Avs will keep talks with pending UFAs quiet whenever they get around to starting
Mike Chambers of the Denver Post: Colorado Avalanche forward Andre Burakovsky, Nazem Kadri and Val Nichushkin are entering the final year of their deals. It’s unlikely that all will be back. Sakic wouldn’t say who they would prioritize.
“We want to get off to a good start and worry about hockey,” Sakic said. “The rest will take care of itself. … We’ll have the talks with them. It won’t be public.”
Quick hits on the Tkachuk, Kravtsov, Kane, Bergevin, Eichel, Koneckny, Strome and Ryan
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: As of Tuesday morning the Ottawa Senators were still holding on to a seven- or eight-year deal for Brady Tkachuk and he still wants a bridge. If a deal gets done in the next 24-48 hours, everyone is happy. If not….
There is definitely interest in Vitali Kravtsov and his agent is able to talk to other teams about a trade.
Don’t believe that Evander Kane’s contract is in jeopardy of being terminated.
New York Rangers GM and President Chris Drury carries a salary believed to be in the mid-$4 million range, which puts him ahead of many other GMs. Now, he does carry the President title but he’s raised the bar for other GMs including Marc Bergevin in Montreal.
Gary Bettman said yesterday that only four players who are on NHL rosters are not vaccinated.
Mika Zibanejad’s extension takes the New York Rangers out of the Jack Eichel runnings unless the Buffalo Sabres retain salary.
There could be four or five teams that could be okay with Eichel’s preferred disc replacement surgery.
There were a lot of teams calling the Philadelphia Flyers about Travis Konecny after last season but the Flyers didn’t want to give him up.
There doesn’t appear to be room down the middle for Dylan Strome in Chicago and there had been teams showing interest before.
Bobby Ryan didn’t get a contract from the Detroit Red Wings by the end of training camp but maybe they will re-visit if they find they need a veteran in the next couple of weeks.