On Top 10 NHL Contract Buyout Candidates …
Lyle Richards of Bleacher Report: The buyout period starts on June 15th, or 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Final is over. Richards lists the top 10 players that could be bought out.
- Bryan Bickell – Chicago Blackhawks – one year, $4.5 million salary.
2. Dave Bolland – Florida Panthers – three years, $16.5 million in salary.
3. Alex Burrows – Vancouver Canucks – one year, $3 million salary.
4. R.J. Umberger – Philadelphia Flyers – one year, $4.5 million salary.
5. Thomas Vanek – Minnesota Wild – one year, $7.5 million salary.
6. Eric Nystrom – Nashville Predators – one year, $3 million salary.
7. Dennis Wideman – Calgary Flames – one year, $6 million salary.
8. Kari Lehtonen or Antti Niemi – Dallas Stars – Lethonen two years, $11 million salary. Niemi – two years, $9 million salary.
9. Fedor Tyutin – Columbus Blue Jackets – two years, $8.75 million in salary.
10. Reto Berra – Colorado Avalanche – one year, $1.5 million salary.
On the Toronto Maple Leafs …
Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot: Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet 960 on if the Toronto Maple Leafs would/could attempt to unite Mitch Marner with his London Knights linemates Christian Dvorak (ARI) and Matthew Tkachuk (2016 draft).
“It’s funny, I was talking to a couple of scouts who were out there, and they were telling me they were having a conversation over dinner – ‘Would Toronto ever consider trying to get all three of those guys?’ They’ve already got one, they’ve got Marner. Arizona has Dvorak. They could draft Tkachuk.
“Again, I’m stressing I’m not saying Toronto has any interest in doing this, but I’m saying they were telling me that there was a bit of talk among scouts and executives there – if you were Toronto, would that be something that you would try and pull off. You would make a deal with Arizona to get Dvorak, and you put yourself in a position to get Tkachuk.
“Now, that probably means giving up Matthews, so you might not do it, but they were sitting there watching that line in action at the Memorial Cup and saying, ‘Those guys could all be pros.’”