On the Dallas Stars …
Adrian Dater: Stars GM Jim Nill said they won’t be too active in the free agent market.
Craig Custance: Nill expects that defensemen Jason Demers and Kris Russell will be headed to free agency. The Stars are okay with going with a young defense.
Adrian Dater: Nill said they’d be “open” to potentially adding a good defenseman.
Mike Heika: Think the Stars are interested in re-signing Jordie Benn, but not sure where they are at in their talks.
On the Toronto Maple Leafs …
James Mirtle: The Maple Leafs salary cap situation for next year is tight after the Frederik Andersen trade/signing. They currently have 25 percent of their cap dedicated to Joffrey Lupul, Jonathan Bernier, Tyler Bozak and Stephane Robidas. The Maple Leafs will be making more moves, especially if they want to make another big trade.
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello doesn’t say much with regards to what their plans are, but he will say that he plans on being busy and active leading up the draft. He’s make lots of calls to see what other deals he can put together, checking out potential free agents.
“We have a lot of decisions to make,” said the general manager of Leafs. “A lot of decisions.”
Joffrey Lupul has told some of his friends that he thinks he’s played his last game in a Maple Leafs jersey. The Leafs have a lot of money this year tied into Brooks Laich ($4.5 million), Milan Michalek ($4 million) and Jonathan Bernier ($4.1 million).
When asked if he can get his payroll in some kind of order, Lamoriello responded with:
“I think you’ve got a handle on it,” he said. “There were things that were done here for reasons. To put the plan in place, sometimes you have to take a step back to go forward. You’ll see all of this form some type of picture in the near future.
“This is all just part of the process. We can’t get ahead of ourselves. Even if we take a step back, it will always be so we can take a step forward. Everything is about going forward.”