- Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Penguins GM Jim Rutherford on free agency.
“There aren’t as many top-end guys, what you would call the ‘impact guys,’ ” Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said. “But there are still good players who are going to get good contracts and are going to help teams.”
The Penguins involvement in free agency will depend on what they do leading up to Wednesday.
“It depends what we do leading up to July 1,” Rutherford said.
“There may be somebody in there who we could consider using in the top six,” he said. “But it’s not necessarily a guy who has played in the top six over his career.”
Rutherford could re-sign some of their nine UFAs, but that won’t include Craig Adams. Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff are not expected to return.
- Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review: Only GM Jim Rutherford knows the winger he wants – he can’t just settle for any winger. Options could be TJ Oshie, Phil Kessel, Patrick Sharp, Jiri Hudler, Jeff Skinner or Nail Yakupov – all had been linked to the Penguins at the draft.
- Rich Chere of NJ.com: The trade for Kyle Palmieri filled one hole for the Devils.
“It’s one less spot to fill. Kyle really fills a need for us on the right side,” Shero told NJ Advance Media. “You can’t build your team through free agency. And Kyle is more than a one-year player, so that’s important moving forward.”
Chere wonders if they will look at right wingers Michael Frolik, Jay Beagle or Martin St. Louis.
“We’ll see in terms of what is out there and whether it makes sense for us,” Shero said. “If it’s a (longer) term guy, hopefully it’s the right person and a guy we feel really comfortable with. Or, maybe it’s just a one-year value type of free agent we’re looking for.”
- Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Red Wings Pavel Datsyuk is expected to be out until November after having surgery to repair ruptured tendons last Friday. It’s now unlikely that the Wings will buy out Stephen Weiss. If the Wings buy out Weiss, they would drop his cap number to $1 million for this year, then $1 million, $2.5 million and three years of $1.67 million.