- Elliotte Friedman via twitter: The upper limit for the salary cap will be $70.2 million.
- Andy Strickland of True Hockey: The Blues have extended head coach Ken Hitchcock through the 2013-14 season. They are close to re-signing forward Scott Nichol. Things have gone quiet with Jamie Langenbrunner, and it’s not as likely that he’ll be re-signed as it once was.
- Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News: Shane Doan might be a good pickup for the Stars. If they Stars did bring Doan in, it may mean they are seriously shopping Brenden Morrow.
- Sportsnet: Brian Burke on his free agency plans:
“With the salary cap and the new collective bargaining agreement that’s coming up, I don’t know what our plans are for filling out our roster,” Burke said. “Free agency starts on July 1, it’s a really thin group.
“Teams are locking all these quality players up now, so the group that is getting to the market is thin, it’s shallow. There are really two high-end players and that’s about it, (Nashville defenceman) Ryan Suter and (New Jersey forward) Zach Parise.
“I don’t think we are going to be in on either one of them,” Burke said.
- Chuck Gormley of CSN Washington: Gormley wonders if the hiring of Adam Oates could help the Capitals lure a free agent like Zach Parise. Parise could be looking for something in the $9 million range. The Caps are currently about $20.9 million under the cap with 17 players signed. One problem is that the Capitals could use a scorer from the right side, Parise plays and shoots left. If the price is too high for Parise, maybe the Capitals would be interested in trading for right winger Bobby Ryan.
- Mike Heika via twitter: Heika wonders if the Stars could be interested in Jay Bouwmeester. 2 years at $6.6 million per season doesn’t sound as bad.
- John Shannon via twitter: Source confirms that the NHL and Glendale have extended an agreement for an extra 30 days to work out various issues.
- Will DePaoli via twitter: Panthers pending UFA defenseman Jason Garrison will likely command up to $5.5-$6 million on the open market.
- Kevin Paul Dupont via twitter: Dupont estimates Tuukka Rask will be a 3 year deal worth approximately $13 million from the Bruins.
- Bruce Garrioch via twitter: Garrioch expects Senators defenseman Matt Carkner to test the UFA market. Carkner turned down a 1 year deal from the Sens.