Franson had PTO’s but opts for KHL
Igor Eronko: Avangard of the KHL has signed defenseman Cody Franson to a two-year deal.
Aivis Kalnins: Source is saying that Franson had three PTO offers from NHL teams but decided to join Bob Hartley in Avangard.
Aivis Kalnins: Ryan Petkau, Franson’s agent, did confirm that “Cody did have NHL options.”
Stars and Seguin talking extension
Sean Shapiro: A source is saying that the Dallas Stars and Tyler Seguin representative held more significant contract extension talks this past weekend.
Maple Leafs GM Dubas confident they can keep their core together
TSN: Toronto Maple Leafs GM is confident that they will be able to make the moves that would allow them to keep/sign all of their young players – referring mainly to William Nylander, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner. They went through a process before they signed John Tavares to the seven-year, $77 million deal.
“We went through a very stringent process internally where we went over and over it… to ensure that regardless of different variables that may interject themselves into this process as it goes along that we’re going to be able to keep that core of our team together while also remaining fairly flexible and be able to add players too.
“I don’t think there will be any juggling and that’s part of what we felt we had to convey (to Tavares’ camp), is that our cap situation is very favourable to us to keep this thing rolling ahead, while also being able to adapt to different needs that we may find as we get on down the path in each subsequent season and off-season.
“We feel very good about that, we’re going to be very patient with the RFAs. Obviously William’s contract is up now and we’ll begin working with (his agent) Lewis Gross in the coming weeks to make sure he’s set. We’ll tackle the others that are eligible for extensions, but it’s my own decision that we’ve got to be patient with them and make sure the players know what they’re getting into as well and what our vision is for the team so that they feel a part of that as they’re signing up for the long-term with us.”
Dubas added there is no rush to have Matthews and Marner signed to contract extensions before the start of the season.