On the Chicago Blackhawks …
Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times: (mailbag) Scott Darling wants to remain with the Blackhawks, but he wants to be a No. 1 goalie at some point. The 28-year old Darling will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. It’s not known if any other team would give him a No. 1 spot. Another team may offer him more money and opportunity than the Blackhawks can.
Think that trading Corey Crawford to help fit in Artemi Panarin‘s next contract would be a big mistake as Crawford is one of the better goalies in the league. The has a good contract at $6 million a season and it would be crazy to trade him while he’s in his prime.
Indications at the start of the season had Panarin was likely looking for a six-year deal at around $6 million a season. Multiple sources saying that number could be on the rise. Vladimir Tarasenko could be Panarin’s best comparison and he signed an eight-year, $7.5 million per season deal in 2015. It is going to be hard for the Blackhawks to make that work.
If the Vegas Golden Knights selected Marcus Kruger and his $3.083 million cap hit, it would help.
Brent Seabrook carries a $6.875 million cap hit for another seven seasons and has a no-movement clause.
On the Buffalo Sabres and some others looking for blueline help …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Pierre LeBrun was on TSN 690 talking about the Buffalo Sabres, Evander Kane and that the Sabres are not the only team that would like to bring in some blueline help.
“But certainly when it comes to the Sabres, we reported earlier this year that Evander Kane I think can be had for the right price, but they’re not in the mood to give him away. So there’s that. I think at the end of the day the Sabres would like to acquire defensive help – help on the blueline. And boy, they are not alone in that (laughs). It’s a sought-after commodity when you think about the Tampa Bay Lightning I think wanting to add a Top-4 defenseman. Detroit has been on that for a long time. Toronto eventually – which is less having to do with this year, because I don’t think they’re going to be a playoff team – but more their long term process of building their team, they need to get better on the back end.”