Chris Johnston of Sportsnet: The Ottawa Senators went all in when they traded for Matt Duchene before last season. They are now going to have to consider trading him before the deadline if he doesn’t plan on re-signing with them.
Mark Stone is eligible to sign an extension after January 1st. If Stone re-signs, there is a better chance that Duchene does too.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues heading in opposite directions, it does make some sense to see if there is any fit.
The Anaheim Ducks are continuing to look for more scoring.
The Carolina Hurricanes would like to add a top-six forward.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have some salary cap issues, but GM Jim Rutherford won’t be sitting still.
The Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues could all use a refresh and have some assets that they could move.
The Boston Bruins could use some offensive help.
Elliotte Friedman reported the Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers are exploring the trade market as well.
“Teams are starting to make deals earlier in the year now,” Ducks GM Bob Murray told reporters on Saturday. “Things were really quiet because of the Toronto-Nylander situation. Since that has been put to bed, there has been a lot more chatter since that time.”
Pending restricted free agents, Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine will be looking at a large payday and price may be going up. By not signing them to extensions in the offseason, agents will now be going off an $83 million salary cap ceiling and not the current $79.5 million.
Both Matthews and Laine could be targeted for offer sheets, but they may not willing to sign one. It would be hard for either to pass up an offer of seven years at say $15 million per though.
There is some talk that the Flyers could be interested in Sergei Bobrovsky if he becomes a free agent on July 1st.
Tom Dougherty of NBC Sports: Philadelphia Flyers goaltenders Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth are pending UFAs and likely won’t be back. They need an option until Carter Hart is ready.
Chris Johnston of Sportsnet mentioned about the Flyers potential interest in Sergei Bobrovsky if he goes to the open market this offseason.
Bobrovsky could be looking for Carey Price type money – $10.5 million per.
He would definitely help the Flyers, but the term may be an issue. Would a five-year deal work for both sides?
