On the Dallas Stars …
Sean Shapiro of The Athletic: (mailbag) Believe that Todd Nelson could be a good option for the Stars coaching position. Other options could be Sheldon Keefe, Jim Montgomery, and Jay Leach. Alain Vigneault may not be a good fit. Dan Bylsma and Bob Hartley may come up if looking for an experienced coach.
Could the Stars look to trade for Sabres Ryan O’Reilly to center their second line? They haven’t been afraid to make a big trade for a center.
Calvin Pickard could be a backup option for the Stars. top choice for the Stars backup position in Michael Hutchinson.
The Stars may be thinking there is a trade market for Jason Spezza.
Would a 2018 first-round pick, 2019 third-round pick and any prospect not named Miro Heiskanen be enough for Mark Stone? Then re-sign for eight years at around $6.5 million per.
Darren Dreger: Alain Vigneault will certainly be on the Stars list of coaching candidates.
Brian Lawton: Have to think that Dave Tippett could be one of their top candidates. The Stars are a perfect fit for his coaching style. He’s been their head coach before and is very respected.
Sean Shapiro: The fate of the Stars assistant coaches will likely come after they hire a new head coach. There are some assistants that GM Jim Nill would like to keep, but he doesn’t want to handcuff their new coach.
On the Florida Panthers …
Matthew DeFranks of the Sun-Sentinel: The Panthers have two pending UFAs (Radim Vrbata and Connor Brickley) and four RFAs (Alexander Petrovic, Jared McCann, Frank Vatrano and MacKenzie Weegar). Vrbata is retiring.
Petrovic is coming off a one-year, $1.85 million deal he signed last offseason.
“I’d love to sign a long-term deal, but they need to trust me coming into next year being a good player,” Petrovic said. “Whatever pans out, I’m just going to come in in great shape and just be a good player, play my role. That’s all I can control.”