On the Washington Capitals …
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: The Capitals need to re-sign pending restricted free agent Marcus Johansson, but only if they can do it at a reasonable rate.
Mike Richards and Jason Chimera should not be brought back, replacing with someone younger and faster.
Dmitri Orlov (RFA) will need a raise. They should let Mike Weber leave as a free agent. They should look at what it would take for Canucks pending UFA Dan Hamhuis.
A more difficult offseason will likely be next year when T.J. Oshie, Justin Williams, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Karl Alzner and Andre Burakovsky will all be looking for new deals.
On the New York Islanders …
Arthur Staple of Newsday: Islanders GM Garth Snow will “leave no stone unturned” as they look to become a Stanley Cup contender. Snow will look for ways to re-sign Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin.
“That’s the challenge for us,” Snow said. “We need to devise a way to keep all three. Whether that can happen, I can’t answer that right now. We want to maintain the positive strides we’ve made in the recent past and take that step to the next level.”
Snow wouldn’t say much with regards to which area is his main focus as it’s still early to know which players could be on the trade market and who will make it to free agency.
“Whether a winger for John (Tavares), the addition of a goalie, upgrading our defense, we leave no stone unturned to improve our club,” Snow said. “I’m not going to get into specific positions, those opportunities will unfold here, especially leading up to the draft.”
On the Arizona Coyotes …
Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic: Coyotes GM John Chayka plans on being aggressive this offseason to improve their roster.
“We are picking seventh (at the draft) for a reason, and that’s not good enough,” Chayka said. “So we’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to be active to pursue as many opportunities as we can to improve our group, our team, and put the best group on the ice moving forward.”
They won’t be giving up the long-term outlook to improve in the short-term. Chayka will focus on improving their blueline.
