Stillman signing may mean the end of Zadorov in Chicago
Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times: Trade deadline acquisition Riley Stillman signed a three-year contract extension over the weekend. Stillman would have been an RFA this offseaon. He said he wanted the negotiations out of the way so he could focus on improving and integrating with the Blackhawks.
The odds of the Blackhawks trading pending RFA Nikita Zadorov this offseason have increased as both bring a similar style. Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman was listening to trade offers on Zadorov at the trade deadline but was looking for more than teams were offering. Will the price come down this offseason?
The Lightning and Kraken will do lots of talking
Ryan S. Clark and Joe Smith of The Athletic: The Tampa Bay Lightning currently have 14 players under contract for next season and are already over the salary cap ceiling by $3.5 million.
Tyler Johnson is from Spokane, Washington, so there is much speculation that he could end up with the Seattle Kraken for the remaining three years of his contract – at a $5 million salary cap hit.
Do that Kraken want him, and how much is it going to cost the Lightning?
Clark thinks the for expansion draft purposes, defenseman Cal Foote and pending UFA Blake Coleman may interest the Kraken as well.
Smith thinks the Lightning could go with eight skaters – Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, Victor Hedman, Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak, Ryan McDonagh.
Potential top-six forwards the Kraken could have interest in Alex Killorn, Yanni Gourde, Ondrej Palat and Johnson
Will the Lightning have to include a 2022 first-round pick for the Kraken to take Johnson’s contract? Would it cost a second-round pick and a prospect like Sammy Walker or Alex Barre-Boulet?