Some potential Boston Bruins targets
Matt Porter of the Boston Globe: The asking price for Artemi Panarin is reportedly a first-round pick, a player and a prospect – a high price for a potential rental.
The Boston Bruins aren’t the only team that is interested. Other teams that have been linked to Panarin include the Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets and the New York Islanders.
The Bruins could look to pay less for:
Carolina Hurricanes – Micheal Ferland
Philadelphia Flyers – Wayne Simmonds
New York Rangers – Kevin Hayes, Jimmy Vesey and Chris Kreider.
New Jersey Devils – Kyle Palmieri or Marcus Johansson
Minnesota Wild – Charlie Coyle
Anaheim Ducks – Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell
Los Angeles Kings – Tyler Toffoli, Carl Hagelin and Ilya Kovalchuk
The Detroit Red Wings wouldn’t mind re-signing some pending UFAs
Ansar Khan of MLive: Of the seven pending unrestricted free agents, the Detroit Red Wings would like to re-sign three – Jimmy Howard, Gustav Nyquist and Nick Jensen.
Obviously if GM Ken Holland doesn’t get his asking price, he could move them instead of losing for nothing.
“We’ve had exploratory talks,” Holland said, without identifying which players he’s trying to re-sign. “I’ve got to, here in the next few days, crank it up to another level.
“I’d like to think before the deadline that we’re either signing them or close, where we sort of have the makings of a deal and you’re hanging onto the player. It would be the very worst-case scenario if I don’t trade somebody and then that player we have interest in re-signing leaves on July 1.”
Other pending UFAs include Niklas Kronwall, Thomas Vanek, Martin Frk and Luke Witkowski.
Holland notes that there isn’t a market place for all his pending UFAs as there are only so many teams that are buying.
“The best deals are made when there’s pressure on both sides and one side doesn’t have more leverage than the other,” Holland said. “Certainly, if you get by Feb. 25 and I don’t have the parameters (of deals) or an idea of what it’s going to take, then shame on me.”