On the Washington Capitals …
JJ Regan: GM Brian MacLellan said that he expects Ilya Samsonov to start in Hershey (AHL) next year.
Tarik El-Bashir: MacLelland said he’s met with pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Michal Kempny and told him that he wants to re-sign him. Kempny has said he loves it in Washington.
Samantha Pell of the Washington Post: Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said that they look at trading backup goaltender this offseason. Grubauer is a pending RFA and could be looking for a raise from his $1.5 million salary. Grubauer and MacLellan haven’t had any formal talks.
“For Gruby, I think he wants to be a No. 1,” MacLellan said, expressing his desire to keep Grubauer but wanting to do what is best for the netminder. “It is just a personal thing for Gruby. I would love to have Gruby back. We’ve got two really good goaltenders. I just think he is at the point where he wants his own team and he wants to be the guy that is running the show for his own team and I respect that.”
Teams that could be interested in Grubauer include the New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames.
Tarik El-Bashir of NBC Sports Washington: GM MacLellan said that he expects to start some contract extension talks with pending UFA defenseman John Carlson in the next few days and is hopeful they can get a deal done.
“We’re going to be limited to a certain extent to what we can offer,” MacLellan said. “But hopefully we can find a spot that satisfies both parties.”
Carlson could be looking to double his $4 million salary. He’d like to stay but knows it’s a business.
“I love it here and all that,” he said. “I want to stay here, but there’s more to it than that.”