On the Patrik Elias …
Chris Ryan of NJ.com: Any contract for UFA Patrik Elias will depend on how his rehab goes the rest of the offseason.
“He’s back in Czech Republic now, and it’s basically where we have left it,” Devils general manager Ray Shero said. “I talked to his agent just a couple days ago, and he’s just going to monitor how he’s doing.”
Elias had knee surgery on May 11th and no timetable was given. Elias “desperately” wants to play another season with the Devils.
On Jonathan Huberdeau …
Joe Pack of Sportsnet: The Florida Panthers have locked up several of their young players this offseason already. Forward Jonathan Huberdeau will be a RFA after next season.
“I’ve been told they know what it takes to get a deal done ,” said Richards.
The Panthers currently have just over $3 million in cap space for next season. Huberdeau wouldn’t count towards this.
On Ben Scrivens …
Aivis Kalnins: Source saying Ben Scrivens has narrowed it down to two KHL teams.
On Kris Versteeg …
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: A report from Switzerland has Kris Versteeg close to signing a contract with EHC Biel of the Swiss league.
On the Nathan MacKinnon …
Terry Frei: The Avalanche and Nathan MacKinnon agreed to a seven year, $44.1 million contract yesterday. MacKinnon said it wasn’t really in his best interests to do a short-term deal, and that it all came together quickly.
“Obviously, the bridge wasn’t really in my best interests,” he said. “I wanted to be in Colorado for a long time and I wanted to get six, seven years and be there for a while. So I definitely was very thankful for what happened.” Of the long-term deal, he added: “It happened so quickly. All of a sudden, boom, it went down in a week.”