- Darren Dreger via twitter: “Final player interviews, meetings with the agents for unsigned players (Pavelec) or trade targets (Nash) expected to take place today.”
- Michael Russo of the Star-Tribune: As of last night, Wild GM Fletcher had nothing big on the trade front despite continued trade talk.
“There’s nothing out there I’ve seen where there’s easy ways to get better,” Fletcher, the Wild’s general manager, said earlier this week. “There’s ways of getting players and paying a big price, but I don’t know if they make us better right now.”
Fletcher won’t offer up many of their top prospects for a top forward. The Wild could be interested Jordan Staal if he becomes available. Fletcher expects to meets with Guillaume Latendresse’s agent today. Latendresse was cleared by doctors on Tuesday. The Wild agreed to contracts with Chad Rau and Chay Genoway. Met with Justin Falk yesterday.
- Brian Stensaas of the Star-Tribune: When asked if there have been any talks with Devils since the end of the season, Zach Parise responded:
“We’ve kept everything pretty quiet, and we’re going to do the same thing for however long it takes.”
It’s no secret that the Wild would be interested if he doesn’t sign by July 1st.
“As a player, something you work hard to try and take advantage of, but at the same time it might get a little stressful,” Parise said of the next 10 days.
- Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News: Some names in the rumor mill: Rick Nash, Jordan Staal, Roberto Luongo, Tim Thomas and Bobby Ryan. The Bruins, Blackhawks, Penguins and Flyers don’t have a lot of cap space at the moment. Gary Bettman said last night that they are working on a date to begin CBA talks.
- Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune: Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman on Tuesday,
“for the most part we know what our roster is going to be with some minor tweaks here and there.”
The Blackhawks still don’t have a legit #2 center, and Patrick Kane may be a better trade chip than a #2 center. Even if they still make the error of having Kane at center, they are still 2 forwards short in their top 6. Bowman says that Marian Hossa continues to improve.