On the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers …
Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe: Though he didn’t play up to his $7 million a season contract, it’s doubtful that the Bruins will trade Tuukka Rask this offseason. The Bruins need to bring in a better backup than Jonas Gustavsson. Malcolm Subban may need more AHL time. Jhonas Enroth and Al Montoya will be free agents and could be options for the Bruins.
The Rangers don’t have first round pick this year, and they are a team that needs to get younger while remaining competitive. If the Maple Leafs are going to trade any of their picks this year, the Rangers could be interested.
The Rangers need to find a taker for Dan Girardi and his $5.5 million contract that runs through 2020. He’ll turn 32 in a couple weeks. Rangers GM Jeff Gorton’s offseason needs to include adding some futures, trading Girardi, fixing their blueline and improving their bottom six.
Ryan Spooner is the Bruins best trade chip this offseason, and the they could use him to acquire a defenseman.
On the Calgary Flames …
Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun: Source saying that the Flames will be signing Daniel Pribyl to a two-year, two-way entry-level deal. The deal can’t be finalized until his season with Sparta Praha is finished – possibly in a week or two. Flames GM Brad Treliving isn’t commenting on Pribyl. He reminds some Flames management of Tomas Hertl. The Predators were one of the other teams that were interested in in Pribyl.
On the St. Louis Blues …
Jeremy Rutherford and Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Vladimir Tarasenko told the Blues since the day he arrived in North America that they should sign Artemi Panarin.
“He told us the day he got here about Panarin,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “He told us at least once a month about him. They’re best buds, they played together, they played in the world juniors together, they played on lines together, he talked about him and everybody looked and said he’s a pretty small guy. We all look a little dumb right now.”
