On the Boston Bruins …
DJ Bean of WEEI: Zdeno Chara may be better served on a second pairing on a Cup contender, but unless there are some big changes this offseason, that is unlikely to happen in Boston next season. With the state of the Bruins blueline, Chara is a No. 1 guy who played over 24 minutes a night this past season. Chara carries a $6.91 million cap hit next year, $4 million the following year.
When asked if he would use his no-movement clause to reject a potential trade, Chara said:
“I don’t know,” he eventually responded. “My goal is to stay here and do whatever I can to help this team to win. It could happen. I’m going to have to wait and see, but Boston is in my heart. I do whatever I can. I sweat blood for this team.”
The Bruins might try to find a team that would trade for Dennis Seidenberg and his $4 million cap hit for the next two seasons. The Bruins might have to retain at least a million in salary to find a willing team.
The Bruins could also look at moving Jimmy Hayes – two years and $2.3 million – and they might have to retain salary in that deal as well.
On the Arizona Coyotes …
Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic: The Coyotes have 10 players under contract for next season, including three centers – Martin Hanzal, Antoine Vermette and Brad Richardson.
They could look to re-sign center Boyd Gordon, acquire a center through trade or free agency, or hope that Dylan Strome or Christian Dvorak can make the team out of camp.
Contract talks for RFA Tobias Rieder began during the season.
It’s unclear if the Coyotes want to bring back Alex Tanguay, who was acquired at the trade deadline.
“I can help with the young guys, so we’ll see how everything plays out,” Tanguay said. “It’s been a fun experience, and I’ve got nothing but good things to say.”
The Coyotes are still waiting for Shane Doan’s decision on whether he’ll play next season or retire.
They could go the trade route to bring in more scoring from the wing.
The Coyotes only have two defenseman under contract – Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Zbynek Michalek. Nicklas Grossmann is a pending UFA.
“I like it here. I would love to stick around,” Grossmann said. “So we’ll see what the plan’s going to be.”
They may have to go the trade or free agent route to improve their blueline.
On the College free agent Drake Caggiula …
Dave Isaac: Drake Caggiula met with his old coach and Flyers GM Ron Hextall yesterday morning.
Bruce Garrioch: The Senators are one of five teams on Caggiula’s list.
