what he lost. I’m glad I sat out 3-plus months for this. What a scam. It’s gonna be a bidding war for him.”
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Teams are allowed to talk to Vincent Lecavalier, but can’t sign him until July 5th
“We have been reached out to by a number of teams, easily a dozen or more,” Kent Hughes, Lecavalier’s agent, told ESPN.com Friday afternoon. “This is the beginning of the process in trying to understand the various situations and trying to narrow it down.”
Lecavalier mentioned he like the Red Wings going up, as well as the Canadiens.
Stephen Weiss could be an option for the Red Wings, but they’ll have plenty of competition. If the Wings can’t find a center, they could always move Henrik Zetterberg to center. Valtteri Filppula is not close to a deal with the Wings, but both sides are expected to talk this weekend.
Stars GM Jim Nill would like to add a veteran forward and is interested in Lecavalier and Weiss.
Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller could be available for the right price. The Ducks aren’t shopping him, but if a deal makes sense for them, they could move on it.
The Senators are trying to move up to the No. 5 to No. 10 range from their No. 17 slot.
The Hurricanes are looking to move down from the No. 5 slot for a top four blueliner.
The Bruins and Tuukka Rask’s agent will meet this weekend.
Could see some sign-and-trades next week if UFA talks with their current teams breakdown.
- Bruce Garrioch: On Lecavalier:
“People want size. They want a big centre and they want to get a guy without having to give up somebody off their roster. That’s really slowed down the trade market in the last 24 hours,” said the executive.
The Bruins and Jets may look to trade the negotiating rights to Andrew Ference and Ron Hainsey.
The Rangers are quietly shopping J.T. Miller for immediate help.
If the Leafs are able to move up from No. 21 in the draft, they’ll be interested in Max Domi.
Ilya Bryzgalov’s agent has spoken with eight teams. The Oilers were one of the teams. Source said not to be surprised if the Islanders studied the option. He could also be a short term fix in with the Panthers.
Oilers GM Craig MacTavish is trying hard to move Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky. Several teams have called the Oilers with interest in Nail Yakupov or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
The Bruins are trying to move into the first round.
The Hurricanes would move the No. 5 pick for a top four defenseman. Thinking is that if they keep the pick, they will pick Darnell Nurse.
The Panthers are trying to trade Tomas Fleischmann before the draft. He has two years left with a salary cap hit of $4.5 million.
The Islanders have told teams they will listen to offers on the No. 15 pick if they get a warm body back.
The biggest mover and shaker at the draft could be Flyers:
“Paul Holmgren is trying to do something big,” said a league executive. “He won’t move Claude Giroux or anything like that — but he wants to make a big deal.”