- Joe Haggerty of CSNNE: Reports out of Montreal have the Bruins and Jarome Iginla talking contract extension. Nothing appears to be imminent, but the signs are positive that he’ll be returning next season.
“I thought he started out a little slow when he came on, but he came on late and he came on strong. Obviously he’s a leader, he’s the captain of another team for a long time and he came in and added in an element to our group, especially the forward group,” said Bruins President Cam Neely during the end-of-season press conference last month. “He ended up scoring 30 goals, which is not easy in this league anymore.
“We would like to try and see if we can figure something out moving forward with him. We will see where that goes but I thought he fit in really well with our team.”The Bruins currently have about $7.9 million in cap space with restricted free agents Matt Bartkowski, Torey Krug and Reilly Smith to re-sign and they need to find a backup goalie.
- Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail: The Ducks are believed to be looking for a No. 2 center, and will be likely tied to three centers who are said to be available: Ryan Kesler, Jason Spezza and Joe Thornton. The Ducks have plenty of young assets. Spezza would be a nice fit as he only has a $4 million salary to go along with his $7 million cap hit. A package for Spezza would be similar to what the Ducks received from the Senators when they sent Bobby Ryan there: a first, a prospect and a player. The Ducks would likely prefer to trade their first round pick and not the one they received from the Senators. The cost to acquire Kesler would likely be similar to the it would cost to get Spezza. Acquiring Thornton would be a long-shot. The Maple Leafs are rumored to be a potential landing spot for Thornton. Leafs GM Dave Nonis would be fine with moving one of Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner in the right deal, but is Thornton the right deal?
- David Pagnotta: Contract talks between the Canadiens and P.K. Subban haven’t started yet, but should begin soon.
- Erik Erlendsson: Can’t image that Lightning’s Ryan Callahan won’t test the free agent market at this point.