- Dhiren Mahiban of Pro Hockey Talk: There have been no contract talks between Kyle Brodziak and the Wild according to his agent. Brodziak will likely become a free agent on July 1st.
“No, nothing yet,” Broziak’s agent, Allain Roy, told PHT of contract talks with the Wild. “Minny is still having their meetings. No talks yet.”
- Mike Morreale of NHL.com: Mike Reilly on Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of things that go on, but I think it’s good to kind of see what else is out there. I’m still huge on Columbus. But to be in this situation is pretty unique.”
- Mike Morreale: Reilly’s agent Pat Brisson confirmed that they finished interviews with nine teams yesterday.
- Mike Chambers of the Denver Post: Talk is that the Avalanche are negotiating with Derek Ryan on a two-way contract. The Maple Leafs and Capitals are still in the mix for Ryan. The 28-year old, 5 foot 10 center led the Swedish Hockey League in scoring last season with 60 points in 55 games.
- News 1130 Sports: Ted Nolan is no longer a candidate for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants head coaching position. Hearing that Ryan McGill is very high on their finalist list.
- Jason Mackey: Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said they have granted the Devils permission to speak with coach Alain Nasreddine to work on John Hynes’ staff. If the Devils hire Nasreddine, the Penguins won’t get compensation.
- Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot: Elliotte Friedman on the Blackhawks and offer sheets to Brandon Saad and Marcus Kruger. They’d match any offer sheet for Saad, but Kruger may be a different story.
“Yes, I would agree that if it happens to Kruger I think they’d probably let him walk. Stan Bowman was quoted last week as telling one of the reporters in Chicago, ‘We’re going to get Saad signed.’ So that says to me that they’ve got pretty far down the road where they kind of know what they’re talking about.
“I did a game in Chicago in February and I sat down with Bowman at the morning skate that day. We talked about the cap issue and the No. 1 thing he talked about was Saad and he knew that was what he had to work around to make sure he got done.
“So that says to me he’s been working on it very quietly and that quote last week is pretty bold for him. So I’m guessing with Saad the Blackhawks have done a lot of work there and they know he’s the guy they’ve got to keep.
“I think they like Kruger a lot, but I do agree with you. If they get an offer sheet his way, they probably take the draft picks.”