- Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Chris Osgood will have a press conference today to announce his retirement from the NHL, and he’ll take a job within the organization. It was earlier thought that he would play next year, but that is not the case. Ty Conklin, Ray Emery and Marty Turco could be options as backups to Jimmy Howard.
- Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun: Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke is on holidays until next week, and no talks with Luke Schenn’s agent, Don Meehan, will begin until he returns. The Islanders, Predators, Avalanche and Coyotes are currently below the salary cap floor. The Predators still need to re-sign Shea Weber. Some remaining free agents are: Teemu Selanne, Vinny Prospal, Bryan McCabe, Nikolay Zherdev, Cory Stillman, Scott Hannan, Ray Emery, Sergei Samsonov, Alex Kovalev, Kyle Wellwood, JP Dumont, John Madden, Brent Sopel, Jack Hillen, Karlis Skrastins, Nick Boynton, Paul Mara, Ty Conklin, Marty Turco, and Pascal Leclaire.
- Eric Stephens of the OC Register: Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano has an arbitration hearing set for Thursday, but they could be getting close to signing a multi-year deal. Cogliano made a $1 million least year and recorded 35 points. Cogliano could fill the hole as their 3rd line center, but could also move up to the 2nd line center roll or possibly move to the wing.
- Mark Everson of the NY Post: Michel Therrien may be the backup plan for the NJ Devils coaching position if Lou Lamoriello can’t convince Jacques Lemaire to return next season.
- Dan Duggan of the Boston Herald: Re-signing Brad Marchand is a top priority for Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. There has been some progress made, and Marchand isn’t concerned.
“It’s a very busy time for everyone with the Cup and everything,” Marchand said. “We’re confident something is going to get done real soon. I don’t think either of us are worried. We know something is going to get done.
“They know I want to be here. I know they want me here.”
- Dmitry Chesnokov of Yahoo! Sports: SKA St. Petersburg decided not to extend Alexei Yashin’s contract, making him a free agent. Yashin’s agent Mark Gandler told Sergei Begishev of the Sovestsky Sport,
Is there an interest in Alexei from the NHL?
“We have already received one offer.”
From the Islanders?
“I will not discuss what the club is. We are considering the expediency of the offer.”
Gandler added:
“We will meet with Alexei this week for the first time. We will discuss everything. We are not in a hurry. At this moment we have not had any serious negotiations with any club. It would have been unreasonable to do that until we are sure that everything is good health wise. As far as the leagues are concerned, we will look at both sides .”
Chesnokov thinks it could be a negoiating ploy to get a better KHL deal, but if it’s true, “it could be the talk of the season.”