- Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch: Blues pending RFA Vladimir Tarasenko will be able to get offer sheets starting on July 1st.
“(Tarasenko) knows he’s going to be here, we know he’s going to be here,” Armstrong told the Post-Dispatch. “When it happens, it happens.”
Armstrong has said they would match any offer sheet. Back in May Armstrong said that he wanted to have Tarasenko signed before the start of free agency, but has recently said:
“(Tarasenko) knows he’s going to be here, we know he’s going to be here,” Armstrong told the Post-Dispatch. “When it happens, it happens.”
It is believed the sides have spoken earlier this month.
“I don’t think it’s beneficial for Vladi or for us to talk about what’s going on behind the scenes,” said Armstrong before offering some optimism. “Our team, when you look at the salary cap and you look at our structure, I would imagine that we’re not going to be very far apart in dollars. So, I have a really good feeling of what it’s going to take and I think he does, too.”
The Blues have about $57 million committed to 16 players for next season. They also have to sign RFAs Jake Allen and Robert Bortuzzo. They won’t be bring back UFA Barret Jackman, and they are not expected to re-sign Zbynek Michalek, Marcel Goc and Olli Jokinen. They are not expected to sign Chris Butler or Chris Porter before July 1st.
“We could leave it wide open and see what’s available in September and October, via waivers or via trade,” Armstrong said. “The depth of our defense is solid, so we’re not going to be seeking top-end defensive free agents.
“It’s not a huge free-agent market. … I’m not sure how active we’ll be in it.”
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: The Senators are trying to make room to bring Erik Condra back next season. The pending UFA has been dealing with assistant GM Pierre Dorion (who has been dealing with many of their contract talks) and the sides have talked several times to make sure there is interest in coming back.
“I’ve had just very brief conversations,” Condra’s Rochester-based agent Steve Bartlett told the Sun Wednesday. “I think he’s still in the mix there. There’s a lot of moving pieces. They basically just said they’d try to get back to me with something more concrete as to their level interest before July 1.
“I think they’ve just got a lot of moving pieces and I think they have time for him but whether or not they can ultimately make an offer of decent proportions is to be determined. They’ve been good, they’ve touched based and said, ‘Hey, this isn’t lack of respect in terms of what we feel about Erik. We’ve got a few things we’ve got shuffle around here to see where we are on our budgets and on our contracts.”
The Senators need figure out David Legwand ($3 million) and Colin Greening (two-years at $2.65 million cap hit) before they commit to Condra. They might have package Legwand or Greening in a deal with Robin Lehner or Craig Anderson.
Pending Senators RFAs: Alex Chiasson, Mika Zibanejad, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Chiasson and Hoffman have arbitration rights, so they may want to deal with them first.