On the Florida Panthers …
Harvey Fialkov: The Panthers have saved $7.6 million in cap space (after the Marc Savard and Erik Gudbranson trades) and are expecting to sign Vincent Trocheck to a long-term deal and probably Brian Campbell.
On the Detroit Red Wings …
Darren Dreger: For the Red Wings to trade Pavel Datsyuk‘s cap hit, they would likely have to add a player, with Tomas Jurco or Teemu Pulkkinen as names that have been suggested.
General Fanager: The Savard trade shows that the Red Wings should be able to trade Datsyuk if they need to.
On the New York Islanders …
Arthur Staple: Think that if the Islanders now wanted to move Mikhail Grabovski, Nikolai Kulemin or Jaroslav Halak in the next few weeks, they could easily do so.
On the Nashville Predators …
Adam Vingan of the Tennessean: The Predators main priority this offseason is to re-sign RFA Filip Forsberg, and fans don’t have to worry about him leaving.
“I think with Filip and (pending restricted free agent forward Calle) Jarnkrok, if the figures were right, we’d be very excited to enter into longer-term contracts with them,” Predators general manager David Poile said. “It’s all about the fit for each and every player, and if we can get that right fit for them and for us, I think multiyear contracts would be great.”
Forsberg’s agent, J.P. Barry added.
“There’s a range of contracts out there for players this age,” Barry said during a recent phone interview. “The longer-term ones, there’s several at the five-, six-year mark and there’s only a couple that go as far as eight, so we’re trying to pinpoint the range that’s the most comfortable to both of us.”
Comparables could be Brandon Saad (six-years, $36 million) and Vladimir Tarasenko (eight-years, $60 million).
One agent guessed Forsberg’s extension would have a cap hit between $5 and $6 milion. Another agent told Elliotte Friendman it would be between Saad’s $6 million and Tarasenko’s $7.5 million.
