Flames could look for defensemen at the draft
Eric Francis of Sportsnet: If the Calgary Flames are going to trade forward Johnny Gaudreau, it could happen at the draft next week.
The Flames have five defensemen who are scheduled to become UFAs, so Flames GM Brad Treliving could look at acquiring a defenseman at the draft.
First-round draft targets at No. 19 could be Braden Schneider, Kaiden Guhle and Dylan Holloway.
Red Wings can keep using their cap space to their advantage
Ansar Khan of MLive: The Detroit Red Wings have already used their cap space to their advantage and acquired defenseman Marc Staal and a 2021 second-round pick from the New York Rangers for future considerations. The move gives them another draft pick but a player who can help make them a little more competitive.
Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson and Trevor Daley won’t be back year. GM Steve Yzerman said “we’re looking to fill spots on the left and right sides,” and Staal fits in nicely on their left side.
Yzerman said they can still take on some salary for those teams that are looking to shed salary.
“We have cap space, we have roster spots to fill, (but) we have to be careful … you can get to the cap very quickly, but we’re in a position to potentially do future deals like this, if they come along,” Yzerman said. “They don’t happen a lot.
“There’s so much uncertainty in the league right now. We don’t really know when we’re starting, what the landscape is going to look like next year. For the Red Wings, we do have cap space, we can use it. I hope to use it wisely but one way we would like to try to use it is to acquire future assets should any teams be in a position where they have to move contracts and don’t have any other options. Nobody wants to give up picks or prospects, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to make your team better. We’re trying to add picks or prospects and at the same time ice a team.”