- Lance Pugmire of the LA Times: The Ducks have the cap space available and would have to spend a lot to retain UFA Matt Beleskey, who will have a bidding war for his services if he reaches the open market. Loyalty may keep pending UFA Francois Beauchemin in Anaheim. GM Bob Murray has a history of making bold moves to replace players he feels fall short of expectations. It will be interesting to see what they determine needs to be corrected.
- Chad Graff of the Pioneer Press: The Wild and Devan Dubnyk camp will meet this week to talk about a potential contract extension according to agent Mike Liut. Both Liut and GM Chuck Fletcher are in Buffalo at the NHL scouting combine. Liut didn’t know if the Wild would be looking for a shorter-term deal in the two-three year range or a longer deal that would pay him a little less per year.
- Craig Morgan of FOX Sports Arizona: The agent for Mikkel Boedker, Jarrett Bousquet, has said that contract talks are positive, but progress is slow. There has been plenty of “back and forth on numbers and term.” Bousquet hopes to meet with GM Don Maloney at the Scouting Combine this week.The agent for Viktor Tikhonov said that Tikhonov will test free agency on July 1st.
“We will watch how teams shape up their rosters through June and entry-draft trades,” Tikhonov’s agent, Thomas Lynn, said via text. “The Coyotes are certainly on the list, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the degree of initial interest. Besides, Vik’s strong year, the UFA market shaping up and a low (salary) cap seem to be helping him.”
The Coyotes are interested in keeping Tikhonov, but it’s doubtful they would get into a bidding war for him.
It’s unlikely that pending UFA Martin Erat, B.J. Crombeen or David Moss return. It’s also doubtful that Mark Arcobello returns.
The Coyotes are expected to make qualifying offers for RFAs Klas Dahlbeck and John Moore. If Moore is awarded too much (if they go to arbitration) – say around $1.7 million – the Coyotes could decide to walk away.
