- Hope Smoke: Bob McKenzie: “Stastny got an offer from the Avs that is less than his current deal.” … “Hasn’t been any dialogue between Avs & Stastny but I believe that will change soon. The ball is in Stastny’s court” … “Stastny is prepared, & he said so publicly, that he’ll take a hometown discount. Likes playing with Landeskog/MacKinnon”
- Adrian Dater of the Denver Post: Filing for salary arbitration didn’t sit well with Ryan O’Reilly’s agent, Pat Morris.
“We had some warning that the arb might be taken advantage of. It’s within the CBA. Ryan understands that. He also understands that it’s unique, that no player has been arbed for a pay cut that is of his stature.”
The Avs are looking for a pay cut from his $6.5 million salary. His salary cap hit was $5 million, which is where the Avalanche see the starting point at.
Morris continued,
“Ryan is unrestricted in two years, and under the model now, given that Colorado has arbed him, short-term looks like what the future is for Ryan going forward, possibly year to year or for the next two years….some people might look a little sideways that a team has done that to a special player, but they certainly have the business right to do that and Ryan is mature, but there’s a history a little bit on the previous contract and Ryan is a stubborn young man.”
Dater thinks the Avalanche will now try to trade O’Reilly, and it could happen soon. Teams can talk to restricted free agents starting June 25th, but they can’t negotiate actual numbers. Offer sheets can be accepted from July 1st to 5th. O’Reilly could bring in a nice return, potentially a stud defenseman which they need.
- Will DePaoli of Inside Pittsburgh Sports: Hurricanes GM Ron Francis’s top priority is to get Cam Ward’s $6.3 million cap hit off their books. He has two years left on his deal totaling $13.5 million. Rumors that they are willing to eat about $4 to $5 million of his salary. Source says Flames president Brian Burke is a big fan of Ward, but Ward has a no-trade clause that could complicate things. The Senators have shown interest in James Neal.
- John Shannon: Sounding like the second outdoor game next year could be in the Bay Area at either AT&T or the new Levi’s Stadium. Kevin Kurz: The League could be leaning towards Levi’s Stadium with the Sharks hosting the Kings.
- Josh Cooper: Predators GM David Poile said they have identified “not a lot” of free agents targets.
- Mark Spector: Hearing that Ben Eager has signed a deal in the KHL.