On the Detroit Red Wings and the Goalie Market …
Pierre LeBrun: Would think that the Red Wings would listen to inquiries about Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard. Teams that lost out on Scott Darling and Ben Bishop might call on the Wings.
Pierre LeBrun: There are still lots of goaltender options out there including Marc-Andre Fleury, Jaroslav Halak and Steve Mason.
On the Washington Capitals …
Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Mid-Atlantic: Capitals forward and pending UFA T.J. Oshie hopes to be back next year but realizes that the Capitals will have some tough decisions to make this offseason.
“Right now, I feel like I’m still part of the team,” Oshie said Friday as the players reported to Kettler Capitals Iceplex one final time for exit interviews and physicals. “I never really get too far ahead of myself. Right now I’m a Capital and feel like that’s where I’ll be. If something changes, it changes.”
Oshie said that his agent had a quick talk with the Capitals GM Brian MacLellen, but substantive contract talks haven’t started.
Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: The Capitals will be busy this offseason with 11 free agents to make decisions on.
They have six restricted free agents, with four likely to get big raises – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky, Dmitry Orlov and Nate Schmidt.
Unrestricted free agents include TJ Oshie, Justin Williams, Daniel Winnik, Karl Alzner and Kevin Shattenkirk.
Oshie will likely get more than the $4.5 million he made this year on the open market and it won’t be easy for GM MacLellan to bring him back. Last offseason Kyle Okposo signed a seven-year, $42 million deal and David Backes got five-years and $30 million.
Oshie admitted last week that there was “a little bit” of interest in testing the free agent market.
“This group of guys, organization, coaches, it’s been a great fit for me,” he said. “It’s been a great fit for my family. So, I’d like to come back, yeah.”