- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: It’s hard for the Oilers to get what they need to improve with David Perron as the center piece of a deal. He has been available longer than originally thought.
There are a limited amount of players from the Flyers that teams are interested in. What the Flyers have been saying in the past: “Okay, if you want that guy, you also have to take this contract we’d like to shed.”
Friedman can’t see the Oilers or Flyers moving their most valuable asset – their 2015 first round pick.
Keep an eye on the Senators in the summer with regards to goalies Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner. Both are signed to long-term contracts.
Panthers GM Dale Tallon could retain some salary in a Sean Bergenheim, Tomas Fleischmann or Tomas Kopecky trade.
Panthers Brad Boyes is getting the most interest, and may be liked by the Penguins. He’s signed for one more year and the Panthers may want to keep him.
There hasn’t been a lot of talk about pending RFA Alex Galchenyuk and the Canadiens. He’s expected to want a shorter-term deal.
Friedman could see the Canadiens and Bruins interested in Kings Jordan Nolan. Some teams may like Dwight King or Kyle Clifford.
Sergei Bobrovsky’s agent said he didn’t want to talk contract extension in-season. The Blue Jackets hope to be able to keep Nick Foligno, and GM Jarmo Kekalainen has reached out to his agent.
- Randy Miller of NJ.com: The Flyers made Vincent Lecavalier a healthy scratch. He answered some questions about it, but would not comment on others. He wouldn’t comment if it would be in his and the Flyers best interest if he played elsewhere. When asked if he’s tempted to ask for a trade.
“Definitely, but I don’t want to be a distraction,” he said. “That’s not my style. Some guys might be like that. I’m not. It’s not a time now to say things that I might regret and that’s definitely not going to help the team.”
Lecavalier admitted that he signed with the Flyers because of Peter Laviolette.
“I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t go here for Lavy,” Lecavalier said. “Of course I did. I met him and (former Flyers GM Paul Holmgren) and had a great meeting. I liked what (Laviolette) said to me. It was obviously a surprise (he was fired), but that’s last year and it’s a different system and it is what it is. Nothing’s always going to be perfect. It’s my job to try to work with it and do my best at it.”
- Darren Dreger: Sources saying that the Red Wings are willing to make Mike Babcock the highest paid coach on a four or five year deal. The offer has to be made and accepted.
- Bob Stauffer: Sounding like Ilya Bryzgalov will be returning to the NHL soon.
- Joe Yerdon: Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli was at the Sabres-Lightning game last night.