On the Arizona Coyotes …
Craig Morgan: Jordan Martinook‘s agent said that they and the Coyotes are “close” on a deal for the RFA forward but he thinks the Coyotes may want to go to salary arbitration on July 26th.
On the New Jersey Devils …
Andrew Gross of The Record: Devils GM Ray Shero on re-signing their restricted free agents.
“I don’t foresee any problems. Obviously none filed for arbitration and there are some that we’ll take over the next couple days. There’s no rush. You want to make sure it’s the right deal for the team and the player, and guys like Damon Severson we’ll take some time on because we’ll get some different options with him. He’s still a young defenseman that we’re excited to work with, and we want to make sure he understands that. So we’ll get some options with him and his agent, and there’s no rush there. We look forward to doing that and getting some of these other guys signed.”
Shero on 2012 draft pick Alex Kerfoot, who can become an unrestricted free agent on August 15th.
“I talked to him a few days ago for a while. I think after the dust settled for free agency for a lot of teams, including ours, I think it was good to reconnect with him. Me, John Hynes and Fitzie had a conference call with him, and I explained to him again exactly where we were. I think it was a good reminder that we’d really like to sign him, but like anybody else, he controls the outcome until Aug. 15. I think it was a really good conversation and he’ll talk to his agent, and hopefully get back to us in the very near future. There’s not much more he can learn from us at this point, but I think it was a really good chance to reconnect with him when the dust settles after July 1 around the league and certainly with the Devils.”