On the Winnipeg Jets …
Gary Lawless: There is some talk of offer sheeting Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said on the weekend that he’d match any offer. The Jets have the cap space and willingness to match any offer. Cheveldayoff said he planned for this, and it’s why he preaches “cap flexibility.”
On the New York Rangers …
Larry Brooks of the NY Post: Rangers GM Jeff Gorton wasn’t able to accomplish as much as he would have liked at the draft.
“I think we have things to do to get us where we want to go,” Gorton said Saturday. “We’re in a spot where we’re trying to get better, trying to make deals to get better. We’ve been in a lot of conversations. We’re listening to everything and we’ll see where it goes. We tried to do some things, and I’d say we came close to doing something to get into the first round, but it didn’t work out and we weren’t going to be forced into doing something just to do it.”
Gorton wasn’t willing sell Rick Nash and Derek Stepan at a discount.
The Rangers have about $14.35 million in cap space with RFAs Dylan McIlrath, Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes needing deals. So, it’s unlikely they can sign Steven Stamkos.
Can expect the Rangers to be in contact with UFA Michael Grabner, but the price for him could be to high for the Rangers unless they can clear out the cap space.
The decision to not buy out Dan Girardi and take on his cap hit for the next eight years resulted in them having to trade Keith Yandle before free agency.
On the Montreal Canadiens …
Eric Engels of Sportsnet: If the Canadiens are going to seriously pursue Steven Stamkos, they would need to clear some salary cap space to fit him in.
They would have consider moving any one of David Desharnais ($3.5 million for one year), Tomas Plekanec ($6 million for two years) or Alexei Emelin ($4.1 million for two years) before Friday.