On the Chicago Blackhawks …
Scott Powers of The Athletic: Neither the Blackhawks nor Artemi Panarin‘s camp appear to be rushing to get a contract extension done, though both sides are confident that an extension will get done.
Source saying that contract negotiations have only been preliminary so far. They’ve spoken in the past month and plan on talking later this month. It’s unlikely that a deal will get done before the start of the World Cup of Hockey next month.
“That’s not something we’re not going to be dialoguing about,” Bowman said at the Blackhawks convention last month. “I think we’ve had good luck in the past just keeping the negotiations me, myself. I know Tom Lynn pretty well. I don’t think he’s going to want to do a volley back and forth in the media. When we have something to announce, you guys will be the first to know.”
On the Tampa Bay Lightning …
Matthew Coller of ESPN: Looking at three questions the Tampa Bay Lightning must still answer.
1. How much is Nikita Kucherov worth? 131 points the past two seasons with 42 more points in 45 playoff games. Kucherov should get between $6 and $7.5 million using Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O’Reilly, Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Scheifele as comparables who’ve signed in the past two years. The Lightning have $6.5 million in cap space. If Kucherov wants market value, it will create future issues for the Lightning or they could explore trading him. He’d be a UFA if they signed him to a bridge deal, so it’s not the greatest option.
2. To trade or keep Ben Bishop? The Lightning could create some extra salary cap space by trading Bishop, though he has a no-movement clause. The Stars may be the only team that has questions about their goaltending situation.
3. Who will play with Steven Stamkos? Jonathan Drouin is the most likely candidate to be Stamkos’ next Martin St. Louis.