Written by @Dale_Lamontagne
- Harvey Fialkov of Sun Sentinel Sports: Jovanovski cleared waivers on Monday and the Florida Panthers used one of their two compliance buyouts on the final year of his contract. So the $4.125 million won’t count against their salary cap, leaving them with about $30 million, according to Capgeek.com, to spend on Tuesday during free-agency.With Jovanovski’s departure the Panthers have just two signed defensemen on the roster with one-way contracts, Brian Campbell and Colby Robak. The Panthers don’t expect to re-sign free-agent defenseman Tom Gilbert.The Panthers fully expect to re-sign restricted free-agent defensemen Erik Gudbranson, Dylan Olsen, and Dmitry Kulikov.
Both newly drafted No. 1 overall defenseman Ekblad and Tallon are confident he will be among the seven defensemen on the opening-night roster.A Panthers source confirmed that Brooks Orpik, a Stanley Cup champion, is high on the shopping list, and being left-handed on a predominantly right-handed blue line is a major plus.
A non-team source said the Panthers have expressed an interest in veteran right wing Radim Vrbata, who at 33 potted 20 goals last season for the Coyotes.
The Panthers are deep at center and left wing, but that won’t stop Tallon from pursuing an established two-way centerman such as Dave Bolland.
If Tallon can add a proven, high-scoring left wing such as Matt Moulson or Jussi Jokinen, he certainly won’t hesitate to pull the trigger.
The Panthers made qualifying offers to restricted free agents Garrett Wilson and Ryan Martindale.
- Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch: Contract negotiations between the Blue Jackets and Ryan Johansen are going nowhere, even after a meeting this weekend in Philadelphia between Johansen’s agent, Kurt Overhardt, and assistant general manager Bill Zito. The Blue Jackets want to sign Johansen to a two- or three-year contract, which would expire when he still was a restricted free agent.Johansen is likely to gain significant leverage on Tuesday, when free agency starts and Johansen, a restricted free agent, is free to negotiate with any team in the league. If Johansen reaches an agreement with another NHL team, he could sign an offer sheet that the Blue Jackets would have one week to match.
If the Jackets didn’t match an offer sheet, they would lose Johansen and be compensated through draft picks. Johansen’s contract is worth enough for multiple first-round draft picks.
- Arthur Staple of Newsday: Garth Snow has made plenty of calls during the five-day contact window but refuses to overpay or offer multiple contract years to any free agent who doesn’t fit into the Isles’ youth-centered group.The Islanders would like a top-four defenseman who can help on the power play and in the locker room and they would consider short-term solutions in a top-line wing and a depth forward.
Former Ranger Brad Richards, who was bought out last week, would be an intriguing addition to an Islanders team that could use his veteran savvy and power-play ability.
- Mark Lazerus of Sun-Times: The Hawks are about $710,000 below the $69 million salary cap and have 21 players under contract. That doesn’t include Teuvo Teravainen, Stephen Johns, Adam Clendening or any other young players who might make a push for a roster spot out of training camp.Maybe 39-year-old Saku Koivu can hold down the fort at second-line center until Teravainen is ready, or Brad Richards.The idea of trading for Jason Spezza was tantalizing but ultimately infeasible.
- Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: The priority for the Detroit Red Wings when NHL free agency kicks off Tuesday remains Dan Boyle. General manager Ken Holland spoke to both Boyle’s camp. He also spoke with Matt Niskanen during the weekend draft in Philadelphia.The Wings will be offering Dan Boyle, who turns 38 in July, a two-year contract in the $11 million range. Ehrhoff is probably going to command $4.5-5.5 million, and term of 3-4 years, at least. The Wings do have room to add both, but they have just under $15 million in cap room, though roughly $6 million of that will go to re-signing restricted free agents Danny DeKeyser, Tomas Tatar and Riley Sheahan.
The other was Ed Jovanovski, a guy the Wings pursued when he was on the open market three years ago.
- Jeremy Rutherford of St. Louis Today: The Blues are still hopeful of making a trade with Ottawa for Jason Spezza. Talks with the Senators have moved at a snail’s pace, so it’s uncertain if and when a deal will be made.After reaching out to Paul Stastny during the free-agency window period last week, the Blues must now hold their breath until Tuesday.
