- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: The Bruins may not be able sign Zane McIntrye until July 1st, though it is expected to get done. He could test free agency if he wanted too.The Avalanche will be looking for a defensive partner for Erik Johnson.The Sharks have asked permission to speak with Randy Carlyle. They have interviewed Dan Bylsma, Pete DeBoer and Dave Lowry.
Wouldn’t be surprised if the Canadiens are one of the teams interested in Kerby Rychel. The Blue Jackets are looking for defensemen.
- Aaron Portzline: “Yes, I’ve seen @FriedgeHNIC reports regarding the #CBJ dangling prospect forward Kerby Rychel as part of a package to land a defenseman. @FriedgeHNIC is the gold standard in #NHL reporting, so of course it’s true. It’s not a surprise. While Wennberg / Dano were given long looks this season, in part due to injury, Rychel got only sniffs at the #NHL level. Not sure two parties are enthralled w each other at this point. Could definitely see him moving this summer. And, yes, I think he’s going to be a very good #NHL player somwhere soon.”
- Zdenek Janda: Jaromir Jagr confirmed that he would like to play in the NHL for two more seasons.
- Dennis Bernstein: Can see the Kings and RFA Tyler Toffoli getting a new contract done before July 1st.
- Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post: The Capitals currently have 14 players signed for next season at just under $50 million. They’ll have about $20 million to sign 8-9 players, including RFAs Braden Holtby, Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nate Schmidt. GM Brian MacLellan hopes to be able to re-sign UFA Jay Beagle.
“I think it’ll sort itself out,” MacLellan said. “I think we have some RFAs that we really like and we want to bring them back. We’ll work through it. I think we can get reasonable contracts on all of them, and then we’ll make decisions based on where the cap ends up and what amount of money we have left over after that, and how we want to invest it.”
They will wait-and-see with UFAs Eric Fehr, Joel Ward and Mike Green. On Green, who wouldn’t be higher then their 5th defenseman.
“It’s probably going to be a little complicated,” MacLellan said. “There’s a lot of moving parts around that. The best thing I think we can do is keep in communication, tell him what we’re thinking, and he can tell us what he’s thinking, and if it works out, that’d be great, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
