On the Pittsburgh Penguins …
Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: (mailbag) Believe that Phil Kessel will be with the Penguins next season,
Zeise doesn’t think that Derick Brassard will be. They have too many centers and it doesn’t make sense to move him to the wing. He didn’t have a great season and with his contract, hard to say what his trade value would be.
On the St. Louis Blues and Patrick Maroon …
Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic: Multiple sources had said that Maroon wants to sign with his hometown St. Louis Blues. There has been no confirmation, with some saying it’s 50-50 that he does.
There has been a recent increase in interest, with the New Jersey Devils and Arizona Coyotes among the teams. Agent Ben Hankinson said on Sunday that the Blues are still a “strong option.”
One issue for the Blues is that they have about $5 million in salary cap space with Joel Edmundson left to sign. He could cost them between $3 and $4 million. The Blues may have to move out some other salary in a trade, or possibly keep his salary below $2 million.
Jim Thomas Of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Patrick Maroon recently switched agents from Allain Roy to Ben Hankinson recently and that may part of his delaying in signing with a team.
“He could end up signing with St. Louis as early as today or tomorrow, but he’s got some other good options as well,” Hankinson told KFAN radio in Minneapolis on Sunday. “So we’re kind of sorting through the one-, vs. two-, vs. three-year options for him.”
The Minnesota Wild, Devils, and Coyotes are among the interested teams. Reports are the Blues have offered a one-year deal at $1.7 million.