On the Montreal Canadiens …
Eric Engels: After the conversations has had in the past week, think that Alex Galchenyuk will get traded. The Minnesota Wild remain the most likely landing spot for him.
Chris Nichols: Pierre LeBrun said that “Marc Bergevin is not done.” LeBrun added that we know that he has some level of interest in Wild defenseman Marco Scandella and continue show that they are.
Chris Nichols: LeBrun adds that the Wild are no longer under the gun to make a move as the side deal with Vegas helped. Not under pressure to trade Scandella.
On the Minnesota Wild …
Michael Russo: The Wild haven’t had any contract talks with Christian Folin but they plan to reach out to him.
Michael Russo of the Star Tribune: The Wild have let forward Jordan Schroeder know that they won’t be sending a qualifying offer by Monday’s deadline. Will become a UFA on July 1st unless they change their mind before Monday.
Michael Russo of the Star Tribune: Wild GM Chuck Fletcher said last night that they will “absolutely” trade one of their defensemen by next week.
The Wild could be looking to add a center as Mikko Koivu and Eric Staal are their only centers. They could move Charlie Coyle down the middle and start Joel Eriksson Ek on the wing.
The Wild have $13 million in cap space with 14 players under contract and need to re-sign Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter.
Jonas Brodin and Marco Scandella have salaries over $4 million and Jason Pominville carries a $5.6 million salary cap hit.
Teams looking for defensemen include the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars.
“We’re looking to improve our team if we can,” he said. “We’re speaking to a lot of teams. We’re getting a lot of calls. We have been for a while. With this process now completed, I think it’ll clear things up and probably simplify the process.”
