On Seattle expansion …
Patrick Quinn: According to a source, the NHL board of governors will meet on June 20th in Las Vegas, and they are expected to conditionally approve the expansion to Seattle.
David Pagnotta: With the potential expansion approval next month, ownership may start searching for their hockey operations staff. The plan is to have a team ready for the 2020-21 season. The expansion draft could be months from now.
On the Nashville Predators …
Thomas Willis: Assistant general manager and director of hockey operations Brian Pole said that contract talks with pending restricted free agents Ryan Hartman, Miikka Salomaki and Juuse Saros will start next week.
Adam Vingan of the Nashville Tennessean: Pending restricted free agent defenseman Ryan Ellis when asked about a potential contract extension.
“If it was my wish, I’d finish my career here.”
Ellis can sign an extension on July 1st, and GM David Poile touched on an extension last week.
“There’s no reason for me to believe that Ryan Ellis doesn’t want to be here,” Predators general manager David Poile told 102.5-FM last week. “He said it. … There’s no reason for him to believe that we don’t want him here. Economics usually decide these situations.”
The 27-year old is on a very cap friendly $2.5 million per year deal, one that he signed in 2014.
“Right now, I think we’re in a good place. We do have all summer long. We do have the year. I’m hoping it’ll have a favorable outcome. … I always have a few balls up in the air, but to me, arguably this is the most important one right now because it’s involving the most dollars. It doesn’t allow you to have the flexibility to get into other things until you get this situation straightened away.”