- Joey Johnston of the Tampa Tribune: Brad Richards never wanted to leave Tampa, and would love to return.
“I don’t know what they’re thinking as an organization,” said Richards, 31, who has played for the Dallas Stars since the Lightning shipped him away a few hours before the 2008 trade deadline. “If they’re going to talk to me, I’d definitely be interested.”
“Obviously, fitting in with Tampa wouldn’t be an issue because of my history here,” Richards said. “In this salary-cap world, you have to be aware of each organization’s dynamics. Maybe you couldn’t get top dollar (in Tampa) that you might get somewhere else, but you consider other things.
“I’ve got friends and people I play golf with who constantly hammer me about coming back to Tampa. Even if I tried, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. So yes, it’s there. I’d love to see it progress. But what’s going to happen? Who knows?”
- Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News: The Dallas Stars asked Brad Richards if he would waive his no trade clause, but he said no at the advice of his agent.
“He asked in late May, and it was not a situation that was good for us, and so we said no,” Morris said of Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk. “He hasn’t asked again, but he understands that we would have to be aware of the situation and it would have to be a situation that would be one where we can see some benefit.”
The teams interested in Richards (Leafs, Rangers, Kings, possibly the Sabres and Blue Jackets ) don’t have to deal with salary cap issues. With the Flyers acquiring Bryzgalov with the hope of signing him, they will need the time before July 1st to make some other moves to fit him in under the cap.
- Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic: It’s clear that Ilya Bryzgalov didn’t want to return to the Coyotes. He knew they wouldn’t be able to afford the $7 million he wants. With their payroll likely to be around $50 million next year, if they gave Bryzgalov big money they wouldn’t be able to re-sign some of their free agents, including Keith Yandle. Coyotes GM Don Maloney has talked about adding a goalie through trade or free agency. Marty Turco could be a stop gap goalie for them.
- Pierre LeBrun via twitter: Ilya Bryzgalov’s contract demands with the Phoenix Coyotes were off the charts according to a source.
- Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: If the Flyers are able to come to terms with Ilya Bryzgalov they might have to deal Matt Carle or Jeff Carter, and possibly not re-signing Ville Leino.
“We still have intentions of trying to re-sign Ville . . . but you can only do so much,” Holmgren said. “We’re trying to have the best team available. We’ll see what we can do.”
Bryzgalov is reportedly looking for a 4-5 year deal worth at least $5 million. The Flyers currently have 18 players signed for almost $59 million for next year.
- Chris Johnston in the Globe and Mail: Oilers GM Steve Tambellini is open to trading the 1st overall pick in this year’s draft. He has had discussions with some teams about a possible trade.
“I’ve had a few calls (from) people kicking the tires of how they can help me make the Oilers a better team,” Tambellini said Wednesday after the NHL’s GMs meeting. “For me to move the No. 1 pick it would have to be obviously something exceptional. Because this is a huge building block again for us.
“These couple years here are exactly the time that we have to put pieces in place that are going to be part of the Oilers success for a long time. It would have to be something quite sweet.”
- Jesse Spector of the NY Daily News: The NY Rangers are planning on buying out the last season of Chris Drury’s contract. Buying Drury out will save the team $3.3 million against the cap this year, $1.6 million next year. They also are likely to buy out Wojtek Wolski, saving another $3.3 million next year, $666,667 in 2012-12. The Rangers have 7 restricted free agents, most notably Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky.
- Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun: Free agent Andrew Ladd is a top priority of Winnipeg’s new GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. “Andrew’s going to be one of my first phone calls,” new GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said, Wednesday. “He is a big, big piece of this franchise.”
- Adam L Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times: Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman said there are no deals imminent with Chris Campoli, Michael Frolik, Viktor Stalberg, and Troy Brouwer. Bowman also added that he’s OK with going into the season with Corey Crawford and Alexander Salak in net. He also expects trade talks to heat up after the Stanley Cup.
- Chris Johnston in the Globe and Mail: Senators GM Bryan Murray is getting closer to making a decision on their new coach. “I just have to have a second interview with two or three of them and then make a decision.” Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk hopes to have his new coach soon. “It’s going well, we’ve met some impressive candidates,” said Nieuwendyk. “Ideally, I’d like to have it done before the draft. But certainly before free agency (opens July 1).” Wild GM Chuck Fletcher is thinking along the same lines as Nieuwendyk. “In a perfect world, you have guy in case you make a trade at the draft or for free agency he may have insight into a player,” said Fletcher. “He might have a player he absolutely doesn’t like or a style of player that he prefers. So if you’re filling out a certain role on your third or fourth line — let’s be honest, if the coach has a strong opinion on something I’d rather go with that player.”