On the New York Rangers …
Craig Custance of ESPN: Looking at the New York Rangers offseason priorities.
- Sign pending UFA Keith Yandle – Though they have suggested that they may not have the cap room, it is possible. The Rangers could look at trading Dan Girardi or Marc Staal, though it won’t be easy to do. Rick Nash could be another option.
- Don’t re-sign Eric Staal – He didn’t work out in New York with only three goals in 20 regular season and no points in five playoff games.
- Re-sign J.T. Miller and their other RFAs – Miller will be getting a big raise from his $874,000 salary. Chris Kreider, Dylan McIlrath and Kevin Hayes are other RFAs for the Rangers.
On the Los Angeles Kings …
Craig Custance of ESPN: Looking at the Los Angeles Kings offseason priorities.
- Re-sign Milan Lucic – The Kings gave up Martin Jones and a first round pick for Lucic. He’s said he wants to stay. The Kings don’t have a lot of cap space. Anze Kopitar’s new deal kicks in next year. Trevor Lewis is a free agent and they need to improve their blueline.
- Trade Dustin Brown – His $5.875 million salary cap hit through 2021-22 is an albatross. The Kings would have to keep 50 percent of his salary.
- Add depth to their blueline – Once Alec Martinez was injured, they didn’t have the depth. Money will be tight, but like Chicago, some players will take less to play for a winner.
Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider: Vincent Lecavalier confirmed that he still plans on retiring.
“Yeah, definitely still the plan,” he said, “…I haven’t really thought about it the last couple days. People are texting me, and I’m not even talking about it, but, yeah, it’s the same plan as when I first got here three months ago.”
Lecavalier on what he’s going to do now.
“I’m not sure what I want to do right now,” Lecavalier said. “To be honest, there are probably 10 guys from when we won the Cup that are now. I think they’re growing the game – Mathieu Garon, he didn’t win with us, but he played there after. I think there are 10 or 11 guys that I played with that are back there and growing that youth hockey, and I think that’s important.”