On the Los Angeles Kings …
Chris Nichols: Pierre LeBruin on pending UFA Milan Lucic: “Dean Lombardi, I had a chance to speak w/ Dean Lombardi during the series, absolutely adores Lucic.”
On the Detroit Red Wings …
Ansar Khan of MLive: Red Wings GM Ken Holland plans on being more aggressive to improve his roster this offseason, and they won’t be trading assets for futures.
“We’ve got to draft. We’ve got to develop. I’m not into a rebuild,” Holland said. “Rebuilds take eight-to-10 years in my opinion, and that’s if you want to tank it and go through a massive rebuild. I don’t think anybody wants to go through a massive rebuild.
“I think we’ve got to try to marginally get better, maybe change the look of our team a little bit and we’ve got to try to find a way to make the playoffs and give ourselves another opportunity.”
Holland doesn’t expect Pavel Datsyuk to be back. Holland will be aggressive in exploring trades.
They’ll look at the free agent market. The market could be thin, especially on the blueline. Some bigger forwards that might be available include Andrew Ladd, David Backes, Troy Brouwer, Eric Staal and Milan Lucic.
On the New Jersey Devils …
Steve Politi of NJ.com: The Devils could have over $20 million in cap space this offseason. They need to re-sign Kyle Palmieri. GM Ray Shero has been given the “green light” to bring in a couple free agents.
“I don’t think (having the green light) has ever been an issue,” Shero said. “My thing is, I said to Josh and David and continue to say it, it’s spending at the right time. That’s more important to me than just having a green light to spend.
“It has to be done the right time and in the right way so, two years from now, we’re not having a conversation where we’re asking, ‘What are you going to do with those two guys who are 34 years old now that you signed as free agents two years ago?'” Shero said.
Steven Stamkos and Eric Staal are unlikely targets. They will look at free agents to bring some scoring help up front or an offensive-minded defenseman.
“We have cap space, which is a great asset,” Shero said. “But once you start spending it, it goes pretty quickly, and then you realize a year or two later, ‘Oh boy.’ So it’s never been an issue of having the money to spend. From my standpoint, it’s spending it wisely and, more importantly, spending it at the right time.