Rich Chere of NJ.com: Devils GM Ray Shero will likely invite at least one player to training camp on a tryout, but it won’t be either Scott Gomez or Steve Bernier.
“That’s not a direction I’m looking to go at this point. I think we made a decision back before the draft to let (Bernier) go to free agency and let him go in a different direction,” Shero told NJ Advance Media. “Obviously they haven’t signed anywhere yet, but I’m sure they are working on some things themselves.
“With Scott, as I’ve said before, it really wasn’t so much about him but more us going in a different direction and giving an opportunity to younger players. We drafted (Pavel) Zacha and I’ve talked about (Jacob) Josefson.”
There is still nothing to report with regards to Ryane Clowe’s health.
Ansar Khan of MLive: Jakub Kindl regressed the past two seasons under Mike Babcock and appeared to lose confidence in himself. New coach Jeff Blashill seems to be willing to give him a fair shot. It won’t be easy for Kindl to make the Wings with their top six of Niklas Kronwall-Jonathan Ericsson, Danny DeKeyser-Mike Green and Brendan Smith-Kyle Quincey. Youngersters Alexey Marchenko, Xavier Ouellet, Nick Jensen, and Ryan Sproul will only be waiver exempt for one more season, so Kindl’s future with the Wings could be in doubt.
Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun: Flames GM Brad Treliving after they signed defenseman Mark Giordano to a six-year contract extension with a $6.75 million salary cap hit.
“I do think Mark Giordano on the open market can make more than what Mark Giordano signed for here with us,” Treliving said. “Absolutely he did a good deal for himself, but I also think he was very cognizant of his team here and making sure we give ourselves the best chance moving forward to have success.”
The deal comes with a full no-trade clause for the first four years, and a limited no-trade clause for the final two years.
The Flames also have Dougie Hamilton locked up for the next six years and TJ Brodie for the next five. Both Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau will be RFAs after this season.
