Blues GM on pending UFAs Bozak and Hoffman
Lou Korac: St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong on pending UFA Tyler Bozak returning next season: “I haven’t got into on the minutiae on who’s coming back, not coming back. … Bozie’s a good pro and I’ve enjoyed him for three years, and if it works out, that would be great.”
Lou Korac: Blues GM Armstrong on pending UFA Mike Hoffman returning next season: “I could. I certainly want to sit down & talk to our entire staff. Mike is a goal scorer. I think he was certainly in the top portion of our team in points. When we needed goals, when our season was on the brink, I thought he stepped up & played.”
Keys to the offseason for the Florida Panthers
Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski: Taking a look at some of the offseason questions the Florida Panthers are facing.
Expansion draft decisions – For the last expansion draft the Panthers offered up Jonathan Marchessault so that the Vegas Golden Knights would select Reilly Smith. That didn’t end up well for them. Players likely to be left exposed include Patric Hornqvist, Mason Marchment, Gustav Forsling, Radko Gudas, Markus Nutivaara and Chris Driedger.
New contract for pending free agents – Sam Bennett has fit in nicely as their second-line center. Lucas Wallmark and Anthony Duclair are both RFAs who played with Aleksander Barkov. Pending UFAs include Alexander Wennberg, Nikita Gusev and Brandon Montour.
Keys to the offseason for the Pittsburgh Penguins
Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski: Taking a look at some of the offseason questions the Pittsburgh Penguins are facing. Forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are 33 and 34 years old, and their window is closing.
A roster shakeup? Malkin and Kris Letang will be entering the final year of their contracts and they’ll need to make decisions on both. Crosby seems to be the only untouchable. Malkin has a no-movement clause and controls his fate.
Expansion draft decisions – They’ll have some decisions upfront. There is Jason Zucker and his $5.5 million cap hit but could lose someone younger like Zach Aston-Reese, Jared McCann or maybe Kasperi Kapanen.
Start thinking long-term – They don’t have a first-round pick this year. GM Ron Hextall has a win-now mandate but they need to start looking to life without Crosby.
