- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: The Senators finished their amateur scouting meetings last week, but there is still a lot for GM Bryan Murray and his staff to do in the upcoming weeks.
Goalies – the Senators would like have their crowded crease issue solved by the draft. They have been getting significant interest in both Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner.
“Five or six teams have called and there has been some discussion and there will continue to be. We’ll see what comes of it,” Murray said.
The Oilers, Sabres and Sharks are thought to be among the teams looking for a goalie. The Flames and Blues may also be looking for goaltending help.
Forwards – The Senators will be looking for a top-six forward.
“We’ve got some things we’d like to do between now and the draft or July 1 if we could. There’s no doubt we’d like to add one piece to our team and that means you have to move something to make that happen. We’re going to try to really hard do that,” said Murray.
RFAs – They are already having contract talks with Mark Stone, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Mike Hoffman, Mika Zibanejad and Alex Chiasson. Pageau has just switched agents.
Coach Dave Cameron – A new contract is pretty much done and could be announced in the next couple weeks. He has two years left on his ‘assistant coach’ contract and will be getting a significant raise on his new deal.
- Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun: The Jets have nine pending UFAs, with Michael Frolik and Drew Stafford at the top of GM Kevin Cheveldayoff’s wish list. If the Jets and Frolik were going to get a long-term deal done, you would think that they would have already found a dollar amount and term that would work for both sides. Frolik likely wants to see what could be out there during the ‘wooing’ period at the end of June. His return to the Jets is unlikely. Stafford is expected to be a sought after UFA if he hits the open market. Other UFA right wingers include Martin St. Louis, Chris Stewart, Justin Williams and Joel Ward. The 29-year old Stafford is coming off a four-year, $16 million deal. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he would look for a similar, if not bigger deal.
- Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger: The Devils have asked the Penguins for permission to speak with Dan Bylsma, as well has Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) head coach John Hynes.
“Obviously, he’s under contract to Pittsburgh,” Shero told NJ Advance Media last week. “We’ve worked together, certainly. For both Dan and myself, it’s been a year we haven’t been together on a team. Our relationship is very good in terms of my respect for him, and vice versa. All I can say is I’m looking for certain things in terms of a coach for this team.”
Bylsma is expected to speak with the Sabres this week.
The Devils have made an offer to Omsk Avangard (KHL) winger Sergei Kalinin.