On the Arizona Coyotes, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres …
Rory Boylen of Sportsnet: Nick Kypreos on Arizona Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith, who has two years left on his contract at a $5.66 million cap hit.
“A lot of teams are asking Arizona about Mike Smith,” Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos said. “Mike Smith of course wants to win now. The feeling in Arizona is they might go much younger. Talk is the salary cap might force them to be bottom-feeders, which means they might finally be ready to move Mike Smith.”
Elliotte Friedman said that teams have been calling the Vancouver Canucks about defenseman Chris Tanev. The Canucks aren’t eager to trade him, and the asking price is high.
“There’s been a lot of talk about Chris Tanev and the Vancouver Canucks,” Friedman said. “The one thing I’ve heard is other GMs who say they’ve reached out to Vancouver have been told this is no guarantee and if Chris Tanev is going anywhere the price is going to be very high for him. He’s got three more years under contract. He’s a good player at a good price. I don’t think Vancouver is looking to do this unless it’s a great deal.”
Last week Canucks GM Jim Benning said that he is not shopping Tanev or mentioning his name when talking with teams, but teams are bringing his name up.
The Los Angeles Kings need some scoring help, preferably a younger score. The Kings also could you some salary cap relief.
“Evander Kane, he’s an unrestricted free agent after next season,” Friedman said “and the word is that the LA Kings are one of the teams that’s interested and I think the Sabres are willing to do it if LA and them can strike a deal.”
The 25-year old Kane has a year left on his deal at $5.25 million. He scored 28 goals last season for the Sabres, after scoring 20 the year before.