Phil Kessel should be an option for the Vegas Golden Knights
Owen Krepps of Vegas Hockey Now: Offseason moves have created a hole on the wing for the Vegas Golden Knights. They could look move Nicolas Roy or Nolan Patrick to the wing.
They should turn to the free agent market for a winger to play in their top-six.
One target should be two-time Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel. He only scored eight goals last season but he did have 44 assists.
Kessel has been linked to the Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
He’s not the fastest skater but can produce on the powerplay and is still a treat to score. Despite his age, he doesn’t miss games. He has Cup experience and it wouldn’t cost much to sign him.
There have been questions about his effort level and passion. His consecutive game streak could become an issue as it did for the Philadelphia Flyers and Keith Yandle last year. Kessel is only seven games behind Yandle.
The Bruins just signed Patrice Bergeron but it’s quiet on some other fronts
Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe: Things are still quiet with regards to the Boston Bruins re-signing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, or an extension for David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman.
- Renaud Lavoie: The Bruins re-signed forward Patrice Bergeron to a one-year contract with a $1.5 million salary and a $1 million signing bonus. He’ll get a $2.5 million bonus for playing 10 games. He has a no-movement clause.
- Joe Haggerty: The Bruins sign David Krejci to a one-year contract with a $1 million salary and potentially $2 million on performance bonuses.
- Puck Pedia: The Bruins have $1.3 million in projected salary cap space after the Bergeron and Krejci contracts with 23 players under contract – 13 forwards, eight defense, and two goaltenders. They now have $2.65 in potential bonuses.
Pavel Zacha has an arbitration hearing scheduled for Thursday.
An extension for the 26-year-old Pastrnak is their biggest pending issue. An eight-year extension won’t come cheap. His goal scoring has him in a group that averages $10.5 million per season and he could be in the $11 million range. If the Bruins won’t go that high, someone will.
Artemi Panarin is a comparable and he signed a seven-year deal in 2019 as a 27-year-old for $11.64 million per.
The Bruins currently have in cap space and it won’t be easy to fit in Zacha, especially if Zacha comes in around $3.5 million.
They could possibly buy out someone – Craig Smith or Nick Foligno.
Swayman is in the last year of his deal and could be in the $2 million to $5 million range depending on term.