- Terry Frei of the Denver Post: Avs Ryan O’Reilly is relieved the deadline has past and that Joe Sakic may be willing to work out a contract extension in the summer.
“It’s a relief, too,” O’Reilly said of Sakic’s comments. “You never know what’s going to happen, what to expect, so by him saying that, it puts a little confidence going forward that I’m part of the picture.”
O’Reilly is scheduled to becomes a UFA at the end of next season.
- Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider: Mike Richards may join the Kings at some point this season, but his return is not imminent. The Kings will have lots of work to do with their free agents. RFAs include Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli, Martin Jones, Andy Andreoff and Nick Shore. UFAs include Jarret Stoll, Justin Williams, Robyn Regehr, Andrej Sekera and Jamie McBain. Hockey ops saying that Pearson and Jones may be the next two contracts to get done. There doesn’t appear to be any concerns over a Toffoli extension, but it just may take some time.
- The Fourth Period: Two sources saying the Hurricanes were willing to retain as much as 50 percent of Alexander Semin’s contract in a trade, depending on the structure of it. It’s unclear on what the Hurricanes will do with Semin in the offseason. They can continue to try and trade him or possibly buy him out.
- Bill Daly saying the NHL is investigating potential ownership bids in both Vegas and Seattle to see if they’re viable NHL markets, and also weighs the pros and cons of another team in Southern Ontario.