On the Nashville Predators …
William DePaoli: Penguins pending UFA center Nick Bonino is getting a lot of interest, and the Predators are one of the teams that is in strong pursuit. Source saying they will be a top contender to sign him.
Nicholas Cotsonika of NHL.com: A the top of Predators GM David Poile’s wish list is …
“If we could get a top-six forward, that would probably be my first choice,” Poile said.
The Predators do have some RFAs to sign – Pontus Aberg, Viktor Arvidsson, Frederick Gaudreau, Ryan Johansen and Austin Watson – and they are waiting for Mike Fisher‘s decision on whether he’ll retire or if he’ll play next season.
“There might be the ability to generate some form of a trade,” Poile said. “There’s some good players out there, names that have been mentioned, that could be available in a trade. I want to make sure we put our best foot forward if we think it can improve our hockey club.”
On the free agent side of things, Capitals pending UFA winger Justin Williams is an intriguing name.
On free agent Kevin Shattenkirk …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Bob McKenzie was on TSN 1260 yesterday and was talking about pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.
“Well, you know what? I don’t know that the Rangers are as eager for Shattenkirk as everybody thinks they are,” considered McKenzie. “They might get in those sweepstakes. But quite frankly, part of the reason – well, a big part of the reason – they made the deal is they were trying to shed a contract.”
They traded Derek Stepan and his $6.5 million for another four years. The Rangers need to stay competitive. They had two first round drafts picks and seventh overall pick Lias Andersson has a shot at making the team out of camp.