On the Minnesota Wild, Washington Capitals, Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Dadonov and Anton Belov …
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: Minnesota Wild forward Nino Niederreiter is drawing the interest of some teams as they look at the Wild’s cap/expansion situation. Teams are seeing if he’s available. He’s arbitration eligible and will want more than the $2.7 million he made this past season. They also need to re-sign forward Mikael Granlund. A NHL executive:
“It may not be their first choice, but if you make it worth their while, it’s possible.”
All GM Chuck Fletcher would say is,
“We are actively listening… on everything.”
Wild defenseman Matt Dumba has also had his name come up.
Barry Trotz has one year left on his contract as head coach of the Washington Capitals and his position isn’t secure. One GM upon hearing that Trotz could be on the hot seat, texted, “This league is a joke if real.”
wonders if Leon Draisaitl agent, Mike Liut, will look for Vladimir Tarasenko numbers (eight years and $60 million) on his next contract. Liut is also Tarasenko’s agent.
The New York Islanders may be worried about losing Calvin de Haan to expansion. The Detroit Red Wings could be a team that would be interested in de Haan.
Could see the Detroit Red Wings or Tampa Bay Lightning trying to move up in the draft, possibly to No. 3, to select defenseman Miro Hesikanen.
Arthur Staple reported earlier that the Islanders could hire Luke Richardson to be apart of their coaching staff, and hearing Kelly Buchberger will join head coach Doug Weight as well.
Wonder if the Islanders will try to acquire Ilya Kovalchuk. Russian sources think Kovalchuk is interested in the Rangers, but not sure on the Rangers level of interest and if they could even fit him in. The Panthers may have already inquired about Kovalchuk.
Panthers GM Dale Tallon is taking his time with naming a new head coach. He may still want to talk with assistants that are still in the playoffs: Marc Crawford, Phil Housley and Paul McLean. Red Wings assistant John Torchetti is another option.
Newly hired Sabres GM Jason Botterill is able to hire people from the Penguins as long as it’s a promotion and not a lateral move.
Some teams have heard that Russian Evgeni Dadonov has decided to join Vadim Shipachyov in Vegas while other teams have heard he’s still undecided.
Russian defenseman Anton Belov is considering a NHL return but it wouldn’t be until after next season.