- TSNs Insider Trading: LeBrun: the salary cap could still go up a couple million next season.Dreger: the Oilers are still looking for a center and could have to look for goaltending help if it doesn’t improve.Dreger: the Senators are getting some interest in Colin Greening and are only looking for a fourth or fifth round draft pick for him.
LeBrun: Sergei Bobrovsky rejected a six-year contract extension offer from the Blue Jackets during training camp and things could get nasty. He could get offers from the KHL.
- Louis Jean: Sources saying that a decision on Daniel Alfredsson’s future will likely come down before the start of December. If he doesn’t skate with the Red Wings in the next week or so, Alfredsson will likely retire.
- Pierre LeBrun: Contract extension talks between the Kings and Alec Martinez are progressing well and moving in the right direction.
- Nichols on Hockey: Elliotte Friedman on SportsNet 960 on the Avalanche.
“Well, I think they’re in on almost every defenseman who might be available. Like, I know at the beginning of the year when Leddy was available they were a team chasing him. I’ve been told, ‘You name a defenseman, they’re in on it.’ So I think they do look at it like they need blueline help.
- Nichols on Hockey: Bob McKenzie on TSN 1040 on Mike Richards and the Kings.
“It’s not because of anything in the short term of how he’s played, other than the reality is with Kopitar as the No. 1 center, and Jeff Carter moving to center full-time now on ‘That 70s Line’ with Toffoli and Pearson, and Jarret Stoll in the mix… At $5.75 million, even though he still plays on the power play, still kills penalties, and can be a really useful player for them – they’ve got problems beyond the cap hell they’re in because of the Slava Voynov situation.
“They’ve got to sign Alec Martinez to a new contract. They’ve got to sign Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson to new contracts. So I think they’re looking for some flexibility and seeing what the options are vis-à-vis a trade.
“Now having said that, at a $5.75 million cap hit, where he actually makes more than that next year or the year after, and he’s got one of those back-diving contracts, so there’s a potential cap recapture penalty in place, and it’s higher if you trade him – all of those things probably work against a Mike Richards trade. But it’s at least on the table as something they are looking at because of the situation they find themselves in.”