On the Washington Capitals and Dmitry Orlov …
Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Mid Atlantic: Dmitry Orlov and the Washington Capitals still haven’t come to terms on a contract for this season. The RFA defenseman seems unsure of where he stands with the team as of last night.
“I don’t know. It’s hard to say,” Orlov said, asked if he’s confident that a deal will get worked out in the coming days. “We have a good last season a team. It’s always nice to play for team who have good stars, good people and systems.”
Orlov is playing with Team Russia at the World Cup of Hockey. He’s trying to focus on his game and the tournament and not on his contract.
“I’m not try to think about much about contract; I have an agent to do all my work,” he added, referring to his agent, Mark Gandler. “I try to focus on my game, not think about other things contract. Every player wants to have contract. Every player wants to know where he’s going to play after World Cup. But right now, I focus on World Cup and see how it goes.”
Though he’d rather play in the NHL, CSKA of the KHL could be one option if he doesn’t strike a deal with the Capitals.
The Capitals have about $3.45 million in cap space. Orlov carried a $2 million cap hit last season with a $2.25 million salary.
On the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nikita Kucherov …
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times: Last month Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman said it could take until the start of the season to get a contract done with RFA winger Nikita Kucherov. Last week Yzerman said he’s “hopeful” that something can get done.
A contract doesn’t appear to be close. Yzerman does hope to have a deal done by the time Kucherov returns from the World Cup of Hockey.
Kucherov’s agent has declined to comment on the talks.
Kucherov could look at a deal between Filip Forsberg‘s $6 million and Vladimir Tarasenko‘s $7.5 million per year.
The Lightning’s current cap number is around $6.2 million. The Lightning also need to sign defenseman Nikita Nesterov and add an extra forward.
That could leave the Lightning about $5 million for Kucherov, which may mean the Lightning need to make another move and why a deal isn’t done yet.
Yzerman has said that he can re-sign Kucherov and Nesterov without making another move.
Previously mentioned salary trade options include Ben Bishop ($5.95 million cap hit, partial NMC), Valtteri Filppula ($5 million, NMC) or Jason Garrison ($4.6 million, NTC).