- Joe Haggerty of CSNNE: (mailbag) Cody Franson has talked to the Sabres about a two year deal, and he’s likely had talks with other teams about a shorter term contract. He’s likely holding out for a longer term deal and may be looking to see if a team gets desperate after a training camp injury. A long-term deal with the Bruins may not make sense due to some younger, cheaper defensemen in the system.
The Bruins could look to bring in some players on a PTO, possibly Michael Ryder,
Peter Budajand Marek Zidlicky if they don’t sign elsewhere.The Bruins could look move the salaries of Dennis Seidenberg or Chris Kelly if the right deal comes along. Haggerty would be hesitant to move Seidenberg unless they are able to then add an impact defenseman with the extra cap space. Loui Eriksson will likely be staying put at this point.David Schlemko could be a PTO candidate.
With the Bruins ending up with two first round picks, a blue chip prospect, and a college prospect for Milan Lucic, that would likely be the in the area of what it would cost to trade for Jets Dustin Byfuglien. He’d be an intriguing fit in Boston, but would be a potentially expensive rental.
- Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News: With the Stars adding Stephen Johns in the Patrick Sharp deal earlier this offseason, it gives GM Jim Nill the flexibility to potentially trade the expiring contracts of Jason Demers, Alex Goligoski or Jordie Benn.
There is a chance that the 31-year old goalie tandem of Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen doesn’t work, and they’ll need to eat the salary of one of them down the road.
The Stars currently have about $2.3 million in cap space, and will clear about $11 million off their cap next year if they don’t bring back some free agents – Goligoski, Demers, Travis Moen, Vern Fiddler and Patrick Eaves.
- Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area: Joe Thornton will likely be on the top line with Joe Pavelski, and it will be interesting to see how he fits in with new head coach Peter DeBoer. Thornton has made it clear that he hasn’t been interested in playing elsewhere, but if the Sharks are out of the playoff race at the deadline, would he consider moving on to Stanley Cup contender? If the Sharks are out of it, they’ll be looking to shed some veterans.