Maple Leafs looking for size and toughness. Ryan Reaves?
David Pagnotta: The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking to add some size and toughness in free agency and one of the players they are looking at is forward Ryan Reaves.
David Pagnotta: Expecting Reaves to a multi-year deal from the Maple Leafs.
Andy Strickland: “Ryan Reaves about to be a rockstar in Toronto.”
Justin Holl getting interest
Ryan S. Clark: Have heard that Justin Holl is getting interest from multiple teams. There is also a chance he returns to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Will the Coyotes re-sign Christian Fischer after not qualifying him?
Craig Morgan: The Arizona Coyotes aren’t qualifying forward Christian Fischer and he’ll be a UFA.
“This will be a tough one for fans to absorb. Fischer is immensely popular for good reasons; one of my favorite players all-time.”
Craig Morgan: Fischer was arbitration eligible and the Coyotes may not have been comfortable with where that number could have ended up.
The Coyotes can still sign Fischer but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he looked for a fresh start somewhere else.
Elliotte Friedman: Believe the Coyotes are trying to re-sign Fischer. They weren’t crazy about going to arbitration.
The Canucks don’t qualify Ethan Bear and Travis Dermott
Chris Johnston: The Vancouver Canucks didn’t qualify defensemen Ethan Bear and Travis Dermott.
Jeff Paterson: “Hope there is a hockey future for Travis Dermott. Needs full health first. Seemed like a good guy who basically missed all of last season with head injury. Never really got the read on him as a #Canucks. Just didn’t play enough here”
Thomas Drance: “I’d think there are teams for whom, say, a 1 year/$1M deal with a RHD that can hold up in top-4 minutes and is an ace on retrievals, but is hurt through Christmas (and can open the year on LTI) is an appealing prospect – with his injury status being a feature, rather than a bug.’
Senators and Erik Brannstrom making progress
Chris Johnston: Hearing that the Ottawa Senators and RFA defenseman Erik Brannstrom are making progress on an extension.