- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Senators GM Bryan Murray is still looking to add a top-nine forward as training camp nears. Sources saying available forwards at the moment include Alexander Semin ($7 million), Damien Brunner ($2.5 million), Drew Stafford ($4 million) and Chris Stewart ($4.15 million). Return for any of the four may not be a lot since their teams may be happy just to move their contracts.
“Making a trade at this time of year is always tricky because teams are usually happy with what they’ve got,” said a league executive last week.
“Nobody has lost a game yet. They’ve spent the summer shaping their team and everybody is excited going into camp. Dealing is pretty difficult.”
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: There haven’t been contract extension talks between the Senators and defenseman Marc Methot in at least the past two weeks. Methot will make $3 million this year and is thought to be looking for a deal similar to Brooks Orpik, five years at $5.5 million per. The Senators appear to be fine with the five years, but the money seems to be the issue. If they aren’t able to get him re-signed, a trade before the season starts is always possible as they have seven defensemen on one-way contracts heading into camp.
- Ryan Winn of the Arizona Republic: With teams like the Bruins and Blackhawks over the salary cap, and teams like the Penguins and Kings close to the ceiling, the Coyotes with more than $11 million in cap space could be in line to take a advantage. Winn lists some players who could help bring the Coyotes into contention (percent beside player indicating chances of being traded): Johnny Oduya (70%), Johnny Boychuk (40%), Chris Kelly (50%), Patrick Sharp (30%), Kris Letang (10%).Other possibilities include: Adam McQuaid, Bryan Bickell, Rob Scuderi and Kris Versteeg.