On some pending free agents …
Craig Custance of ESPN: The Columbus Blue Jackets and Seth Jones are talking about a new contract, and are in the same ballpark on what a deal could look like. A deal should come together sooner than later.
The Arizona Coyotes and Shane Doan are expected to talk later this week.
The Boston Bruins and Torey Krug have started talking, but a deal won’t be easy. Krug could get more than Jared Spurgeon’s four-year, $20.75 million deal.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Andrew Shaw have started talks, but the Blackhawks don’t have a lot of cap space. GM Stan Bowman told ESPNs Scott Powers that a deal won’t be finalize until after teams are given a concrete cap number. Other moves may need to be made before as well.
There have been no talks between the New Jersey Devils and Kyle Palmieri. GM Ray Shero is at the World Cup.
The Nashville Predators and Filip Forsberg haven’t had serious talks since September. It would make sense if they could get a deal done before the start of free agency so GM David Poile has a better idea of what he has to work with.
On the New York Rangers …
Pat Leonard of the NY Daily News: Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie will be looking for a raise from his $2.6 million cap hit, and according to reports, is available for trade.
The Rangers may not be able to re-sign Keith Yandle, and they would need a puck-moving defenseman.
Leonard thinks Kevin Shattenkirk would be a good defenseman for the Rangers (he’s from New Rochelle NY), and with a Rick Nash-Ken Hitchcock reunion a possibility.
On the Montreal Canadiens …
Marc Antoine Godin of La Presse: (google translate) There were reports last week that the Canadiens were interested in re-signing Mike Brown, but that is news to Brown’s agent.
“This is new to me,” exclaimed the agent Neil Abbott. “We have had no discussions with the Canadian. They have not called us and we did not call no more.
