- Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Matheson wonders if the Flyers could buyout Vincent Lecavalier. He has four years left on his five year, $22.5 million deal. He played under nine minutes in their Game 7 match-up with the Rangers. The Flyers used their compliance buyouts on Ilya Bryzgalov and Danny Briere last year.
The Coyotes tried to trade for Ales Hemsky at the trade deadline and could look at him when free agency starts. They wouldn’t mind him on a line with Radim Vrbata and Mike Ribeiro.
The Red Wings won’t buyout Johan Franzen. He has a salary cap hit of $3.9 million for the next six years. They would consider trading him for a top four defenseman. They need a right handed defenseman.
Blue Jackets R.J. Umberger is available, but he has three years at a $4.6 million salary cap hit. They could eat some of his salary in a deal or use a compliance buyout on him.
The Red Wings won’t be bringing David Legwand, Dan Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi back next season.
- Jim Mathson of the Edmonton Journal: This may have been Stars Ray Whitney’s final season in the NHL. He’ll be 42 years old tomorrow and didn’t see a lot of five on five time this year. He wasn’t happy in Dallas. He knows there won’t be a lot of teams interested. The Coyotes could show some interest.
“Phoenix could be the easiest solution, but I don’t know what their plans are. My daughter’s in Grade 7 now and it’s time to get her settled, get the family all set. Moving around is all done for them.”
If Whitney doesn’t get any playing offers, he would consider taking a management position.
- Mike Chambers of the Denver Post: Chambers notes on some pending unrestricted free agent defensemen that the Avalanche could be interested in: Matt Niskanen (PIT), Brooks Orpik (PIT), Andrej Meszaros (BOS), Raphael Diaz (NYR), Nikita Nikitin (CBJ), Paul Ranger (TOR), Kyle Quincey (DET), Anton Stralman (NYR), Matt Green (LA), Dan Boyle (SJ), Andrei Markov (MON) and Sami Salo (TB).