- Chuck Gormley of CSN Washington: Speculation out of Detroit that they are looking at Capitals right-handed Dman Mike Green. The Capitals could use a second line center, and head coach Barry Trotz has spoken highly of Gustav Nyquist. The Caps would have to add more than Green to be able to land Nyquist. If the Caps are looking to trade Green for a second center who are entering the final year of their deals similar to Green, candidates could be: David Krejci, Mike Fisher and Antoine Vermette. They could look at Ryan O’Reilly or possibly Joe Thornton.
- Tracy Myers of CSN Chicago: Agent Pat Brisson on Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
“We had to study, financially, to keep the puzzle together, how we could do this but at the same time get the players compensated the way they should be?” Brisson said. “They could’ve come in at 13.8 million each. At the same time, hockey’s a team sport and the reason why they’re so successful is the environment they’re in — and I give them credit for understanding that – and the role they can play now and in the future.”
GM Stan Bowman still needs to reduce their cap number by $2 million for this year, and isn’t concerned with Toews and Kane’s future numbers.
“That’s our job, to make it work,” he said. “We’ve been able to do that in the past and I have a lot of faith in the ability to keep that going. The most important thing for us is… you have star players who have shown the ability to win and they want to be here. It’s not even a discussion point. We’re just thrilled we have two of them; most teams would die to have one of these players on their teams. The rest will work itself out.”
- Alex Prewitt: Capitals RFA Cam Schilling’s agent on contract talks: “Making progress but nothing imminent.”
- Jim Matheson: “Not sure why there’s so much angst that Oilers didn’t sign No. 2 centre. Will be addressed via trade after camp if need be.”
- Josh Cooper of the Tennessean: Projected lines by Cooper:1st – James Neal-Mike Ribeiro-Colin Wilson
2nd – Viktor Stalberg-Derek Roy-Craig Smith
3rd – Olli Jokinen-Calle Jarnkrok-Filip Forsberg
4th – Rich Clune-Paul Gaustad-Eric Nystrom