Wild could trade Spurgeon this season
Michael Russo of The Athletic: (mailbag) Believe that at this point in time there is a better chance that the Minnesota Wild trade defenseman Jared Spurgeon than sign him to an extension. He’ll be 30-years old soon and looking for big money on a long-term deal.
If the Wild are out of the playoff race at the deadline they could look to move Spurgeon and Mikko Koivu. Both are pending UFAs.
Penguins in no rush to find an assistant GM replacement
Mike DeFabo: Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said he has an informal list of assistant GM candidates to replace Bill Guerin. Rutherford is not in a rush to fill the position: “I probably will wait for a period of time – maybe even until the end of this coming season.”
Boeser’s camp looking for $7 million per
Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Sun: The Vancouver Canucks and Brock Boeser‘s camp continue to talk. They do have some comparables, but one is also without a contract – Timo Meier and Kyle Connor.
“Those are some of the names we’ve used,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning said of Meier and Connor comparisons. “They (Boeser’s camp) have been reasonable and we’re continuing to talk to get to some common ground. I’m hopeful to get something done before camp, but we’re not there yet.”
Meier signed a four-year, $24 million deal earlier this offseason, Connor remains unsigned. Boeser’s agent Ben Hankinson is looking for four years at $7 million per.
Meier’s deal escalates to $10 million in the final year. Benning may prefer a deal that decreases towards the end. The Canucks only have about $5 million in salary cap space at the moment but are able exceed the cap in the offseason.
“We’re looking at all of our options and are talking what long and short deals look like,” said Benning, knowing a longer deal would buy free-agency years on Boeser.