Ryan Dixon of Sportnet: With the season potentially a month away, there are some teams that need to do some housecleaning before the season starts. A look at some situations that could be addressed in the upcoming weeks.
Tampa Bay Lightning – RFAs Anthony Cirelli and Erik Cernak remain unsigned and the Lightning are already over the cap. There was Steven Stamkos trade speculation but he has a no-movement clause and any team he might be interested in going to likely doesn’t have the cap space to fit is an $8.5 million cap hit. Alex Killorn has a 16 no-trade clause. He’s got three years left at $4.5 million and should get some interest.
Vegas Golden Knights – They still need to clear some salary. The recent rumor mill has Max Pacioretty, Marc-Andre Fleury and Jonathan Marchessault possibly available. GM Kelly McCrimmon said early in the offseason that Fleury wasn’t going anywhere.
Patrik Laine – Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Chevedayoff doesn’t rush things. It appears Laine won’t be happy unless he’s playing on the top line. Laine is in the last year of his deal and will be an RFA at season’s end. There would be plenty of teams interested if he’s fully made available.
New York Islanders – Defenseman Johnny Boychuk and his $6 million will be placed on the LTIR, giving GM Lou Lamoriello a little breathing room. The Islanders still need to re-sign RFA forward Mathew Barzal. Last trade deadline the Islanders were close to sending Andrew Ladd to the Minnesota Wild in a deal that would have involved Zach Parise. Ladd has three years left at $5.5 million and would require a sweetener.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – The Arizona Coyotes weren’t able to reach a deal with either the Boston Bruins or Vancouver Canucks before OEL’s deadline. The Canucks have since added Nate Schmidt. The Bruins don’t have a lot of cap space to work with but still may be interested. Can the Coyotes convince Ekman-Larsson to expand his list?
