On the Los Angeles Kings and Montreal Canadiens …
Dennis Bernstein: Don’t see the Kings trading for Max Pacioretty. The Kings and Canadiens did talk at the trade deadline, but they ended when the asking prices was a lot.
On the New Jersey Devils …
Mike Morreale of NHL.com: The Devils are set to pick at No. 17 in the first-round round, and have six picks in the first three rounds. GM Ray Shero isn’t against moving down to get more assets.
“If you’re going to move up, great, but what’s the cost to move up?” Shero said. “Hey, we’d love to move down and get more assets, but you’re never going to know that until you’re on the draft floor and it’s coming to your pick.”
Shero, when asked if the Devils would have any interest in free agent Ilya Kovalchuk.
“I’ve not reached out to Kovalchuk’s representatives and I’ve not heard from them, so there you go.”
On the Tampa Bay Lightning …
Joe Smith of The Athletic: Forward Tyler Johnson has six more years on his contract and his no-trade clause kicks in on July 1st. If the Lightning are interested in moving him, it could happen this month. is not saying that the Lightning will move him, but Johnson may have some trade interest.
Johnson carries a $5 million salary cap hit and the Lightning will have to give Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Brayden Point big contract extensions.
The Lightning could use the extra salary cap space if they decide to take a run at John Tavares, who is a close friend of Steven Stamkos. thinks Tavares will re-sign with the Islanders or maybe land in Vegas.
The Lightning tried to trade for Erik Karlsson at the deadline, but the cost was too high. If the cost comes down the Lightning could re-consider. Karlsson is a year away from unrestricted free agency.
Down the middle, the Lightning has some depth with Stamkos, Point, Yanni Gourde, Anthony Cirelli, Cedric Paquette (UFA), and prospect Mitchell Stephens.
What about a trade package that involves Johnson and Carolina Hurricanes right-handed defenseman Justin Faulk. Faulk has two years left at $4.8 million.