A Calgary Flames pending UFA thinks he could be back
Pat Steinberg: Calgary Flames pending UFA forward A.J. Greer said that they haven’t had any contract extension talks yet. He would like to be back and has a “good feeling” about things.
The New Jersey Devils want a coach by the draft and Travis Green hopes it’s him
Mike Morreale: New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald said that he wants to have a head coach in place before the NHL draft.
Ryan Novozinsky: Devils interim head coach Travis Green said that he “100%” wants to be their full-time coach. He’s had brief talks with GM Fitzgerald and they’ll have more in-depth talks in the upcoming weeks.
Will the Detroit Red Wings be able to bring back Shayne Gostisbehere, and a few other free agents?
Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now: The Detroit Red Wings have seven defensemen under contract for next season and Albert Johansson is no longer waiver exempt and likely won’t clear waivers.
Shayne Gostisbehere is a pending UFA and Yzerman wants to bring him back after a 56-point season.
“I’d like to see if we can figure out a way to do it,” Yzerman said. “He’s a valuable player for how we’re set up on the back end.”
Yzerman added:
“It is something I would like to consider, strongly consider. Contract aside, it’s making all this fit. One fitting into the cap. I’m probably comfortable carrying eight defensemen.”
Yzerman also that he’ll talk to all his pending UFAs – Gostisbehere, Patrick Kane, Christian Fischer, David Perron, Daniel Sprong, and James Reimer. He’ll need to re-sign pending RFAs Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, so there likely won’t be enough cap room to bring back all their UFAs.
Defenseman Justin Holl has two years left at $3.4 million and it wouldn’t be easy to move his contract. Yzerman might need to add a sweetener to move his contract and/or retain some salary. That may be better than buying him out.