It won’t cost much to sign Kovalchuk and teams are interested
TSN: Bob McKenzie said that Ilya Kovalchuk‘s camp will be looking for a deal around the league minimum. The Los Angeles Kings are stuck with his salary cap hit next year no matter what.
“They cannot trade it because the contract has been mutually terminated. Remember the Detroit Red Wings traded Pavel Datsyuk’s 35-and-over deal to Arizona? They did that before he retired and shut it down. Kovalchuk’s cap hit is staying with L.A.”
Igor Eronko: Source is saying that Ilya Kovalchuk is looking to sign with a contender and is okay with signing for the league minimum. The Boston Bruins are a team that are interested.
Darren Dreger: Some teams had already inquired with Kovalchuk’s camp yesterday. There are some good options for him, with one team “keenly interested.” Kovalchuk wants to get playing right away.
Kreider the next big name that could draw trade interest
TSN: Darren Dreger said that New York Rangers Chris Kreider is likely the next big name that could be on the move. The Rangers and Kreider could talk about a potential extension, but another team could also try to get the jump on trade deadline.
“He’s a unique player, he certainly adds a little physical edge to his game which all playoff teams would want. The return for Kreider would likely be a first-round draft pick and a mid-level prospect.”
Williams has been skating for a while
TSN: Pierre LeBrun said that Justin Williams has been skating the past three or four weeks and there has been some talk with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes don’t have a lot of salary cap space.
“Remember they had the Patrick Marleau buyout and they signed Jake Gardiner in camp. They can’t sign him to that big of a deal. It will be interesting to me because I believe that his camp would also be willing to hear from other teams. Again, the priority is Carolina, but there could be other teams that reach out and make this interesting.”